Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine

The Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine (Reichseisenbahnen in Elsaß-Lothringen) were the first railways owned by the German Empire

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...

.

They emerged in 1871, after 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...

had ceded the region of 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...

to the German Empire under the terms of the peace treaty following 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...

. The railways of the private Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est
Chemins de fer de l'Est
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est , often referred to simply as the Est company, was an early French railway company. The company was formed in 1853 by fusion from Compagnie de Paris à Strasbourg, operating the Paris-Strasbourg line, and Compagnie du chemin de fer de Montereau à Troyes...

(CF de l'Est; English: [French] Eastern Railway Company) – with a total of 740 kilometres (459.8 mi) of line – were formally purchased from the French and then sold again to the German Empire. The purchase price of 260 million Goldmark

Goldmark

Goldmark can refer to:*German Goldmark, coinage of the German Empire*Karl Goldmark , composer*Rubin Goldmark, composer*Peter Carl Goldmark, scientist and inventor*Peter J. Goldmark, rancher, geneticist and politician...

s was counted as compensation

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 :...

for the war.

The General Division of the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine (Kaiserliche General-Direction der Reichseisenbahnen in Elsaß-Lothringen) had its head office in Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

and was subordinated directly to the Reich Chancellor. In 1878, however, it was re-subordinated to the newly created Imperial Ministry for the Management of Railways in Alsace-Lorraine 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...

.

The General Division managed six regional operating divisions, which had their headquarters in Mülhausen, Colmar

Colmar

Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....

, Strasbourg

Strasbourg

I and II, Saargemünd 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...

. It was also responsible for a seventh region, with a headquarters in Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

, which ran the operations of the Wilhelm Luxembourg Railway.

In the early days railway vehicles were almost exclusively and forcibly taken from the German railways, because French troops had taken with them almost all rolling stock in the region during the retreat. Later they built copies of German railway stock, mainly based on Prussian prototypes.

Railway operations were carried out, in principle, in accordance with the regulations of the Prussian state railways.

Because the CF de l'Est were also the leaseholders of the Wilhelm Luxembourg Railway with a route length of 169 km (105 mi), the Imperial Railways took over the running of the network. An 18 km (11.2 mi) long railway line from Colmar to Münster

Munster, Haut-Rhin

Munster is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is located in a valley of the Vosges mountains about 15 kilometres west of Colmar on the D417 road to the Col de la Schlucht and Épinal....

(French Munster), which belonged to the town of Münster, was also purchased.

In the succeeding years the network was expanded significantly. Shortly before the start of the First World War (1912) the Imperial Railway network in Alsace-Lorraine had a total length of 2100 km (1,304.9 mi), of which 78 km (48.5 mi) was narrow gauge. After the end of the war these railways returned to France. Subsequently the network of this region was managed independently again as the Administration des chemins de fer d'Alsace et de Lorraine until it merged into the Société nationale des chemins de fer français
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...

(SNCF) in 1938.

In Alsace and in Lorraine many multi-track routes are still driven on the right, whereas in the rest of France they drive on the left.

External links

There is a relevant English-language forum at Railways of Germany

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