The Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company ( or LDE) was a private railway company in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

, now a part of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Amongst other things, it operated the route between Leipzig and Dresden, opened in 1839, and which was the first long-distance railway line in Germany. On 1 July 1876 the company was nationalised and became part of the

Royal Saxon State Railways The Royal Saxon State Railways () were the state-owned railways operating in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1869 to 1918. From 1918 until their merger into the Deutsche Reichsbahn the title 'Royal' was dropped and they were just called the Saxon State ...

History

image:Direktorium LDE.jpg, The board of directors of the Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company in 1852; from l to r: Busse (plenipotentiary), Fleischer (deputy), Haberstadt (deputy), Einert (member), Gessler (secretary to the board), Erdmann (member), Hirzel (member), Lampe (deputy), Harkort (chairman), Dufour-Feronce (member), Seyfferth (deputy), Preusser (deputy) ''(photo of 1852)'' The idea of building a railway to link Leipzig with Strehla (on the river Elbe), had already been put forward before 1830 by the Leipzig merchant, Carl Gottlieb Tenner. Tenner's idea gained new impetus after the state economist in Leipzig,

Friedrich List Daniel Friedrich List (6 August 1789 – 30 November 1846) was a German entrepreneur, diplomat, economist and political theory, political theorist who developed the Economic nationalism, nationalist theory of political economy in both Europe and t ...

, publicised his plans for a German railway system in 1833, in which it was envisaged that Leipzig would function as a central hub. That same year, a railway committee was founded which, on 20 November 1833, submitted a petition to the lower house of the Saxon Parliament (''Sächsischer Landtag'') in Dresden for the construction of a railway from Leipzig to Dresden . In 1835, the Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company was founded as a private company by twelve citizens of Leipzig, including: Albert Dufour-Féronce (1798–1861), Gustav Harkort (1795–1865), Carl Lampe (1804–1889) and Wilhelm Theodor Seyfferth (1807–1881). At the Easter trade fair in 1835 the shares of the company (nominally valued at 100

thaler A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) 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 o ...

) were fully subscribed within just a few hours, making a capital sum of over one million thalers available. On 6 May 1835 the Saxon state government authorised the construction and operation of the line as well as the issue of non-interest bearing bonds to the value of 500,000 thalers. The total capital generated thus amounted to 1.5 million thalers. In October 1835 the British engineers Sir James Walker and Hawkshaw surveyed the proposed routes and recommended the northern route via Strehla (estimated cost: 1,808,500 thalers) over the route via

Meißen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

(1,956,000 thalers). On 16 November 1835 the purchase of land began for the section between Leipzig and the Mulde bridge north of Wurzen. On 1 March 1836 the first sod was cut. Oversight for the entire project lay in the hands of the Saxon Senior Waterways Construction Engineer (''Oberwasserbaudirektors''), Karl Theodor Kunz. Then however the town council of Strehla rejected the building of the railway. So the line was re-routed over the river

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) 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 Republic), then Ge ...

7 km further south at

Riesa Riesa (; ) is a town in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany. It is located on the river Elbe, approximately northwest of Dresden. History The name ''Riesa'' is derived from Slavic ''Riezowe''. This name, romanised as "Rezoa", appears f ...

. On 7 April 1839 the first train ran over the Elbe railway bridge at Riesa. The route was taken into operation in several stages: * 1837, 24 April: Leipzig–Althen (10.60 km) * 1837, 12 November: Althen–

Borsdorf Borsdorf is a municipality in the Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany. Geography Modern Borsdorf municipality consists of three historical villages: Borsdorf (originally the smallest among the three, serving as a toll station at the historical ma ...

–Gerichshain (4.32 km) * 1838, 11 May: Gerichshain–Machern (2.93 km) * 1838, 19 July: Weintraube–Dresden (8.18 km) * 1838, 31 July: Machern–Wurzen (8.00 km) * 1838, 16 September:

Wurzen Wurzen () is a town in the district Leipzig (district), Leipzig Land (voting) and Muldental (number plates), in Saxony, Germany. It is situated next to the river Mulde, here crossed by two bridges, 25 km east of Leipzig, by rail N.E. of Leipzig L ...

– Dahlen (17.53 km) * 1838, 16 September:

Oberau Oberau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Location Oberau is located at the Loisach in the so-called "Zugspitzland". The distance between the village center and Garmisch-Partenkirchen ...

– Coswig–Weintraube (13.44 km) * 1838, 3 November: Dahlen–Oschatz (9.56 km) * 1838, 21 November:

Oschatz Oschatz () is a town in the district Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is located 60 km east of Leipzig and 60 km west of Dresden. Geography Site and climate Oschatz lies in the Saxon Lowland and is located on the river Döllnit ...

