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The Berlin-Blankenheim railway or Wetzlarer Bahn is a railway line in the German states

States of Germany

Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...

 of Berlin, Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

 and Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

. It is a section of the Kanonenbahn (Cannons Railway) between Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and Metz

Metz

Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

, built between 1877 and 1882. Wetzlar

Wetzlar

Wetzlar is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, Wetzlar straddles the river Lahn and is on the German Timber-Framework Road which passes mile upon mile of half-timbered houses. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis on the north edge of...

 used to be an important rail junction on the Kanonenbahn. The Berlin-Blankenheim line originally ran from Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, via Bad Belzig, Güsten

Güsten

Güsten is a town in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Wipper, west of Bernburg. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Saale-Wipper....

, Sandersleben

Sandersleben

Sandersleben is a town and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Wipper, approx. 17 km north of Eisleben...

 to Blankenheim

Blankenheim, Saxony-Anhalt

Blankenheim is a municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....

, where a remnant of it still joins the Halle–Kassel line

Halle–Kassel railway

The Halle-Kassel Railway is a 218 km long main line operated by the Deutsche Bahn in Germany, which links Halle in Saxony-Anhalt with Kassel in the state of Hesse. It is mainly used by regional and east-west goods trains...

. The Wiesenburg–Güsten

Güsten

Güsten is a town in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Wipper, west of Bernburg. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Saale-Wipper....

 section has carried no traffic since 2004 and is now closed. Only the Berlin–Wiesenburg section is electrified. The Sandersleben–Blankenheim section has only a single track, while the remainder of the still-operating parts of the line is duplicated.

History

The track was built at the instigation of the Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n government between 1877 and 1882 as a direct militarily strategic railway

Military railways

Military railways are a form of transport communication technology used by the military forces for movement of strategically significant forces, bulk cargo or as a platform for military systems....

, bypassing urban areas, connecting to Alsace-Lorraine

Alsace-Lorraine

The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...

, which had been acquired from France as a result of the War of 1870-71

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

. The Berlin–Blankenheim section was the longest section of the Kanonenbahn that did use existing lines. The building of the line away from urban areas was a disadvantage from the outset as there was little regular traffic on the line, except on a few of its sections. For long-distance traffic between Berlin and western and south-western Germany, other routes via Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

, and Halle

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt

Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...

 or Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 were more important.

In 1923, a connection was opened from Wiesenburg to Roßlau

Roßlau

Roßlau is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, part of the town Dessau-Roßlau. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, here crossed by two railway bridges, 3 m. by rail N. of Dessau and 35 m. S.E. of Magdeburg. Pop. 13,939...

 near Dessau

Dessau

Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...

. The section from Berlin to Wiesenburg was upgraded, but the Wiesenburg-Güsten section lost importance, since in addition to routes via Magdeburg, routes via Dessau were now available.

In 1961, the section from Drewitz (now Potsdam Medienstadt Babelsberg) to Berlin–Wannsee was closed to passenger traffic, as a result of the building of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...

. Interzonal trains between Berlin and West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 were rerouted via Potsdam

Potsdam Hauptbahnhof

Potsdam Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in German city of Potsdam. It is the southern terminus of S-Bahn line and, replacing the S7 on Friday and Saturday nights, the line .- Overview :...

. For freight transport this section was of great importance especially due to the Seddin

Seddiner See

Seddiner See is a municipality in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany....

 freight depot.

In the 1980s it was planned to upgrade the line as an alternative to the congested Bitterfeld

Bitterfeld

Bitterfeld is a town in the district Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approx. 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Halle...

–Naumburg

Naumburg

Naumburg is a town in Germany, on the Saale River. It is in the district Burgenlandkreis in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. It is approximately southwest of Leipzig, south-southwest of Halle, and north-northeast of Jena....

 line for freight. Catenary stanchions for electrification were established on the section from Güterglück and Blankenheim, but no further work was carried out. Instead, the Güterglück–Berlin section was duplicated and electrified up to 1993. It was used by Intercity-Express and Intercity

Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)

Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...

 trains during construction work on the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg line completed on 14 December 1995. For this purpose, some sections had been upgraded for a top speed of 160 km/h.

The Wiesenburg–Güsten section then experienced a gradual decline. In 1998, Regionalbahn

RegionalBahn

The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...

 trains stopped running between Barby

Barby, Germany

Barby is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Elbe river, near the confluence with the Saale, approx. southeast of Magdeburg...

 and Güsten and instead ran between Güsten and Magdeburg. There still remained an InterRegio

InterRegio

The InterRegio is a train service seen in some European countries. Mostly they are trains that run "from region to region", as best described by Swiss Federal Railways.-Switzerland:...

 train from Berlin via Wernigerode

Wernigerode

Wernigerode is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,500 in 1999....

 to Aachen

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

 and a Berlin–Wernigerode weekend escape train. In 1999, these trains were canceled or diverted, leaving the Barby–Güsten section without traffic. The diversion of regional trains to Magdeburg was not successful and by 2002 only two pairs of trains on weekends were still operating; on 13 December 2003 all services were discontinued. At the same time was freight operations between Wiesenburg and Güterglück were moved to the Brandenburg–Magdeburg line. On 11 December 2004, the line was closed.

Developments in recent years

The Berlin–Belzig–Wiesenburg section has been served for several years by Regional-Express services (currently line RE 7) hourly to Belzig and every two hours continuing to Dessau. Long-distance trains were gradually reduced. With the opening of the line under the Berlin Tiergarten and the commencement of Intercity trains via Wittenberg

Wittenberg

Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....

, the last two inter-city trains via Dessau were terminated in December 2007. Since then only a few night trains run via Dessau. In contrast traffic is dense in the Berlin area. Regional services RB 22 and MR 33 (operated by Märkische Regiobahn) run between Wannsee and Michendorf or Michendorf and Seddin. In the Berlin suburbs, all S-Bahn

Berlin S-Bahn

The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...

, regional and mainline services to Potsdam run on the Berlin-Blankenheim line.

The section from Wiesenburg to Güsten is now closed. Only two short sections at Barby and Calbe are still served by regional or freight traffic. Güsten station and its former depot has been scaled back considerably. Between Güsten and Sangerhausen

Sangerhausen

Sangerhausen is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, without being part of it.It is situated southeast of the Harz, approx. 35 km east of Nordhausen, and 50 km west of Halle...

 Regional–Express services run every two hours on the Magdeburg–Erfurt

Erfurt

Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...

route.