The term ''Kleinbahn'' (literally 'small railway', plural: ''Kleinbahnen'') was a
light railway
A light railway is a Rail transport, railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more Grade (slope), steep gradients and Minimum railway curve radius, tight curves to ...
concept used especially in
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
for a railway line that "on account of its low importance for general railway transport" had less strict requirements placed on its construction and operation that main lines (''Hauptbahnen,
Vollbahnen'') or secondary lines (''
Nebenbahn
The history of rail transport in Germany can be traced back to the 16th century. The earliest form of railways, wagonways, were developed in Germany in the 16th century. Modern German rail history officially began with the opening of the steam-pow ...
en'' i.e. normal branch lines). Even public railway lines built for constructional or industrial purposes were counted as ''Kleinbahnen''.
Origin and use
The concept was defined in the Prussian ''Kleinbahn'' law of 28 July 1892, that was designed to encourage the construction of local railway lines by private companies. The word ''Kleinbahn'' was chosen by a majority of MPs in the Prussian parliament instead of a range of other options - ''Lokalbahn'' (local line), ''Bahn unterster Ordnung'' (line of the lowest order) or ''Bahn untergeordneter Bedeutung'' (line of secondary importance) - because it was neither a foreign word nor had negative overtones.
In several former German states such as (
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...
,
Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to:
Places
* Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica
*Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany
**Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony
* Ol ...
and
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Ba ...
) the concept ''Kleinbahn'' was partially adopted for lines of limited length and light construction. In the other German-speaking states, the terms ''
Lokalbahn
A ''Lokalbahn'' or ''Localbahn'' ("local line", plural: -en) is a secondary railway line worked by local trains serving rural areas, typically in Austria and the south German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. ''Lokalbahnen'' appeared at t ...
'' (Baden, Bayern, Austria), ''
Sekundärbahn
Bavarian branch lines comprised nearly half the total railway network in Bavaria, a state in the southeastern Germany that was a kingdom in the days of the German Empire. The construction era for branch lines lasted from 1872, when the first r ...
'' (Saxony) or ''
Vizinalbahn
Bavarian branch lines comprised nearly half the total railway network in Bavaria, a state in the southeastern Germany that was a kingdom in the days of the German Empire. The construction era for branch lines lasted from 1872, when the first r ...
'' (Bayern) were preferred.
In everyday speech the term ''Kleinbahn'' is widely used as a synonym for
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
lines or
garden railway
A garden railway or garden railroad is a model railway system set up outdoors in a garden. G Scale is the most popular scale for garden railroads, though 16 mm scale also has a following, especially in the United Kingdom. Model locomotives ...
s. Despite that, ''Kleinbahnen'' may be built in either as well as in narrow gauge.
Construction and operation
The construction and operation of ''Kleinbahnen'' were carried out to less stringent requirements, e.g. tracks were laid in a gravel rather than a normal ballast bed, and usually by private companies, which nevertheless in many cases involved substantial participation by the state, the province or local communities. The ''Kleinbahn'' company with the largest railway network in the whole of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
was the 'Pomeranian state railways' (''Pommerschen Landesbahnen'') founded in 1940.
Today
Except in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, the ''Kleinbahn'' law has been superseded everywhere by new national railway laws. The former ''Kleinbahnen'' are classified today as ''Nebenbahnen'' (branch lines).
List of ''Kleinbahnen''
There is a list of German ''Kleinbahnen'' in the
list of former German railway companies {{Short description, none
This list contains an overview of the railway companies in Germany and German colonies that no longer exist. These include railway units that have no independent legal status.
For railway companies in existence today, see ...
.
See also
*
Deutscher Eisenbahn-Verein
The Deutscher Eisenbahn-Verein (''German Railway Society'') or DEV was founded in November 1964 as the ''Deutscher Kleinbahn-Verein'' (''German Kleinbahn Society''). Its purpose was the preservation of a working branch line with all its installati ...
which runs a preserved ''Kleinbahn'' museum railway near
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
.
*
Light railway
A light railway is a Rail transport, railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more Grade (slope), steep gradients and Minimum railway curve radius, tight curves to ...
External links
* Kleinbahn Co., : http://www.kleinbahn.com/kontakt_index.html
* Kleinbahn product catalog.: https://web.archive.org/web/20100216040441/http://www.kleinbahn.com/produkte_index.html
{{Authority control
Rail transport in Germany