Deutsche Reichsbahn of the GDR
Encyclopedia
The Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR (German Reich Railways) was the operating name of state owned railways in the German Democratic Republic
(East Germany).
In 1949 occupied Germany
's railways were returned to German
control after four years of allied
control following World War II
. Those in the Soviet occupation zone (which became the German Democratic Republic
or GDR on October 7, 1949) continued to run as the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the name given to the German national railways
in 1937. In West Germany
, the Reichsbahn was succeeded by the Deutsche Bundesbahn
(DB).
Both the Reichsbahn and the Bundesbahn continued as separate entities until 1994, when they merged to form the Deutsche Bahn
.
(Ministerium für Verkehr der DDR). From November 1954 - November 1989, the GDR Minister of Transport also occupied the position of the Director General of the DR (Generaldirektor der Deutschen Reichsbahn). The headquarters of the DR was located in East Berlin
at No. 33 Voßstraße, close to the Berlin Wall
and across from the site of the former Reich Chancellery.
The company was administratively subdivided into eight regional directorates (Reichsbahndirektionen) with headquarters in Berlin
, Cottbus
, Dresden
, Erfurt
, Greifswald
, Halle
, Magdeburg
and Schwerin
.
Mitropa
furnished catering services to the DR, both on board trains and in stations.
(DB) in West Germany
. Fares were fairly cheap, but trains tended to be overcrowded and slow, owing in part to the poor condition of most railway lines in the GDR. The DR did offer a limited number of express trains such as the "Neptun" (Berlin
- Copenhagen
), "Vindobona" (Berlin - Vienna
), "Karlex" (Berlin - Carlsbad
) and "Balt-Orient-Express" (Berlin - Bucharest
).
Steam engines were the work horses after the war and remained important for a long time into the period of German partition. The DR's last steam engine (on normal-gauge tracks) was taken out of service on 28 May 1988. Much of the electrified rail network that existed in (present-day) eastern Germany in 1945 had been removed and sent to the Soviet Union
as war reparations
in the early years of Soviet occupation. By the early 1970s, only a small portion of the tracks in the GDR had been electrified in comparison with those in Western Europe; the GDR leadership chose to reduce the pace of electrification and instead relied on mostly Russian-made diesel locomotive
s due to the easy availability of fuel from the Soviet Union at subsidized prices.
When the GDR's energy costs began to rise dramatically in the early 1980s (in part because the Soviet Union ceased to subsidize the price of fuel sold to the GDR), the DR embarked on a large rail electrification campaign as the GDR's electrical power grid could be supplied with electricity generated from the burning of domestically-produced lignite
. Even so, not much progress had been realized by the time of reunification with West Germany
.
throughout the years of the Cold War
(and also after the reunification of Germany) until the merger of the DR and DB in January 1994. This led to unique situations due to the occupied status of West Berlin and the presence of the DR there. For example, there were Bahnpolizei (railway police) employed by the DR in their West Berlin railway stations who were controlled by the GDR Interior Ministry, although the three Western Allies
(the United States
, Great Britain
and France
) never officially recognized the authority of the GDR government in the Soviet (Eastern) sector of Berlin, let alone in West Berlin. For this reason, the West Berlin Polizei
had separate patrols who were empowered to maintain law and order in the West Berlin railway stations.
The West German Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) maintained a ticket office in West Berlin for many years on Hardenbergstraße near the main Zoological Garden railway station that was run by the Eastern Reichsbahn. One reason for this was due to the generally poor customer service offered at the DR's ticket counters . Another reason may have been psychological – to promote a visible West German government presence in West Berlin.
Another oddity was the presence of a ticket counter at the East Berlin station Berlin Ostbahnhof
(known as Berlin Hauptbahnhof from 1987 to 1998) operated by the Soviet
(later Russia
n) military to facilitate transport of their personnel to and from Russia. A special military train operated regularly between Berlin and Moscow
until 1994 when the Russian military finally withdrew from Germany. Each of the Western Allies also maintained their own stations and ticket offices in their respective zones:
The Western Allies operated military trains over DR lines converging on the route between Berlin-Wannsee
and Marienborn
. DR conductors and engine crews operated these trains while military transport officers and soldiers dealt with their passengers and the Soviet military checkpoint officials at Marienborn.
