Ludwig South-North Railway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Ludwig South-North railway (Ludwig-Süd-Nord-Bahn), built between 1843 and 1854, was the first railway line to be constructed by Royal Bavarian State Railways

Royal Bavarian State Railways

As a nation-state, Germany did not come into being until the creation of the German Empire in 1871 from the various German-speaking states such as Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Baden and Württemberg. By then each of the major states had formed its own state railway and these continued to remain...

. It was named after the king, Ludwig I

Ludwig I of Bavaria

Ludwig I was a German king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.-Crown prince:...

, whose infrastructure priorities had earlier been focused less on railway development than on his Main-Danube canal project.

The railway ran from Lindau

Lindau

Lindau is a Bavarian town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance, the Bodensee. It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau. The historic city of Lindau is located on an island which is connected with the mainland by bridge and railway.- History :The name Lindau was...

on Lake Constance via Kempten

Kempten im Allgäu

Kempten is the largest town in Allgäu, a region in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. The population was ca 61,000 in 2006. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later overtaken by the Romans, who called the town Cambodunum...

, Augsburg

Augsburg

Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

, Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

and Bamberg

Bamberg

Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...

to Hof

Hof, Germany

Hof is a city located on the banks of the Saale in the northeastern corner of the German state of Bavaria, in the Franconia region, at the Czech border and the forested Fichtelgebirge and Frankenwald upland regions....

where it linked up with the Saxon-Bavarian Railway Company.

Background

Following the successful experiment involving the construction of a railway connecting Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

to Augsburg

Augsburg

, which had opened on 4 October 1840, committees sprang up in many parts of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

to plan private railways. The government determined that the building of further railways should become a state responsibility, however. On 14 January 1841 Bavaria concluded with Saxony

Kingdom of Saxony

The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...

and Saxe-Altenburg

Saxe-Altenburg

Saxe-Altenburg was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia.-History:The duchy originated from the medieval Burgraviate of Altenburg in the Imperial Pleissnerland , a possession of the Wettin Margraves of Meissen since 1243...

an agreement to build a railway connecting 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...

with Nuremberg

Nuremberg

, which would cross into Bavaria at Hof

Hof, Germany

. The parties committed to have the railway ready for operation within six years.

The Bavarian government decided to extend the railway past Augsburg

Augsburg

(already connected by rail to Munich

Munich

, the capital city) through the Allgäu

Allgäu

The Allgäu is a southern German region in Swabia. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia and southeastern Baden-Württemberg. The region stretches from the prealpine lands up to the Alps...

as far as Lake Constance. The necessary legislation was passed in Munich on 25 August 1843. With a budgeted cost of 51.5 million Guilders

South German gulden

The Gulden was the currency of the states of southern Germany between 1754 and 1873. These states included Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Frankfurt and Hohenzollern....

, it was planned that the entire length would be ready within ten years. The section between Augsburg and Hof would account for 33 million guilders. Space for two tracks would be prepared, but initially only a single track would be laid. Responsibility for the construction would be given to Chief Engineer, August Pauli and, initially, the French-born railroad pioneer Paul Camille von Denis

Paul Camille von Denis

Paul Camille Denis, later von Denis, was an engineer, railway pioneer and participant in the Hambach Festival, the German political protest of 1832....

, though Denis had been taken off the project in 1842 in order to take over the construction of a line connecting Ludwigshafen (at the time also ruled by Bavaria) with Saarbrücken

Saarbrücken

Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

(subsequently named the Palatine Ludwig Railway (Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn).

Northern section – Hof to Nuremberg

The privately owned Saxony-Bavaria Railway Company, in which the governments of Saxony

Kingdom of Saxony

and Saxe-Altenburg

Saxe-Altenburg

held a minority stake, started work on the Saxon end of the railway line in 1841.

