Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway
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The Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway is a two-track, electrified main line in the east of the German state of
Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
. It is one of the oldest lines in Germany, opened in 1849 by the ''Magdeburg-Wittenberge Railway Company'', which operated it until 1863, when it was taken over by the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company. It was nationalised in 1879.


Route

The line starts at
Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof (German for Magdeburg main station, sometimes translated as Magdeburg Central Station) is the main railway station in the city of Magdeburg in the northern part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Importance The station ...
and then runs to the north, mostly between the
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
and the B 189 highway. The line is used by regional trains and as far as Zielitz by
S-Bahn Mittelelbe The S-Bahn Mittelelbe ("Central Elbe S-Bahn", called the ''S-Bahn Magdeburg'' until 2014) is part of the public transport network of the metropolitan area of Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt. The S-Bahn is operated by the ''Elbe Saale ...
trains. In the middle of the line is
Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located s ...
, where it connects with lines to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
,
Tangermünde Tangermünde (; nds, Tangermünn) is a historic town on the Elbe River in the district of Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Tangermünde is situated in the historic Altmark region of the North German Plain, ...
and
Salzwedel Salzwedel (, officially known as Hansestadt Salzwedel; Low German: ''Soltwedel'') is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of approximately 21,500. Salzwe ...
. Leaving Stendal, the line turns north. The line crosses the Elbe just before its end in
Wittenberge Wittenberge () is a town of eighteen thousand people on the middle Elbe in the district of Prignitz, Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Wittenberge is situated at the right (north-eastern) bank of the middle Elbe at its confluence with the Stepen ...
. The Elbe bridge is the longest railway bridge constructed in
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
during its existence. In
Wittenberge station Wittenberge station is the railway station for the Brandenburg town of Wittenberge in Germany. About 5,000 passengers use the station daily and it is served by around 100 trains per day. Infrastructure The station is located about 1.3 kilometre ...
the line connects to the Berlin–Hamburg trunk line. The station was originally designed as a wedge station between the two lines, but was rebuilt during the upgrading of the Berlin–Hamburg line between 2000 and 2004.


History

Planning of the line began in 1838 with the opening of the Berlin-Potsdam Railway, which initiated the railway age in the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
. A continuation of the line to the west was already planned, but without a precise route. The town of
Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located s ...
, which had no rail connection, sought a continuation of the line from
Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
via
Genthin Genthin () is a town in Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Genthin is situated east of the Elbe river on the Elbe-Havel Canal, approx. northeast of Magdeburg and west of Brandenburg. The municipal area consists of ...
and Stendal to
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
. From Genthin there would also be a branch line to
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
. This plan was rejected in favour of a direct link between Berlin and Hamburg. At the same time, plans for a continuation of the Berlin-Potsdam Railway developed into a direct link to Magdeburg. Magdeburg was developing into one of the first major railway junctions and by September 1846 there were already three lines: the Magdeburg-Leipzig railway (german: Magdeburg-Leipziger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, MLE) from Leipzig, the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway (''Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburger Eisenbahngesellschaft'', BPME) from Berlin and the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway (''Magdeburg-Halberstädter Eisenbahngesellschaft'', MHE) from
Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...
. However, the city was not connected to Hamburg, which was especially important for foreign trade. Then, at the initiative of the mayor of Magdeburg, August Wilhelm Francke, a route was defined. This route was adopted by the Prussian government on 29 September 1843 as the shortest and most economic line between Magdeburg and Wittenberg, connecting to the line to Hamburg. The ''Magdeburg-Wittenberg Magdeburg Railway Company'' was constituted as the designated operator in the following month. Approval for the construction of the line depended mainly on minimising its impact on the Elbe
levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
s in
Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.'' The (English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Volume 32. 1 F ...
. In order for the company to obtain a concession it had to develop concrete plans for the Elbe crossing and to make preparations for work to be carried out on the levees. On 6 July 1845 the Prussian king
Frederick William IV Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...
made a decree authorising the construction by the joint stock company with a capital of 4,500,000
thalers A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter of ...
. The estimated construction costs totalled 4,483,000 thalers as follows: * 3 million thalers for the section from Magdeburg to Seehausen, * 83,000 thalers for the section from Seehausen to the Elbe levee, * 1.4 million thalers for the Elbe bridge and connection in Wittenberge. Construction, when it started in 1846, was found to be relatively straightforward. The chosen route had a maximum gradient of 1 in 210 and its sharpest curve had a radius of 300 Prussian rods (equivalent to about 1,130 metres). About 55 ½ percent of the line was level. Only at each end of the line did construction prove to be problematic. In Wittenberge the construction of the bridge over the Elbe led to postponement of the opening of the entire line. In Magdeburg, the problem was integration with other lines. It was necessary for the line to connect to the west and the south, that is with the MHE and MLE lines. To achieve this, there were two possibilities: the first was for the line to cross the
slopes In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line is a number that describes both the ''direction'' and the ''steepness'' of the line. Slope is often denoted by the letter ''m''; there is no clear answer to the question why the letter ''m'' is use ...
of the fortifications on the western edge of Magdeburg to the MHE station. This was a difficult route that had to cross a ring of hills around the fortifications. This route did not appear feasible as the military authorities prohibited cutting through the ridge. The alternative was to cut through the fortifications and build a station within the city. The line ran from the north along the Elbe and through the city walls. Since there was insufficient room for the line to make a curve to return to the edge of the river, which was to the east, the riverbank had to be excavated to make room for the railway. A terminal station and associated facilities was built inside the city. A line was built to connect with the Magdeburg–Leipzig line.


