Cologne-Minden Railway Company
Encyclopedia
| Lines of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company | ||
|---|---|---|
| dark red | Trunk line Cologne-Minden trunk line The Cologne-Minden trunk line is a railway built by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company . The line is the westernmost part of the railway line from Berlin to the Rhine that was proposed by Friedrich List in his Concept for a railway network in Germany, published in 1833... |
1845–47 |
| pink | Holland line | 1854–1856 |
| green | Cologne–Gießen line Deutz–Gießen railway The Deutz–Gießen railway is a line between Deutz and Gießen that was built from the late 1850s to connect the Ruhr and the Rhine-Main area, now parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse. The line still exists, but little traffic still runs over the whole of the historical route... |
1859–62 |
| blue | Hamburg–Venlo line | 1870–74 |
| bright red | Emscher Valley line | 1866–78 |
| yellow | Bocholt line | 1878 |
| orange | Herford–Detmold line | 1879/80 |
The Cologne-Minden Railway Company (German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, old spelling: Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, CME) was along with the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company
Rhenish Railway Company
The Rhenish Railway Company was along with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century built the first railways in the Ruhr and large parts of today's North Rhine-Westphalia.-Foundation :The...
one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century built the first railways in the Ruhr
Ruhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
and large parts of today's North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
.
Founding
The founding of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company in 1843 in Cologne ended a long struggle for a railway line between the RhinelandRhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
and the German North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
ports, as well as 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 capital of 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...
. From the 1830s several railway committees in the cities of Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and 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, ...
attempted to find a solution with each other and the Prussian government. The focus of all these efforts was to avoid the Dutch duties on trade on the Rhine, which significantly increased the cost of import and export of goods via the Rhine. Some of the Cologne committee members under David Hansemann
David Hansemann
David Justus Ludwig Hansemann was a Prussian politician and banker, serving as the Prussian Minister of Finance in 1848.- Life :...
(1790–1864)—a merchant and banker from Aachen—and the Aachen Committee favoured a railway line through Belgium to the seaport of Antwerp. The Rhenish Railway Company
Rhenish Railway Company
The Rhenish Railway Company was along with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century built the first railways in the Ruhr and large parts of today's North Rhine-Westphalia.-Foundation :The...
–which had already been established on 9 July 1837 in Cologne–began construction of a railway line from Cologne via Aachen to the Belgian border, which was opened in sections between 1839 to 1843. Others saw advantages in a better connection between the Rhineland and the Weser with a terminus in Minden
Minden
Minden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...
, which was connected by boat to the port of Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
. At the same time they discussed with the Kingdom of Hanover
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg , and joined with 38 other sovereign states in the German...
the possibility of a rail link via Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
and 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....
to Berlin.
Trunk line
Prolonged negotiations were conducted regarding the route between Cologne and DortmundDortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
. Interested parties from Bergisches Land
Bergisches Land
The Bergisches Land is a low mountain range region within the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over 20 artificial lakes...
and the Wupper
Wupper
The Wupper is a right tributary to the Rhine river in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous area of the Bergisches Land Berg County and enters the Rhine at Leverkussen, south of Düsseldorf...
valley supported a direct route through the local hills. This was rejected by the company because of the high costs for the necessary engineering works. On 18 December 1843, 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 granted a concession to the CME for the line from Deutz (now a suburb of Cologne) through Mülheim am Rhein
Mülheim am Rhein
Mülheim is a city district of Cologne in Germany and a formerly independent town . Mülheim is located on the right bank of the Rhine opposite the old town of Cologne....
, Düsseldorf, Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
, Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
, Altenessen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
, Wanne
Wanne
Wanne is a residential area in the northern outskirts of the city of Tübingen, Germany. Beyond Wanne extends the vast state nature protection area of the Schönbuch...
, Herne
Herne, Germany
Herne is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area directly between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen.- History :Like most other cities in the region Herne was a tiny village until the 19th century...
and Castrop-Rauxel
Castrop-Rauxel
-Geography:Castrop-Rauxel is between Dortmund to the east, Bochum , Herne , and to the north, Recklinghausen, Datteln and Waltrop.- Urban Area :The urban area of Castrop-Rauxel has an total expanse of...
to Dortmund and on to Hamm
Hamm
Hamm is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of December 2003 its population was 180,849. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway...
, Oelde
Oelde
Oelde is a town in the district of Warendorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near Beckum.-Division of the town:Oelde consists of 5 districts:* Oelde* Stromberg* Lette* Sünninghausen* Kirchspiel...
, Rheda
Rheda, Germany
Rheda is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, a part of the municipality of Rheda-Wiedenbrück in the Kreis of Gütersloh.-History:Rheda was first mentioned in documents from the year 1085, at the latest 1088...