In Bavaria, following the establishment in 1841 of the Nuremberg

Nuremberg

-based Royal Railway Building Commission, work began on ground preparation in 1842, but due to topographical challenges of the kind familiar to later generations of railway builders, serious construction began only in 1843. Sometimes-conflicting objectives included the avoidance of over-steep sections while nonetheless connecting as many towns and cities as possible with the railway. Nevertheless, on the slopes of the Fichtelgebirge (Hills)

Fichtelgebirge

The Fichtelgebirge is a mountain range in northeastern Bavaria, Germany. It extends from the valley of the Red Main River to the Czech border, a few foothills spilling over into the Czech Republic. It continues in a northeastern direction as the Ore Mountains, and in a southeastern direction as...

between Neuenmarkt

Neuenmarkt

Neuenmarkt is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.-City arrangement:Neuenmarkt is arranged in the following boroughs:...

and Wirsberg

Wirsberg

Wirsberg is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.-City arrangement:Wirsberg is arranged in the following boroughs:* Birkenhof* Cottenau* Einöde* Goldene Adlerhütte* Neufang* Osserich* Schlackenmühle* Sessenreuth...

, the route incorporates a stretch with an average gradient of 23‰.

The first stretch of line, between Nuremberg and Bamberg

Bamberg

, was opened to passengers in October 1844. The full 203 kilometers of the northern section were opened in five successive stages, the fifth, between Hof

Hof, Germany

and the frontier with Saxony, opening in November 1848. A celebration of the opening of the first sections of the line took place at Nuremberg on 25 August 1848, which was the king's birthday, by when the line already extended north as far as Neuenmarkt.

Although the Bavarian part of the project had overshot the agreed six-year time line, it was still ready ahead of the Saxon part, full opening of which was delayed by topographical challenges until 1851.

To the north of Nuremberg, at Erlangen

Erlangen

Erlangen is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located at the confluence of the river Regnitz and its large tributary, the Untere Schwabach.Erlangen has more than 100,000 inhabitants....

where the line ran parallel to the Ludwigs canal (the Rhine-Main-Danube canal of that time), the railway incorporated the 306-meter-long Burgberg tunnel, Bavaria's oldest railway tunnel.

From 1852 there was a connection at Bamberg with the new Ludwig's Western Railway

Ludwig's Western Railway

Ludwig's Western Railway is a German railway line that was originally funded by the Kingdom of Bavaria. It runs from Bamberg via Würzburg to Aschaffenburg and on into the former 'Kurhessian' Hanau.- History :...

towards Würzburg

Würzburg

Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

, Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...

and, by 1854, the Hessean frontier at Kahl

KAHL

KAHL and is a radio station broadcasting an Adult Standards format. Licensed to San Antonio, Texas, USA, the station serves the San Antonio area. The station is currently owned by Pearsall Radio Works, Ltd..-History:...

.

After the unification of Germany in 1870, Hof ceased to be a frontier town and the line became a significant component of the national rail network. Between 1862 and 1892, the opportunity was taken to install a second track, for which space had already been allowed at the time of the original construction: by 1939 electrification had been completed from Nuremberg as far as Bamberg. In 1945, however, following the Second World War

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...

, Germany was partitioned, with Bavaria

Bavaria

in the US occupation zone

Allied Occupation Zones in Germany

The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder-Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative purposes during 1945–49. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, US forces had pushed beyond the previously agreed boundaries for the...

(which subsequently became part of 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....

and Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

in the Soviet occupation zone (which subsequently became East Germany). The line lost importance. In the 1960s, over a ten-kilometer section between Marktschorgast

Marktschorgast

Marktschorgast is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.-City arrangement:Marktschorgast is arranged in the following boroughs:...

and Stammbach

Stammbach

Stammbach is a municipality in the district of Hof in Bavaria in Germany....

, the second track was removed since the level of traffic had become too low to justify maintenance of a parallel track over this mountain section.

The railway's decline was reversed with the unification

German 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...

of the two post-war German states: since 1990 the line has recovered much of its former importance. The route of the northern section of the Ludwig South-North railway has changed little since 1848.

