Brunswick–Derneburg railway

Brunswick–Lebenstedt/; Heerte–Derneburg railway
Overview
Locale	Lower Saxony, Germany
Line number	1903 (Braunschweig Nord–West); 1924 (Braunschweig West–Barum); 1926 (Barum–Lichtenberg); 1901 (Braunschweig–Leiferde); 1920 (Leiferde–Salzgitter Bad); 1923 (Salzgitter-Drütte–Derneburg);
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route number	352
Route map
	Legend
	Source: German railway atlas [1]

Last updated March 16, 2019

The Brunswick–Derneburg railway (German : Bahnstrecke Braunschweig–Derneburg) was the original line of the Brunswick State Railway Company (Braunschweigische Landes-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BLE). In the late 19th century it opened up the then rural area of the area now called Salzgitter in the German state of Lower Saxony.

German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.

The Brunswick State Railway Company or BLE was a railway company in the Duchy of Brunswick, a former German state centred on the city of Brunswick.

Salzgitter is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven Oberzentren of Lower Saxony. With 101,079 inhabitants and 223.92 square kilometres (86.46 sq mi), its area is the largest in Lower Saxony and one of the largest in Germany. Salzgitter originated as a conglomeration of several small towns and villages, and is today made up of 31 boroughs, which are relatively compact conurbations with wide stretches of open country between them. The main shopping street of the young city is in the borough of Lebenstedt, and the central business district is in the borough of Salzgitter-Bad. The city is connected to the Mittellandkanal and the Elbe Lateral Canal by a distributary. The nearest metropolises are Braunschweig, about 23 kilometres to the northeast, and Hanover, about 51 km to the northwest. The population of the City of Salzgitter has exceeded 100,000 inhabitants since its foundation in 1942, when it was still called Watenstedt-Salzgitter. Beside Wolfsburg, Leverkusen and Eisenhüttenstadt, Salzgitter is therefore one of the few cities in Germany founded during the 20th century.

In the course of industrialisation, the lines were repeatedly rebuilt and realigned and the current lines emerged in the mid-20th century:

the Brunswick–Salzgitter-Lebenstedt railway and
the Brunswick–Salzgitter Bad railway.

Original route

The route that operated from 1886 to about 1938 started in Brunswick North station (Braunschweiger Nordbahnhof), the BLE’s centre of operations. It ran through the Brunswick districts of Gartenstadt, Geitelde and Thiede to the south. Near Hoheweg station there was a connection with a line from Wolfenbüttel. The line continued through Immendorf and Barum to the south and then turned to the west and the northwest. It continued to Lichtenberg and Osterlinde, then turned to the southwest to Derneburg in the municipality of Holle.

Wolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest concentration of timber-framed buildings in Germany. It is an episcopal see of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick. It is also home to the Jägermeister distillery and houses a campus of the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences.

Holle is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km southeast of Hildesheim, and 15 km west of Salzgitter. It was mentioned in Tom Clancy's bestseller Red Storm Rising.

This line was curvy as it was built as a development line through rural areas and made major detours. It allowed only low speeds.

Current route

The current Brunswick–Salzgitter-Lebenstedt line and the Brunswick–Salzgitter Bad railway (connecting with the old Brunswick Southern Railway (Börßum–Kreiensen) share a newly built route from Brunswick to Salzgitter Drütte. Brunswick–Salzgitter-Lebenstedt line turns from there to the west, serving Watenstedt. There it connects with the rail network of the Salzgitter steel works. It crosses the freight railway of the Verkehrsbetriebe Peine-Salzgitter (Peine-Salzgitter transport company), then runs parallel with one of its lines. While the freight line turns to the north, the passenger line turns to the southwest and reaches Salzgitter Lebenstedt south of its centre. From here it ran until 1984 in an almost straight line to Salzgitter-Lichtenberg.