Private railway era

The line was opened in three phases. On 7 July 1849, the 99 km-long section from Magdeburg to Seehausen was opened. On 5 August 1849 this was followed by the eight km-long section to the Elbe levee. Since the Elbe bridge was under construction, passengers had to cross to Wittenberge by ferry. On 25 October 1851, a wooden, single-track bridge was opened to traffic. To avoid this low-level structure obstructing shipping, part of it was built as a
swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
. During the construction of the Berlin–Hamburg line, the terminus had been designed to integrate with the line from Magdeburg. The station building was originally located between the junction of the two lines. As well as a direct line from Magdeburg to Hamburg, the route was initially seen as a route between the coast and central and southern Germany. This service did not prove as profitable as initially suggested to shareholders. In addition, in 1855 a large part of the line had to be rebuilt as a result of several floods in Altmark. In 1863, the company was bought by the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company. A direct connection did not exist between the two companies' lines and trains had to use a short piece of the Leipzig line. In 1867, the MHE received a concession to build the
Berlin–Lehrte railway The Berlin–Lehrte railway, known in German as the Lehrter Bahn (''Lehrte Railway''), is an east–west line running from Berlin via Lehrte to Hanover. Its period as a separate railway extended from its opening in 1871 to the nationalisation of ...
(also known as the ''Lehrter Railway'' or ''Lehrter Bahn''). A direct line already existed via Magdeburg, but the new route via Stendal was more direct and thus services would be quicker. The railway facilities in Stendal had to be rebuilt to make it easy for passengers to change trains. The Lehrter Railway runs south of the old town of Wittenberg from east to west, while the old line ran on the eastern edge of the town. The new Lehrter Railway has a connection with a relocated line from Wittenberge to the west of Stendal. This allowed two routes to share the new Stendal station. The diverted line to Wittenberge passes around the town along the north western boundary and then returns to its old route to the north. In addition to the Lehrter Railway, which opened through Stendal in 1871, the so-called
America Line The America Line (German: ''Amerikalinie'') is the unofficial name of a railway line in northern Germany which is mainly of regional importance today. It runs in an east-west direction and links Stendal in Saxony-Anhalt with the Hanseatic city of Br ...
opened in 1873 from Stendal via
Uelzen Uelzen (; officially the ''Hanseatic Town of Uelzen'', German: ''Hansestadt Uelzen'', , Low German ''Ülz’n'') is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a ...
to
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
. In subsequent years operations in Magdeburg became increasingly unsatisfactory. The transfer of trains to the Leipzig railway was difficult and the Elbe river prevented the expansion of the rail facilities. Hence the old idea of a common route through the ring of forts was taken up again. As the urban area was growing and the areas outside the walls were being settled, the fortifications were increasingly seen as a nuisance. There still had to be lengthy negotiations with the Prussian military before the railways were offered a suitable site along the northern and western moat. The line was built jointly by the MHE, BPME and MLE. The new
Magdeburg Central station Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof (German for Magdeburg main station, sometimes translated as Magdeburg Central Station) is the main railway station in the city of Magdeburg in the northern part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Importance The station ...
was built as an island station (with the main station building between the tracks) because the three railway companies were still working separately. The eastern station tracks were built and operated by the MLE and the western tracks by the BPME and the MHE. The first train ran on 15 May 1873 to
Burg The German word Burg means castle. Burg or Bürg may refer to: Places Placename element * '' -burg'', a combining form in Dutch, German and English placenames * Burg, a variant of burh, the fortified towns of Saxon England Settlements * Burg, Aa ...
; work continued, however, until 1893. During this period, in 1876, the MLE was taken over by the MHE. Three years later the MHE was nationalised.