Centre Section Nuremberg to Augsburg

Work had also started on the central section in 1843, and the first section, between Oberhausen

Augsburg-Oberhausen

Oberhausen is one of the seventeen Planungsräume of Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. Located in the northwestern portion of the city, it is home to 23,510 residents as of January 1, 2006, making it one of the larger planning districts in terms of population...

and Nordheim (now a district of Donauwörth

Donauwörth

Donauwörth is a city in the German State of Bavaria , in the region of Swabia . It is said to have been founded by two fisherman where the Danube and Wörnitz rivers meet...

) was opened in November 1844. By the end of 1849 the entire middle section had been completed. The capital

Munich

was linked in to the national rail network on 1 June 1846 when the Munich–Augsburg railway found itself nationalised in return for a shareholder compensation payment of 4.4 Million Guilders

South German gulden

The Gulden was the currency of the states of southern Germany between 1754 and 1873. These states included Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Frankfurt and Hohenzollern....

.

The section ran relatively indirectly between Nurmenburg and Augsburg, partly for topographical reason and partly because it was hoped this would facilitate an interchange at Nordlingen

Nördlingen

Nördlingen is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Bavaria, Germany, with a population of 20,000. It is located in the middle of a complex meteorite crater, called the Nördlinger Ries. The town was also the place of two battles during the Thirty Years' War...

with the Royal Württemberg State Railways

Royal Württemberg State Railways

The Royal Württemberg State Railways were the state railways of the Kingdom of Württemberg between 1843 and 1920...

, an aspiration that would be fulfilled from the Württemberg side of the frontier only in 1861.

At Donauwörth

Donauwörth

Donauwörth is a city in the German State of Bavaria , in the region of Swabia . It is said to have been founded by two fisherman where the Danube and Wörnitz rivers meet...

the line included Bavaria's second oldest tunnel, although the 125 meter long tunnel would become redundant for its original purpose after 1870 when the route round Donauwörth

Donauwörth

Donauwörth is a city in the German State of Bavaria , in the region of Swabia . It is said to have been founded by two fisherman where the Danube and Wörnitz rivers meet...

was changed. Today the south-eastern end of the tunnel, which lies directly beyond the site of the former station, has been converted for warehousing and residential uses.

Section of line	Length	Opened
Oberhausen–Nordheim	36.3 km	20 November 1844
Augsburg–Oberhausen	2.5 km	1 July 1847
Nordheim–Donauwörth	2.0 km	15 September 1847
Schwabach–Nuremberg	15.0 km	1 April 1849
Donauwörth–Oettingen	42.4 km	15 May 1849
Oettingen–Gunzenhausen	26.5 km	20 August 1849
Gunzenhausen–Schwabach	45.5 km	1 October 1849

Southern Section Augsburg to Lindau

Before the southern portion of the railway had been completed, work had already begun in Augsburg

Augsburg

on the Maximilian Railway (Bayerischen Maximiliansbahn)

Bavarian Maximilian’s Railway

The Bavarian Maximilian’s Railway was as an east-west line built between the Bavarian border with Württemberg at Neu-Ulm in the west via Augsburg, Munich and Rosenheim to the Austrian border at Kufstein and Salzburg in the east as part of the Royal Bavarian State Railways...

which would run westwards towards Neu-Ulm

Neu-Ulm

Neu-Ulm is a town in Bavaria, capital of the Neu-Ulm district. Neighbouring towns include Ulm, Senden, Pfaffenhofen an der Roth, Holzheim, Nersingen and Elchingen. The population is 51,110 .-History:...

and the frontier with Württemberg

Kingdom of Württemberg

The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...

. The landscape to the west of Augsburg was less challenging than the route to the south, and the line towards Ulm

Ulm

Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...

could already be opened as far as Dinkelscherben

Dinkelscherben

Dinkelscherben is a municipality in the district of Augsburg in Bavaria in Germany....

on September 26, 1853.

By 1852 the Ludwig South-North railway extended as far south a Kempten

Kempten

Kempten can refer to:* Kempten im Allgäu, a town in Bavaria, Germany* Kempten ZH, a district of the town of Wetzikon in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland* Kempton Park, Gauteng, a city in South Africa which was named after Kempten in Bavaria...

where a large timber bridge built for two tracks carried it over the River Iller

Iller

The Iller is a river in Bavaria, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube, 147 km in length.The source is located near Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region of the Alps, close to the Austrian border. From there it runs northwards, passing the towns of Sonthofen, Immenstadt, and Kempten...