The Brunswick Southern Railway was built by the Duchy of Brunswick State Railway as a link from its Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway to the Hanoverian Southern Railway. It ran through the northwestern Harz Foreland from Börßum via Salzgitter, Ringelheim and Seesen to Kreiensen. It opened on 5 August 1856 and was one of the oldest railways in Germany.

Börßum is a municipality in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Kreiensen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Northeim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2013, it is part of the town Einbeck.

The lines used today were planned for heavy freight trains and have no curves in contrast to the original line.

History

During the construction of the long-haul routes, the triangle between the Brunswick Southern Railway (then running via Börßum to Kreiensen), the Hildesheim–Goslar railway and the Hildesheim–Brunswick railway remained free of railways. To encourage the construction of railways in this area, the government of the Duchy of Brunswick granted a concession in 1885 to the BLE to build and operate a railway to Derneburg and continue from there to Seesen. It granted assistance for the construction to make the project worthwhile.

The Hildesheim–Brunswick line is a 43 km long electrified main line railway in the German state of Lower Saxony. It forms part of the Intercity-Express route from Frankfurt to Berlin. It is also used as a diversion route from the Hanover–Brunswick line. It is a single track line from Hildesheim to Groß Gleidingen. A proposal to duplicate the line was included in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan of 1992.

The Duchy of Brunswick was a historical German state. Its capital was the city of Brunswick (Braunschweig). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In the course of the 19th-century history of Germany, the duchy was part of the German Confederation, the North German Confederation and from 1871 the German Empire. It was disestablished after the end of World War I, its territory incorporated into the Weimar Republic as the Free State of Brunswick.

The section was opened to Derneburg on 18 July 1886. A connection was opened to Wolfenbüttel on 17 October. However, even this mainly promoted regional development as the largest cities of the duchy had already been directly connected by the Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway since 1838. An extension to Seesen was opened in 1889. Until the 1930s, the line was a branch line in a rural area with low to medium traffic. Lichtenberge with its castle in the Salzgitter Hills was the target of excursions.

The Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway is a 47 km long German main line railway in the northern foothills of the Harz. It is one of the oldest lines in Germany and the first government-owned railway in Germany.

Lichtenberg Castle, also called the Heinrichsburg, is a ruined castle dating to the 12th century in the Lichtenberge hills near Salzgitter in the German state of Lower Saxony. The ruins are found south of and above the Salzgitter suburb of Lichtenberg on the steep summit of the Burgberg.

The Salzgitter Hills is an area of upland up to 322.9 metres (1,059 ft) in height, in the Lower Saxon Hills between Salzgitter and Goslar in the districts of Wolfenbüttel and Goslar and in the territory of the independent town of Salzgitter. The hills lie in the German federal state of Lower Saxony.

Conversions between 1938 and 1954

In order to develop the new industrial complex that is now Salzgitter AG, the BLE was nationalised by the Nazi Government in 1938. The Schunter Valley Railway (Schuntertalbahn) between Brunswick and Fallersleben, another BLE line, was used for an extension to the Volkswagen factory in Fallersleben.

Salzgitter AG is a German company, one of the largest steel producers in Europe with an annual output of around 7 million tonnes.

Nazi Germany is the common English name for Germany between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party (NSDAP) controlled the country through a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany was transformed into a totalitarian state that controlled nearly all aspects of life via the Gleichschaltung legal process. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich until 1943 and Großdeutsches Reich from 1943 to 1945. Nazi Germany is also known as the Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", the first two being the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918). The Nazi regime ended after the Allies defeated Germany in May 1945, ending World War II in Europe.

Fallersleben is a district in the City of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population of 11,269. The village of Fallersleben was first mentioned in 942 under the name of Valareslebo. Fallersleben became a city in 1929, and was incorporated into Wolfsburg in 1972. Before 1972, it belonged to Gifhorn. In 1939, Fallersleben had 2,600 inhabitants.

As of 1938, passenger trains operated to the old Brunswick station.

A new, direct connection was built from Leiferde on the Brunswick–Wolfenbüttel railway to Drütte, which replaced the old BLE line north of Drütte. Wolfenbüttel was also re-connected to the BLE line. Soon after further extensions were interrupted by the Second World War.