The presence of the DR in West Berlin was costly to the GDR – the annual operating deficit for the DR in West Berlin in the early 1980s was estimated to be around 120-140 million Deutsche Marks
. The status of Berlin is also believed to be the reason the East Germans retained the name Deutsche Reichsbahn as it was mentioned as such in transit treaties. After the foundation of East Germany on 7 October 1949 the East German government continued to run all the railways in its territory under the official name Deutsche Reichsbahn (1949–1994), by so doing it maintained responsibility for almost all railway transport in all four sectors of Berlin. Had the DR been renamed, for example, Staatseisenbahn der DDR (State Railways of the GDR) along the lines of other East German institutions, the Western Allies would probably have refused to recognize it as the same or a successor organization and removed its right to operate in West Berlin. The legal necessity of keeping the term ' Deutsche Reichsbahn' explains the surprising use of the word 'Reich' (with its Imperial and Nazi connotations) in the name of an official organisation of the communist GDR. This quasi-official presence in West Berlin was apparently very important to the GDR regime, otherwise it is hard to explain the GDR's willingness to incur large hard currency
deficits to operate and maintain the West Berlin railway system.
The DR also operated the S-Bahn
local train service in West Berlin during much of the Cold War period. Following the erection of the Berlin Wall
on 13 August 1961, many West Berliners boycotted the S-Bahn in West Berlin. After a strike by West Berlin-based DR employees in September 1980, the S-Bahn service in West Berlin was greatly reduced. Almost half of the West Berlin S-Bahn railway network was closed following this action, including the closure of the western portion of the Berlin circular ring railway (Ringbahn).
On 9 January 1984, a treaty between the GDR and the West Berlin Senate
entered into force and turned over the responsibility for operation of the S-Bahn in West Berlin to the West Berlin transport authority BVG
. The BVG gradually restored much of the S-Bahn service that had been previously reduced. Following the reunification in October 1990, the arrangements were kept until the creation of Deutsche Bahn AG on 1 January 1994 when the new company took over all S-Bahn operations in the Greater Berlin region.
It took several years to realize full restoration of all S-Bahn services throughout the Greater Berlin region. Service on the West Berlin portion of the Ringbahn was not restored until after reunification (in phases, from 1993 to 2002). Capital projects continue to address the backlog of construction needs that developed during the DR-GDR era.
, the DR and DB continued to operate as separate entities in their respective service areas, albeit under a coordination agreement concerning operations. On 1 June 1992, the DB and DR formed a joint board of directors which governed both entities. The merger between the DR and DB were delayed by several years over the structure of merged railway due to concerns by German politicians on the ever-increasing annual operating deficits incurred by the DB and DR. The Bundesverkehrsministerium proposed a comprehensive reform of the German railway system (Bahnreform) which was approved by the Bundestag
in 1993 and went into effect on 1 January 1994, that included the planned merger between the DR and DB on 1 January 1994 to form the Deutsche Bahn
Aktiengesellschaft or AG (Corporation), which is a state-owned limited stock company.
(1) Was also GDR Minister of Transport during his term of service as Director General of the DR.
Dürr was also concurrently chairman of the board of the DB. He later served as the chairman of the joint board of directors of the DB and DR from June 1992 - December 1993.
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(East Germany).
In 1949 occupied Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's railways were returned to German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
control after four years of allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
control following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Those in the Soviet occupation zone (which became the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
or GDR on October 7, 1949) continued to run as the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the name given to the German national railways
Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn was the name of the following two companies:* Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German Imperial Railways during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the immediate aftermath...
in 1937. In 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....
, the Reichsbahn was succeeded by the Deutsche Bundesbahn
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
(DB).
Both the Reichsbahn and the Bundesbahn continued as separate entities until 1994, when they merged to form the Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
.
Organisation
The DR was the largest employer in the GDR and as a state-owned firm was directly subordinated to the GDR Ministry of TransportMinisterrat
The Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic was the chief executive body of East Germany from November 1950 until the GDR was unified with the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990...
(Ministerium für Verkehr der DDR). From November 1954 - November 1989, the GDR Minister of Transport also occupied the position of the Director General of the DR (Generaldirektor der Deutschen Reichsbahn). The headquarters of the DR was located in East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
at No. 33 Voßstraße, close to 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...
and across from the site of the former Reich Chancellery.
The company was administratively subdivided into eight regional directorates (Reichsbahndirektionen) with headquarters in 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...
, Cottbus
Cottbus
Cottbus is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree. As of , its population was .- History :...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, 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...
, Greifswald
Greifswald
Greifswald , officially, the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald is a town in northeastern Germany. It is situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at an equal distance of about from Germany's two largest cities, Berlin and Hamburg. The town borders the Baltic Sea, and is crossed...
, 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...
, 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 Schwerin
Schwerin
Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...
.
Mitropa
Mitropa
Mitropa is a catering company best known for having managed sleeping and dining cars of different German railways for most of the 20th century. Since its reorganization in 2002, the company only provides stationary food services for rail and road customers. The name Mitropa is a derivative of ""...
furnished catering services to the DR, both on board trains and in stations.
Passenger service
The DR was centrally directed according to socialist principles within the context of a centrally-planned command economy. By 1989, 17.2% of the passenger transport volume in the GDR was handled by the DR - three times the market share of the Deutsche BundesbahnDeutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
(DB) in 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....
