Grand Duchy of Oldenburg State Railways
Encyclopedia
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
.
Compared with the other states in the German Empire, Oldenburg
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
's first railway line arrived relatively late. In this sparsely populated and economically poor area, the construction of railways appeared for a long while to be unsustainable due to the financial costs. In addition, the various ideas of its neighboring states, 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...
and 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...
prevented railway projects from coming to fruition for a long time.
Finally in 1864 a treaty was agreed between Prussia and Oldenburg over the construction of a railway line from Bremen to Oldenburg. At the same time Prussia committed itself to building a railway line from Heppens – later Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
– to Oldenburg (the Wilhelmshaven–Oldenburg line). The Grand Ducal Railway Commission, set up in 1864, was transferred on 1 April 1867, to the Grand Ducal Railway Division of Oldenburg.
On 17 November 1866, the first section of the route Oldenburg–Delmenhorst
Delmenhorst
Delmenhorst is an urban district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located 10 km/6 miles west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the city of Oldenburg is 25 km/15 miles to the northwest. The city has a total area of 62.36 km²...
was opened; in July 1867 its extension 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...
followed, and in September of the same year the section from Oldenburg to Heppens was finally completed.
In 1869 the east-west line from Bremen to Oldenburg was extended to what was then Prussian Leer
Leer
Leer is a town in the district of Leer, the northwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the river Ems, near the border with the Netherlands....
in East Frisia
East Frisia
East Frisia or Eastern Friesland is a coastal region in the northwest of the German federal state of Lower Saxony....
by a line from Oldenburg to Leer with a junction to the Hanoverian Western Railway
Hanoverian Western Railway
The Hanoverian Western Railway was a line from the Löhne to Emden, built by the Royal Hanoverian State Railways in the mid-19th century in the west of the Kingdom of Hanover in the modern German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia....
and, in 1876 by the section from Ihrhove to Nieuweschans
Ihrhove–Nieuweschans railway
The Ihrhove–Nieuweschans railway is an international railway line running from Ihrhove near Leer in Germany to Nieuweschans in the Netherlands. The line was opened in 1876. Ihrhove is situated on the north-south Emsland Railway, between Papenburg and Leer...
with a junction to the Dutch Railways.
In 1871 the town of Jever
Jever
Jever is the capital of the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany. The name Jever is usually associated with a major brand of beer which is produced here, the city is also a popular holiday resort. Jever was granted city status in 1536. Unofficially Jever is sometimes referred to as...
was linked via Sande
Sande
-Places:Germany* Sande, Lower Saxony, a municipality in Lower Saxony, Germany* Sande, Westphalia, a former municipality, which now forms part of Paderborn in North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyNorway* Sande, Vestfold, a municipality in Vestfold county...
(part of the East Frisian Coastal Railway); Brake
Brake
A brake is a mechanical device which inhibits motion. Its opposite component is a clutch. The rest of this article is dedicated to various types of vehicular brakes....
received a railway connexion in 1873 and Nordenham
Nordenham
Nordenham is a town in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located at the mouth of the Weser river on the Butjadingen peninsula on the coast of the North Sea. The seaport city of Bremerhaven is located on the other side of the river...
in 1875. The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg gained an important link to the south in 1876 with the so-called Southern Railway from Oldenburg via Quakenbrück
Quakenbrück
Quakenbrück is a town in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hase. It is part of the Samtgemeinde of Artland....
as far as Eversburg on the Osnabrück–Rheine line.
In 1897 the route from Jever
Jever
Jever is the capital of the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany. The name Jever is usually associated with a major brand of beer which is produced here, the city is also a popular holiday resort. Jever was granted city status in 1536. Unofficially Jever is sometimes referred to as...
to the harbour at Harle
Harle
Harle may refer to:* John Harle, saxophonist and composer* Mark Harle, singer and drummer* Harle, Germany* Harle, Northumberland* Harle , a video game character...
, opened in 1888 as the Jever–Carolinensiel railway, was finally taken over by the GOE. At the same time boat services to Wangerooge
Wangerooge
Wangerooge is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea located close to the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. It is also a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany.Wangerooge is one of the East Frisian Islands...
were started and a narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
railway, the Wangerooge Island Railway
Wangerooge Island Railway
The single track Wangerooge Island Railway is an unelectrified narrow gauge railway with a rail gauge of 1,000 mm located on the East Frisian island of Wangerooge off the northwestern coast of Germany...
laid from the jetty to the town.
In 1920 the GOE was merged into the newly founded Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The Deutsche Reichsbahn – was the name of the German national railway created from the railways of the individual states of the German Empire following the end of World War I....
. The Oldenburg staff were transferred to the Reichsbahn divisions of Hannover, Hamburg
Hamburg
-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...
und 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...
/Westfalia
Westfalia
Westfalia is the designation of various specially converted Volkswagen camper vans. It is named after Westfalia-Werke, the contractor that built the vans, which is headquartered in the town of Rheda-Wiedenbrück located in the Westphalia region of Germany....
after the disbandment of the railway division in Oldenburg town. In 1935 a monument was erected in Münster for the former Oldenburg railwaymen.
Literature
- 1843-1983. 140 Jahre Eisenbahndirektion Hannover, hrsg. von der Bundesbahndirektion Hannover.
- Gerold Schmidt, Das Denkmal Oldenburger Eisenbahner in Münster, in: Der Oldenburgische Hauskalender 2000, 174. Jg., Oldenburg 2000, S. 70-73
External links
- There is a relevant English-language forum at Railways of Germany