Royal Prussian Railway Administration
Encyclopedia
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
(Preußische Staatseisenbahn).
The initials KPEV are found on cast wagon plaques with the coat of arms, and appear to have been designed by an official of 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...
(Coeln) division and then unwittingly adopted by the other divisions. No organisation with the name Royal Prussian Railway Administration actually existed, but its German name and the abbreviation KPEV has been used widely by railway fans since about 1970.
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...
reported directly to the Ministry of Public Works. The correct title for the railways in Prussia was at first the Royal Prussian State Railways (Königlich Preußische Staatseisenbahnen). In 1896 it became the Prussian-Hessian State Railways (Preußisch-Hessische Staatseisenbahnen) and after the First World War, the Prussian State Railway (Preußische Staatsbahn).
The individual divisions or "royal railway divisions" (Königliche Eisenbahndirektionen) were abbreviated to KED and later ED. These are found in contemporary official documents, unlike the abbreviation KPEV.
The organisation and history of the railways of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
are found in the article on the Prussian state railways
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
.
Sources
- Andreas Wagner, Dieter Bäzold, Rainer Zschech, Ralph Lüderitz: Lokomotiv-Archiv Preußen 1 - Schnellzug- und Personenzuglokomotiven transpress, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-344-00470-0 S. 29