. Fares were fairly cheap, but trains tended to be overcrowded and slow, owing in part to the poor condition of most railway lines in the GDR. The DR did offer a limited number of express trains such as the "Neptun" (Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
- Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
), "Vindobona" (Berlin - Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
), "Karlex" (Berlin - Carlsbad
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately west of Prague . It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370...
) and "Balt-Orient-Express" (Berlin - Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
).
Electrification
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as war reparations
War reparations
War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...
in the early years of Soviet occupation. By the early 1970s, only a small portion of the tracks in the GDR had been electrified in comparison with those in Western Europe; the GDR leadership chose to reduce the pace of electrification and instead relied on mostly Russian-made diesel locomotive
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
s due to the easy availability of fuel from the Soviet Union at subsidized prices.
When the GDR's energy costs began to rise dramatically in the early 1980s (in part because the Soviet Union ceased to subsidize the price of fuel sold to the GDR), the DR embarked on a large rail electrification campaign as the GDR's electrical power grid could be supplied with electricity generated from the burning of domestically-produced lignite
Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...
. Even so, not much progress had been realized by the time of reunification with 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....
.
The DR in Berlin during the Cold War
Due to the Four-Power Occupation Agreements for Berlin, in which the long-term division of Germany and Berlin (the partition of Germany into two German states; and Berlin partitioned into two principal zones of occupation, West Berlin and East Berlin) was not foreseen, the DR operated the long-haul railway service (Fernverkehr) and barge canals in both East and West BerlinWest Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
throughout the years of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
(and also after the reunification of Germany) until the merger of the DR and DB in January 1994. This led to unique situations due to the occupied status of West Berlin and the presence of the DR there. For example, there were Bahnpolizei (railway police) employed by the DR in their West Berlin railway stations who were controlled by the GDR Interior Ministry, although the three Western Allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
(the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) never officially recognized the authority of the GDR government in the Soviet (Eastern) sector of Berlin, let alone in West Berlin. For this reason, the West Berlin Polizei
Polizei
Polizei is the German word for police. It might refer to:-National agencies:*Bundespolizei - Federal Police of Germany*Bundespolizei - Federal Police of Austria*Bundeskriminalamt - Federal Criminal Office of Germany, comparable to the FBI...
had separate patrols who were empowered to maintain law and order in the West Berlin railway stations.
The West German Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) maintained a ticket office in West Berlin for many years on Hardenbergstraße near the main Zoological Garden railway station that was run by the Eastern Reichsbahn. One reason for this was due to the generally poor customer service offered at the DR's ticket counters . Another reason may have been psychological – to promote a visible West German government presence in West Berlin.
Another oddity was the presence of a ticket counter at the East Berlin station Berlin Ostbahnhof
Berlin Ostbahnhof
Berlin Ostbahnhof is a mainline railway station in Berlin, Germany. It is in Friedrichshain, now part of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, and has undergone several name changes in its history. It was known as Berlin Hauptbahnhof from 1987 to 1998, a name now applied to Berlin's new central station...
(known as Berlin Hauptbahnhof from 1987 to 1998) operated by the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
(later Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n) military to facilitate transport of their personnel to and from Russia. A special military train operated regularly between Berlin and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
until 1994 when the Russian military finally withdrew from Germany. Each of the Western Allies also maintained their own stations and ticket offices in their respective zones:
- United States: Lichterfelde West;
- United Kingdom: CharlottenburgCharlottenburgCharlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
; and - France: TegelTegelTegel is a locality in the Berlin borough of Reinickendorf on the shore of Lake Tegel. The Tegel locality, the second largest in area of the 95 Berlin districts, also includes the neighbourhood of Saatwinkel.-History:...
.
The Western Allies operated military trains over DR lines converging on the route between Berlin-Wannsee
Wannsee
Wannsee is a locality in the southwestern Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Germany. It is the westernmost locality of Berlin. In the quarter there are two lakes, the larger Großer Wannsee and the Kleiner Wannsee , are located on the river Havel and are separated only by the Wannsee bridge...
and Marienborn
Marienborn
Marienborn is a village and a former municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it has been part of the municipality of Sommersdorf. It is about southwest of Haldensleben...
. DR conductors and engine crews operated these trains while military transport officers and soldiers dealt with their passengers and the Soviet military checkpoint officials at Marienborn.
The presence of the DR in West Berlin was costly to the GDR – the annual operating deficit for the DR in West Berlin in the early 1980s was estimated to be around 120-140 million Deutsche Marks
German mark
The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...