After the war, a well-developed northeast half of the Brunswick–Drütte line contrasted with the less-developed rural western section, which passed south of the industrial sites and new residential areas. Then the section from Drütte to Lichtenberg via Watenstedt and Lebenstedt was also realigned. The connection with the steel works in Watenstedt was opened to traffic on 17 May 1953. Trains ran via Lebenstedt to Lichtenberg from 28 November 1954. From there they continued to use the BLE route. The former line via Barum and Heerte was closed.

In 1956, a line was built from Salzgitter-Bad to Salzgitter-Drütte, creating a more direct route for the Brunswick–Kreiensen railway.

The last major realignment took place in 1960 with the opening of the new Brunswick Hauptbahnhof.

Withdrawal from the late 1950s

By 1959, the Wolfenbüttel branch was abandoned, but near Wolfenbüttel there was a section of the line that was still used as a connection from the Welger agricultural machinery factory. The rest of the line lasted until the 1980s, with traffic continuing to decline, especially west of Lebenstedt.

Deutsche Bundesbahn discontinued passenger services on the section between Lebenstedt and Derneburg at the commencement of the summer 1984 timetable on 2 June. At the same time, the transport of goods between Derneburg and Osterlinde was abandoned. The transport of freight between Lebenstedt and Osterlinde ended on 31 March 1985. The Derneburg–Lebenstedt section is now dismantled and built over for the most part. The old railway embankment along with its track bed still exists east of the Bosch factory in Salzgitter, including several bridges over roads and the Fuhse. The line ran through a tunnel under Kattowitzer Straße in Lebenstedt; the tunnel is locked off with bars. A parking garage is built next to the line at Lebenstedt station, where there is only one track. A long section of the line has been built over by Autobahn 39 in the Lichtenberg area.

A service now runs every two hours from Brunswick to Lebenstedt. The line is wholly within the area administered by the Verbundtarif Region Braunschweig (Brunswick Region Tariff Association). Scheduled services are operated with class 628 diesel multiple units.

Planned Regiostadtbahn

The now abandoned proposal for a RegioStadtBahn Braunschweig (Brunswick Regional Stadtbahn) would have integrated the route to Lebenstedt. The railcars would have left the current route before its terminus and run on a new tram line to a point closer to the centre of the district.

Notes

↑ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.

Related Research Articles

Goslar is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Göttingen, Northeim, Hildesheim and Wolfenbüttel, the city of Salzgitter, and by the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia (Nordhausen).

Braunschweig Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the German city of Braunschweig (Brunswick). It is about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) southeast of the city centre and was opened on 1 October 1960, replacing the old passenger station on the southern edge of the old town. The train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn, Erixx, Metronom and WestfalenBahn.

The Duchy of Brunswick State Railway was the first state railway in Germany. The first section of its Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway line between Brunswick and Wolfenbüttel opened on 1 December 1838.

The Brunswick–Uelzen railway line is a largely, single-tracked, non-electrified branch line in the north German state of Lower Saxony. It serves the northern part of Brunswick Land and the eastern region of the Lüneburg Heath. The most important station en route is Gifhorn. The line has also been called the Mühlenbahn for several years due to the many mills along its route.

The Herzberg–Seesen railway, also known as the West Harz Line, is a 32 km long railway line, that runs along the western edge of the Harz mountains and serves the town and the district of Osterode am Harz. It is the shortest link from Brunswick to Erfurt and is worked today by Lint multiples from Brunswick via Salzgitter, Seesen and Osterode to Herzberg mainly at hourly intervals. In Herzberg there are connexions to Göttingen and Nordhausen.