Prussian state railways era

After the takeover of the MHE, the
Prussian state railways The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
acquired other companies. The state railways established royal railway divisions, each called a ''Königlichen Eisenbahndirektion'' (KED). The ''Magdeburg-Wittenberge Railway'' came under the new Magdeburg KED. North of Stendal the line came under the Hanover KED. A new Wittenberge Elbe bridge was built between 1883 and 1884. Most of the old wooden bridge was dilapidated and was replaced by a
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
. The swing bridge was retained, but was replaced in a second reconstruction by a steel structure between 1905 and 1910. At this time, the bridge was widened to include a second track on its northern or eastern side. The southern track also adapted to permit road vehicles to cross, as there was no road bridge in Wittenberge. After the founding of
Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...
(German State Railways) in 1920, the divisions were rearranged. The Magdeburg–Stendal section was assigned to the newly established Hanover railway division (''Reichsbahndirektion'', RBD); the Stendal–Wittenberge section was assigned to the Hamburg RBD. In addition to local rail services in the Prussian
Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merge ...
, the line was also used by mainline services connecting
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
,
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
, Magdeburg, Wittenberge and Hamburg. Towards the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Wittenberg Elbe bridge was blown up. By the autumn of 1945
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
pioneers had temporarily restored the southern track of the bridge. The bridge was reduced to a single track line as, as during the
Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...
the second track was removed as
reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...
to the Soviet Union. The northern track of the bridge was restored temporarily in 1947. Due to the lack of a rail track, however, only road traffic ran along this track. In 1950, the second track was re-commissioned and road traffic returned to the southern track. The route was developed in the coming years as the most important north–south link in
East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, bypassing Berlin. The second track was quickly restored. Because operations over the bridge, despite its two tracks, was restricted to a speed of 30 km/h, it became a bottleneck. In 1957, the superstructure of the bridge was replaced using its old pillars. In 1969 the
Magdeburg S-Bahn The S-Bahn Mittelelbe ("Central Elbe S-Bahn", called the ''S-Bahn Magdeburg'' until 2014) is part of the public transport network of the metropolitan area of Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt. The S-Bahn is operated by the ''Elbe Saale ...
was established. This involved adapting all the lines' infrastructure as far as Zielitz, which was selected as the northern terminus, to support a mixed operation of
S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...
, regional, long-distance and freight traffic. Similarly, overhead lines were installed to support electric operations. North of the village of Zielitz, a four-track Zielitz station was built, letting S-Bahn trains reverse and freight trains continue without obstruction. Continuing towards Magdeburg a pair of tracks was built for the S-Bahn from the junction with the line from Oebisfelde, bypassing the Magdeburg-Rothensee marshalling yard. From Magdeburg-Neustadt the S-Bahn shared the common line with other train traffic. S-Bahn operations commenced on 29 September 1974. Further electrification was carried out in the 1980s. Electric operations were extended to Stendal in 1982 and to Wittenberge in 1987. The East Germany Railways built a new bridge over the Elbe without obstructing operations. The new bridge was the longest railway bridge built during the existence of East Germany.


Current situation

Today the line is served by line S1, the only service of the
S-Bahn Mittelelbe The S-Bahn Mittelelbe ("Central Elbe S-Bahn", called the ''S-Bahn Magdeburg'' until 2014) is part of the public transport network of the metropolitan area of Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt. The S-Bahn is operated by the ''Elbe Saale ...
, between Magdeburg and Wittenberge. In the summer it is served by an
InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
pair of trains called ''Warnow'' (2238/2239) from Leipzig via Magdeburg, Wittenberge,
Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...
and
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
to
Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow. is one of the world's busie ...
. Between Magdeburg and Stendal there is also the
Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at f ...
service RE20 from/to
Uelzen Uelzen (; officially the ''Hanseatic Town of Uelzen'', German: ''Hansestadt Uelzen'', , Low German ''Ülz’n'') is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a ...
via
Salzwedel Salzwedel (, officially known as Hansestadt Salzwedel; Low German: ''Soltwedel'') is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of approximately 21,500. Salzwe ...
. In 2012, a new electronic interlocking was put into operation in Wolmirstedt, this is connected to the sub-centre in Biederitz. The new railway tunnel under the Mittelland Canal was completed at the end of 2013.


References


Footnotes


Sources

*


External links

* * * * * {{Coord missing, Germany Defunct railway companies of Germany Railway lines in Brandenburg Railway lines in Saxony-Anhalt Railway lines in Magdeburg Railway lines opened in 1849 1849 establishments in Prussia Buildings and structures in Prignitz Buildings and structures in Stendal (district) Buildings and structures in Börde (district) Buildings and structures in Magdeburg