, Bielefeld
Bielefeld
Bielefeld is an independent city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold...
and Herford
Herford
Herford is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.- Geographic location :...
to Minden. This route bypassed the old mining areas but travelled through more open terrain. This route is similar to that advocated by the economist Friedrich List
Friedrich List
Georg Friedrich List was a leading 19th century German economist who developed the "National System" or what some would call today the National System of Innovation...
in 1833. The decisive factor favouring the route north of the Ruhr was the influence of David Hansemann, who was then briefly Prussian Minister for Finance. The Prussian state acquired one seventh of the share capital of the company at its foundation.
The first section from Cologne to Düsseldorf (Cologne–Duisburg line
Cologne–Duisburg railway
The 64 km long Cologne–Duisburg railway is one of the most important lines in Germany. It is the main axis for long distance and urban passenger rail services between Cologne and the Ruhr, served by Intercity Express, Intercity, Regional Express, regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains...
) was opened on 20 December 1845. Only a few weeks later, on 9 February 1846, the second section was completed to a temporary terminus at the site of present-day Duisburg Hauptbahnhof
Duisburg Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof of the city of Duisburg in western Germany. It is situated at the meeting point of many important national and international railway lines in the Northwestern Ruhr valley.- Lines :...
called Duisburg Cologne-Minden station, the first of three train stations built at the same site. The next sections (Duisburg–Dortmund and Dortmund–Hamm lines) were opened on 15 May 1847. On 15 October 1847 the last section to Minden (Hamm–Minden line) was opened, thus completing the entire 263 kilometre long, single track railway. On the same day the Royal Hanoverian State Railways
Royal Hanoverian State Railways
The Royal Hanoverian State Railways existed from 1843 until the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866...
opened its Hanover-Minden Railway, completing a connection to Berlin and northeastern Germany.
Branch line to Duisburg-Ruhrort
In 1848 the CME built a branch line to the docks at RuhrortRuhrort
Ruhrort is a district within the German city of Duisburg situated north of the confluence of the Ruhr and the Rhine, in the western part of the Ruhr area...
from Oberhausen station and agreed with the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company
Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company
The Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company was a German railway company founded in 1850 and taken over by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company in 1862...
(Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrorter Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) to construct the Ruhrort-Homberg train ferry.
Cathedral Bridge
The government had pressed the company since the early 1850s to build a railway bridge over the Rhine in Cologne. Because it was not yet possible to build strong bridges with spans of over 100 metres, it was initially planned to build a bridge capable of carrying individual carriages pulled by horses. This was intended to avoid the unloading of cargo on to ferries and its reloading on the other side.It was then decided during the Cathedral Bridge
Cathedral Bridge
The Cathedral Bridge was a railway and street bridge crossing the river Rhine in the German city of Cologne. It was owned by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company and named after the Cologne Cathedral, which is located on the same longitudinal axis...
's construction to build a two-track bridge capable of supporting a locomotive, which had a swing bridge (which could be disabled in the event of war) on the west bank. This was required by the military, which had to give its consent for all bridge projects. It was a truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
with spans of 131 and 101 metres.
The foundation stone for its construction was laid by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV
Frederick William IV of Prussia
|align=right|Upon his accession, he toned down the reactionary policies enacted by his father, easing press censorship and promising to enact a constitution at some point, but he refused to enact a popular legislative assembly, preferring to work with the aristocracy through "united committees" of...
on 3 October 1855. It was opened in 1859 and was the second rail bridge over the Rhine, together with a road bridge that had been built in parallel. The first railway bridge across the Rhine had opened in the same year far upstream at Waldshut
Waldshut-Tiengen
Waldshut-Tiengen is a city in southwestern Baden-Württemberg right at the Swiss border. It is the district seat and at the same time the biggest city in Waldshut district and a "middle centre" in the area of the "high centre" Lörrach/Weil am Rhein to whose middle area most towns and communities in...
, which had spans of only 52 metres at most.
The bridge was demolished and replaced by the Hohenzollernbrücke
Hohenzollernbrücke
The Hohenzollern Bridge is a bridge crossing the river Rhine in the German city of Cologne. It crosses the Rhine at kilometre 688.5. Originally, the bridge was both a railway and street bridge, however, after its destruction in 1945 and its subsequent reconstruction, it was only accessible to rail...
between 1907 and 1911.
Holland line
The next line to be opened was the 73 km-long Holland line from OberhausenOberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
via Wesel
Wesel
Wesel is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.-Division of the town:Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighoven, Ginderich, Feldmark,Fusternberg, Büderich, Flüren and Blumenkamp.-History:...
and Emmerich
Emmerich
Emmerich am Rhein; , meaning Emmerich at the Rhine is a city on the lower part of the River Rhine in the northwest of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia...
to the German/Dutch border at Elten
Elten
Elten is a small German town located in Northrhine-Westfalia. It has a population of around 4,500. Since 1975, it is part of the town Emmerich am Rhein. Between 1949 and 1963, Elten was part of the Netherlands . There is a substantial minority of Dutch citizens.- External links :*...
and on to Arnhem
Arnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
. It was put into operation in sections from 15 February to 20 October 1856. The CME left operations on the section from Emmerich to the border of to the Dutch Rhine Railway Company .