. The status of Berlin is also believed to be the reason the East Germans retained the name Deutsche Reichsbahn as it was mentioned as such in transit treaties. After the foundation of East Germany on 7 October 1949 the East German government continued to run all the railways in its territory under the official name Deutsche Reichsbahn (1949–1994), by so doing it maintained responsibility for almost all railway transport in all four sectors of Berlin. Had the DR been renamed, for example, Staatseisenbahn der DDR (State Railways of the GDR) along the lines of other East German institutions, the Western Allies would probably have refused to recognize it as the same or a successor organization and removed its right to operate in West Berlin. The legal necessity of keeping the term ' Deutsche Reichsbahn' explains the surprising use of the word 'Reich' (with its Imperial and Nazi connotations) in the name of an official organisation of the communist GDR. This quasi-official presence in West Berlin was apparently very important to the GDR regime, otherwise it is hard to explain the GDR's willingness to incur large hard currency
Hard currency
Hard currency , in economics, refers to a globally traded currency that is expected to serve as a reliable and stable store of value...
deficits to operate and maintain the West Berlin railway system.
The S-Bahn in West Berlin during the Cold War
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...
local train service in West Berlin during much of the Cold War period. Following the erection 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...
on 13 August 1961, many West Berliners boycotted the S-Bahn in West Berlin. After a strike by West Berlin-based DR employees in September 1980, the S-Bahn service in West Berlin was greatly reduced. Almost half of the West Berlin S-Bahn railway network was closed following this action, including the closure of the western portion of the Berlin circular ring railway (Ringbahn).
Senate of Berlin
The Senate of Berlin is the executive body governing the city of Berlin, which at the same time is a state of Germany. According to the Constitution of Berlin the Senate consists of the Governing Mayor of Berlin and up to eight Senators appointed by the Governing Mayor, two of whom are appointed ...
entered into force and turned over the responsibility for operation of the S-Bahn in West Berlin to the West Berlin transport authority BVG
Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe
The is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's U-Bahn underground railway, tram, bus and ferry networks, but not the S-Bahn urban rail system....
. The BVG gradually restored much of the S-Bahn service that had been previously reduced. Following the reunification in October 1990, the arrangements were kept until the creation of Deutsche Bahn AG on 1 January 1994 when the new company took over all S-Bahn operations in the Greater Berlin region.
It took several years to realize full restoration of all S-Bahn services throughout the Greater Berlin region. Service on the West Berlin portion of the Ringbahn was not restored until after reunification (in phases, from 1993 to 2002). Capital projects continue to address the backlog of construction needs that developed during the DR-GDR era.
The DR after the reunification of Germany
Article 26 of the Unification Treaty (Einigungsvertrag) between the two German states signed on 31 August 1990 established the DR as special property (Sondervermögen) of the Federal Republic of Germany, and stipulated the DR to be merged with DB at the earliest opportunity. Upon reunificationGerman reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, the DR and DB continued to operate as separate entities in their respective service areas, albeit under a coordination agreement concerning operations. On 1 June 1992, the DB and DR formed a joint board of directors which governed both entities. The merger between the DR and DB were delayed by several years over the structure of merged railway due to concerns by German politicians on the ever-increasing annual operating deficits incurred by the DB and DR. The Bundesverkehrsministerium proposed a comprehensive reform of the German railway system (Bahnreform) which was approved by the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
in 1993 and went into effect on 1 January 1994, that included the planned merger between the DR and DB on 1 January 1994 to form the Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
Aktiengesellschaft or AG (Corporation), which is a state-owned limited stock company.
Directors General of the DR
- Willi Besener (1946–1949)
- Willi KreikemeyerWilli KreikemeyerWilli Kreikemeyer was a German labourer and a Communist. From 1941 he and his wife Marthe Kreikemeyer were close assistants of Noel Field who supported German anti-Nazi refugees in France and Switzerland....
(1949–1950) - Erwin KramerErwin KramerErwin Kramer was a German politician, East German Minister of transportation and General Director of the Deutsche Reichsbahn ....
1 (1950–1970) - Otto Arndt1 (1970–1989)
- Herbert Keddi (1989–1990)
- Hans Klemm (1990–1991)
(1) Was also GDR Minister of Transport during his term of service as Director General of the DR.
Chairman of the board of the DR
Heinz Dürr 1991-1992Dürr was also concurrently chairman of the board of the DB. He later served as the chairman of the joint board of directors of the DB and DR from June 1992 - December 1993.
See also
- List of East German Deutsche Reichsbahn locomotives and railbuses
- Deutsche Reichsbahn service ranksDeutsche Reichsbahn service ranksSince its beginning until the year 1991, service rank was a permanent element of service with the Deutsche Reichsbahn , whether as a civil servant or as an employee. Every railroad employee was obliged to wear the conferred insignia while on duty and entitled to do so off duty. The service rank was...
- Berlin S-BahnBerlin S-BahnThe 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...
- InterflugInterflugInterflug was the state airline of East Germany from 1963 to 1991, when it ceased operations following German reunification...