. The bridge would be replaced by a concrete structure, but not before 1906. Just 7 kilometers further along the line towards Immenstadt

Immenstadt

Immenstadt im Allgäu is a town in the Upper Allgäu, far southern region of Bavaria, Germany, in the German Alps.-External links:*...

, at Waltenhofen

Waltenhofen

Waltenhofen is a municipality in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavaria in Germany....

, came another large timber bridge. This 53 meter long structure would be replaced by a steel bridge in 1900. Between Immenstadt and Lindau the line follows two difficult mountain passes in order to avoid Württemberg

Kingdom of Württemberg

, at that time still a foreign state. The final 1.8 kilometers, opened early in 1854, ran along the wall protecting the town from Lake Constance.

The entire route having been completed on March 1, 1854, 566 kilometers of line with space for two tracks had been completed in less than eleven years: this represented a remarkable achievement in view of the resources then available.

Commissioning progress

Section
Northern	Length	in Service
Nürnberg–Bamberg	62.4 km	1 September 1844 Goods Traffic 1 October 1844 Passenger Traffic
Bamberg–Lichtenfels	31.9 km	15 February 1846
Lichtenfels–Neuenmarkt	42.5 km	15 October 1846
Neuenmarkt–Hof	52.9 km	1 November 1848
Hof (Saxon frontier)	13.0 km	20 November 1848
Centre
Oberhausen–Nordheim	36.3 km	20 November 1844
Augsburg–Oberhausen	2.5 km	1 July 1847
Nordheim–Donauwörth	2.0 km	15 September 1847
Schwabach–Nürnberg	15.0 km	1 April 1849
Donauwörth–Oettingen	42.4 km	15 May 1849
Oettingen–Gunzenhausen	26.5 km	20 August 1849
Gunzenhausen–Schwabach	45.5 km	1 October 1849
Southern
Augsburg–Kaufbeuren	60.2 km	1 September 1847
Kaufbeuren–Kempten	42.5 km	1 April 1852
Kempten–Immenstadt	21.7 km	1 May 1853
Immenstadt–Oberstaufen	16.9 km	1 September 1853
Oberstaufen–Aeschach	49.7 km	12 October 1853
Aeschach–Lindau Bf.	1.8 km	1 March 1854

Sources and further reading

Markus Hehl: Eisenbahn im Allgäu. 150 Jahre Ludwig-Süd-Nord-Bahn. (Eisenbahn-Kurier Special 46) EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1993
Stephan Kuchinke: Die Ludwigs-Süd-Nordbahn von Lindau nach Hof. Transpress, Stuttgart 1997 ISBN 3-613-71064-1
Steffen Lüdecke: Die Schiefe Ebene. Eine legendäre Eisenbahnstrecke. EK-Verlag. Freiburg im Breisgau 1993 ISBN 3-88255-833-4
Carl Asmus: Eisenbahnen im Allgäu, Teil 1, 2, und 3; als Eisenbahn-Journal-Sonderausgaben; ISSN: 0720-051 X (Teil 1), ISBN 3-922404-44-8 (Teil 2), 3-922404-31-6 (Teil 3)
Wolfgang Klee/Ludwig v. Welser, Bayern-Report, Bände 1–5, Fürstenfeldbruck, 1993–1995.
Dt. Reichsbahn, Die deutschen Eisenbahnen in ihrer Entwicklung 1835–1935, Berlin, 1935.
Scheingraber, Günther, Die Königlich Bayerischen Staatseisenbahnen, Stuttgart, 1975
v. Welser, Ludwig: Bayern-Report, Bände 4–9, Fürstenfeldbruck 1994–2001
Walther Zeitler/Helge Hufschläger, Eisenbahnen in Schwaben - 1840 bis heute", Motorbuch-Verlag, 1980

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