Cologne-Gießen Railway
The Cologne-Minden Railway Company built the 183 kilometre long railway between 1859 and 1862 from Deutz via BetzdorfBetzdorf, Germany
Betzdorf is a town and municipality in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is part of the district of Altenkirchen. Betzdorf is located on the river Sieg, approx. 15 km south-west of Siegen. Betzdorf is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Betzdorf...
, Dillenburg
Dillenburg
Dillenburg is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis....
and 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...
to Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
, with a branch to the mines in Siegen
Siegen
Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region...
. In Siegen, it connected with the Main-Weser line
Main-Weser Railway
The Main-Weser Railway is the railway line in central Germany that runs from Frankfurt am Main via Gießen to Kassel and named after the railway company that built the line and also operated it until 1880. It was opened between 1849 and 1852 and was one of the first railways in Germany.- Route...
. This line now forms the northern part of the Sieg line, the Heller Valley Railway and the southern part of the Dill line.
Paris–Hamburg or Hamburg–Venlo railway
At the end of the 1860s the Cologne-Minden Railway Company built its largest project, when Prussia decided that the section of a French railway company's project for a line from Paris to HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
(called the "Paris-Hamburg line") in Germany would need to be owned and operated by a German railway company. The Cologne-Minden Railway Company won the tender to build the approximately 550 kilometre long Hamburg-Venlo
Venlo
Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg.In 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago,...
line against the competition of the Rhenish Railway Company. The cost of its construction was calculated to be 43 million thaler
Thaler
The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or tolar. Etymologically, "Thaler" is an abbreviation of "Joachimsthaler", a coin type from the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, where some of the first such...
s.
The Cologne-Minden Railway Company had reserved the right to connect the proposed line from Venlo via Wesel
Wesel
Wesel is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.-Division of the town:Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighoven, Ginderich, Feldmark,Fusternberg, Büderich, Flüren and Blumenkamp.-History:...
, Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
and Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
to Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
and Hamburg to its existing line between Cologne and Minden. Therefore, on 1 January 1870 it began construction of a new line between the two routes from Wanne-Eickel
Wanne-Eickel Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof of the former city of Wanne-Eickel, now part of Herne in western Germany.-History :The station grew out of the Pluto-Thies freight yard, opened in 1856 on the Duisburg–Dortmund line section of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company's trunk line, which was opened in 1847. In 1864, a...
to Haltern
Haltern
Haltern is a town and a municipality in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the Lippe and the Wesel–Datteln Canal, approx...
. During the Franco-Prussian War
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...
large parts of the line were temporarily put into operation: On 1 January 1870 to Munster, on 1 September 1871 to Osnabrück, on 15 May 1873 to Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
-Hemelingen. On 1 June 1874, the line was completed.
The line south towards Venlo reached Wesel on 1 March 1874, but was delayed by the need to build the longest railway bridge in Germany over the Rhine Bridge at Wesel, which was opened on 31 December 1874. During the planning phase had been argued that no financial return could be expected from this section. So not surprisingly the section Venlo–Straelen was closed at the initiative of the Dutch Railways on 3 October 1936. The rest between Straelen, Wesel and Haltern is also now largely closed. On the other hand the line from Wanne-Eickel to Hamburg is one of the busiest railway lines in Germany, however, and is now sometimes referred to as the Rollbahn ("rolling line").
Emscher Valley Railway
From 1871 to 1878 the CME built another line from Duisburg to Dortmund along the EmscherEmscher
The Emscher is a relatively small river and tributary of the Rhine, flowing through the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. Its total length is 84km with an average discharge near the mouth into the lower Rhine of 16 m³/s .The Emscher has its source in Holzwickede, east of the...
valley largely parallel to its trunk line via Osterfeld Süd and Wanne through the northern Ruhr to service the growing industries and prosperous coal mines.
Nationalisation
A law for the nationalisation of the Railway Company was proclaimed on 20 December 1879. At this time the Prussian government held 74 per cent of the share capital of the company. It placed the railway under the management of the Königliche Direction der Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn zu Köln (Royal directorate of the Cologne-Minden railway of Cologne) since 1 January 1879. On 23 February 1881 this directorate was renamed Königliche Eisenbahn-Direktion zu Köln rechtsrheinisch (Royal directorate of right Rhine railways of Cologne).The nationalization of the company involved about 619 locomotives and 17,023 wagons, operating on a 1,108 kilometre long railway network, of which 467 kilometres had been duplication. The purchase price financed through government bonds was 509,326,500 marks
German gold mark
The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914.-History:Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver...
.