–Riesa (13.07 km) * 1839, 7 April: Riesa–Oberau (28.45 km) On 7 April 1839, on the completion of the Elbe bridge at Riesa, the entire route from Leipzig to Dresden was finally opened. A second track was built immediately afterwards and the route was then operated with traffic running on the left, in line with English practice until 1884. From 1851 to 1878 a single-tracked, 5 km long, connecting railway was operated in Leipzig, that branched off from the Saxon-Bavarian Railway, ran eastwards around the city in a large curve and finally entered the Dresden railway north of Dresden station. On 1 December 1860 the Leipzig-Dresden Railway opened a side line that branched off the main line in Coswig and ran to

. On 14 May 1866 it opened services on another side line, which branched off the main route in Borsdorf and initially ran as far as

Grimma Grimma (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, southeast of Leipzig. Founded in 1170, it is part of the Leipzig district. Location The town is in northern Saxony, southeast of Leipzig and south of Wurz ...

; then on 28 October 1867 to

Leisnig Leisnig (, ) is a small town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the free state of Saxony in Germany, 50 kilometers southeast of Leipzig. History A settlement in this location was first mentioned in 1046. The town features Mildenstein Castle ...

, on 2 June 1868 to

Döbeln Döbeln (; , ) is a town in Saxony, Germany, part of the Mittelsachsen district. It sits on the banks of the Freiberger Mulde, Freiberger Mulde river. Location and geography Döbeln is situated in the Central Saxon Hills, Central Saxon Hill co ...

, on 25 October 1868 to

Nossen Nossen (; , ) is a town in the Meißen (district), district of Meissen, in Saxony, Germany. It is located 80 km southeast of Leipzig. The town is dominated by a large Renaissance castle. Nossen is best known for its proximity to a motorway j ...

and on 22 December 1868 it was finally extended as far as Meißen, so that a parallel southern route was established between Borsdorf and Coswig. The

Großenhain Großenhain (; also written as Grossenhain; , ) is a Große Kreisstadt (German for major district town) in the district of Meissen, Saxony, Germany. It was originally known as Hayne. The current name simply means "big Hayne". History Großenhain ...

branch, opened on 14 October 1862, went into the ownership of the LDE on 1 July 1869. On 15 October 1875 the LDE opened a connecting route from Riesa to

Elsterwerda Elsterwerda (; Lower Sorbian: ''Wikow'') is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the Black Elster river, 48 km northwest of Dresden, and 11 km southeast of Bad Liebenwerda. Histor ...

(since 1815 part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

), that from 17 July 1875 was linked to Berlin and Dresden. The route from Nossen to

Freiberg Freiberg () is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the Elster and ...

– as part of the line from Nossen to

Moldau Moldau is a German name for: *the Vltava river in the Czech Republic * Moldava (Teplice District), a municipality and village in the Czech Republic *"Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the ...

- was completed on 15 July 1873, and extended as far as Mulda/Sa. by 2 November 1875. On 15 August 1876 the route reached the Bohemian border at

. After the collapse of the Elbe bridge at Riesa, the general assembly of the shareholders decided on 29 March 1876 to sell the Dresden railway to the state of Saxony. On 1 July 1876 the operation and management of the Leipzig-Dresden Railway was transferred to the

. The 'railway monument' in Leipzig, erected in 1878, commemorates the development of the Dresden railway from its emergence as a private initiative of Leipzig citizens to its nationalisation.

The routes

* Leipzig–Dresden (*1839) * Leipzig Bavarian station–Leipzig Dresden station (1851–1878) * Borsdorf–Coswig (*1860/1868) * Priestewitz–Großenhain (procured in 1868) * Riesa–Elsterwerda (*1875) * Nossen–Freiberg–Moldau (*1876)

The locomotives

The following list is incomplete:

Sources

* Udo Becher: ''Die Leipzig-Dresdner Eisenbahn-Compagnie.'' transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen, Berlin 1981. * ''Die Leipzig-Dresdner Eisenbahn, Anfänge und Gegenwart einer 150-jährigen'', hrsg. v. Fritz Borchert, transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen, Berlin 1989, * ''Panorama der Eisenbahn zwischen Leipzig und Dresden'', Koedition der Verlage transpress, Berlin und Tourist, Berlin/Leipzig, 1989, Hrsg. Gerhard Schlegel, , Reprint eines Originals von 1839

External links

The Leipzig-Dresden railway line through time
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leipzig-Dresden Railway Company 1830s establishments in the Kingdom of Saxony Transport in Saxony Railway lines in Saxony Defunct railway companies of Germany 1835 establishments in the German Confederation