The Neuekrug-Hahausen–Goslar railway is a double-tracked, non-electrified main line in Lower Saxony in central Germany. The line, which runs along the northern edge of the Harz mountains, begins in Goslar and forms a junction with the Brunswick–Kreiensen railway to Seesen and Kreiensen at Neuekrug-Hahausen. Because the branch-off station is passed through nowadays without stopping, it is often called the Goslar–Seesen railway. It is often described in the local area as the North Harz Line (Nordharzstrecke) but the term may cause confusion. The most important, and now the only, intermediate station is Langelsheim.

The Brunswick–Magdeburg railway is an 83-kilometre-long (52 mi) German main line railway. It is with the Berlin–Lehrte railway and the Hanover–Berlin high-speed line one of the most important east-west lines between Hanover and Berlin. Important intermediate stations are Königslutter, Helmstedt and Eilsleben.

The Hanover–Brunswick Railway is a German main line railway in Lower Saxony and is one of the oldest lines in Germany, opened in 1843 and 1844. It was the first railway line linking to the city of Hanover and the first operating line of the Royal Hanoverian State Railways. It is now one of the main routes for east-west traffic. The main intermediate station is Peine.

The Weddel loop is a 21.1 km long German railway between Fallersleben and Weddel. It is single-track and electrified and forms part of route number 301 (Brunswick–Wolfsburg–Stendal). It connects the Hanover–Berlin high-speed line with the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line for Intercity-Express trains running between Frankfurt and Berlin.

The Jerxheim–Helmstedt railway is a 22 km-long railway line in the south-east of the German state of Lower Saxony that was opened in 1858. It opened up the area south of the Elm hills. Until 8 December 2007, there were passenger services on the route from Brunswick via Wolfenbüttel, Schöppenstedt, Jerxheim and Schöningen to Helmstedt, which was last marketed as the Südelmbahn. The section from Helmstedt to Alversdorf freight yard has since been operated as a connecting line to a facility of the Energy from Waste (EEW) company, formerly half owned by E.ON.

The Wolfenbüttel–Oschersleben railway runs through the border area of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony. It was opened in 1843 and was one of the oldest long-distance railways in Germany. All traffic from Berlin and Central Germany ran over it to Hanover and the Ruhr area until the beginning of the 1870s. Afterwards it lost importance, but remained an important line for East-West traffic.

The Altenbeken–Kreiensen railway is part of a former long-distance route in Germany from the Ruhr area via Altenbeken, Ottbergen, Holzminden, Kreiensen and Seesen towards Berlin. The once continuous double track main line railway is now operated as a single track east of Ottbergen. It runs through the Egge ridge and along the northern edge of the Solling hills.

The Jerxheim–Börßum railway was a 23 kilometre-long mainline railway in the southeast of the German state of Lower Saxony. It connected the Brunswick Southern Railway from Börßum to Kreiensen with railways from Magdeburg via Schöningen and Oschersleben and was until 1945 a route for freight from Berlin and Magdeburg, both to Kassel and Frankfurt and to the Ruhr area.

The Hildesheim–Goslar railway is a 53 kilometre long, double-track and non-electrified main line in the northern Harz foothills in the German state of Lower Saxony. It serves mainly to connect with the tourist region in the northern Harz with Hildesheim and Hanover. It is served by the HarzExpress, running between Halle, Halberstadt, Goslar and Hannover Hauptbahnhof. The most important station and junction of the line is Salzgitter-Ringelheim station.

Kreiensen station is a Keilbahnhof in Kreiensen in the German state of Lower Saxony and along with Einbeck-Salzderhelden station one of two stations in the town of Einbeck.

References

Fiegenbaum, Wolfgang; Klee, Wolfgang (1988). Abschied von der Schiene – Stillgelegte Bahnstrecken im Personenzugverkehr Deutschlands 1980–1985[Farewell to rail: abandoned passenger railways in Germany 1980–1985] (in German) (1st ed.). Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. pp. 39f. ISBN 9783613011915. OCLC 256813807.

External links

Gisbert Bobert; Hans-Jürgen Behrend; Horst Splitt. "Der Lichtenberger Bahnhof" (in German). Retrieved 25 April 2014.

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[Eisenbahnatlas-1] Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.