Deutsche Reichsbahn

Deutsche Reichsbahn was the German national railway system created after the First World War by bringing the principal state railways of the former German Empire under national control. It was not a single, unchanging legal entity: it began in 1920 as the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen, was reorganized in 1924 as the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG), and returned to direct state authority under the name Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1937. Its history therefore spans the Weimar Republic, the Nazi dictatorship, the Second World War, the Allied occupation, and the division of Germany after 1945. The railway was formed through the consolidation of the Prussian-Hessian, Bavarian, Saxon, Württemberg, Baden, Mecklenburg and Oldenburg state railways. Nationalization gave the republican government control of a strategically important transport network, but it also created a vast and financially pressured enterprise. Under the Dawes Plan, the railway was placed in a structure intended to generate revenue for German reparations. The 1924 DRG was nominally a private company but remained wholly owned by the German state. Its financial obligations, capital requirements and inherited assortment of locomotives and carriages constrained modernization during the 1920s and early 1930s. Despite these pressures, the Reichsbahn was a major industrial and technological institution. It standardized rolling-stock designs, expanded electrification in selected regions, operated extensive passenger and freight services, and supported experimental high-speed railcars. The diesel-powered Flying Hamburger demonstrated the potential of fast intercity rail, while electric systems developed in Bavaria, central Germany and Silesia helped establish technical foundations later used by German railways. The network included main lines, branch lines and light railways, linking Berlin with Hamburg, the Ruhr, southwestern Germany and eastern territories. Under National Socialism, the railway was absorbed more closely into the state apparatus. The 1937 law that placed the DRG under Reich sovereignty restored the name Deutsche Reichsbahn. The organization participated in the regime’s discriminatory employment policies and became an essential instrument of military mobilization. It transported troops, equipment and supplies for German campaigns and incorporated or administered railway assets in annexed and occupied territories. During the Holocaust, Reichsbahn trains were used to deport Jews and other persecuted groups to ghettos, concentration camps and extermination camps. The company’s logistical role made it materially complicit in Nazi persecution and mass murder. After Germany’s defeat, the railway was reorganized within the occupation zones. In 1949, West Germany created Deutsche Bundesbahn, while East Germany retained the name Deutsche Reichsbahn for its state railway. The East German Reichsbahn continued operating passenger and freight services, including in Berlin, until German reunification. In January 1994, Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn were merged to create Deutsche Bahn AG, ending the Reichsbahn as a separate national railway institution. Its legacy consequently combines national infrastructure building, engineering achievements, wartime logistics, institutional complicity in Nazi crimes and the divergent railway histories of East and West Germany.

Before 1920, German railway services were principally operated by the individual Länder of the German Empire. Earlier efforts to create a unified imperial railway had failed because the states resisted surrendering control. The constitutional and political changes following the First World War created the opportunity for national consolidation. A state treaty taking effect on 1 April 1920 transferred the principal railways of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, Baden, Mecklenburg and Oldenburg to the German Reich. The resulting organization was initially called the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen; the name Deutsche Reichsbahn was adopted by ministerial decree in 1921. The railway’s first republican phase was marked by both administrative integration and financial difficulty. In 1924, arrangements associated with the Dawes Plan led to the establishment of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft. Although legally organized as a public holding company and described as nominally private, it was wholly owned by the German state. Its assets and revenues were tied to reparations obligations. The railway was expected to operate profitably while also modernizing a system inherited from several administrations, each with its own locomotive classes, operating practices and technical traditions. The burden was eased only after the Lausanne Conference in 1932 ended Germany’s remaining reparations obligations. The DRG pursued standardization and selective modernization. Older Prussian and Bavarian locomotive classes remained dominant, but the organization developed standard steam locomotives, expanded electric traction and tested advanced railcars. The Bavarian Group Administration retained considerable autonomy until 1933 and contributed to electrification and new locomotive and railcar designs. High-speed diesel services, particularly the Flying Hamburger, showed that fast railcars could provide efficient express travel. The railway also operated a network extending across main lines, branch lines and light railways, with Berlin as a major hub. The Nazi regime transformed the railway’s institutional role. In 1937, legislation placed the company under Reich sovereignty and renamed it Deutsche Reichsbahn. The organization adopted discriminatory employment practices, including measures directed against employees in interfaith or intermarried relationships. After the annexation of Austria in 1938, it took over the Austrian federal railway system. It also absorbed or controlled railway assets in territories annexed or occupied by Germany. During the Second World War, the Reichsbahn was indispensable to German military operations. It transported troops, weapons, fuel and supplies for campaigns in Poland, Scandinavia, Western Europe, the Balkans and the Soviet Union. The invasion of the Soviet Union created major technical and logistical problems because Soviet railways used a broader gauge; German railway personnel and military railway units converted thousands of kilometres of track to standard gauge. The organization continued military movements even late in the war, including transfers connected with the Ardennes offensive. The railway’s most grave historical role was its participation in Nazi persecution and genocide. Its trains transported Jews and other targeted groups from Germany and occupied Europe to ghettos, concentration camps and extermination camps. The railway’s infrastructure, schedules, rolling stock and administrative systems made these deportations possible. This role has made Deutsche Reichsbahn a central example of how a large state enterprise was integrated into the machinery of the Holocaust. After 1945, the railway systems developed differently in the occupation zones. West Germany established Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1949. East Germany retained Deutsche Reichsbahn, which remained a state railway and continued to operate services in the German Democratic Republic and Berlin. The historical name therefore survived in the East German system for decades after the Nazi state had disappeared. Following reunification, the two administrations were merged in January 1994 into Deutsche Bahn AG, a state-owned joint-stock company. Deutsche Reichsbahn ceased to exist as a separate operating institution, although its infrastructure, equipment and organizational traditions continued to influence the unified German railway.

1. 1994Merger into Deutsche Bahn AG

   The East and West German railway administrations were merged after reunification.

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2. 1949Postwar division of German railways

   West Germany formed Deutsche Bundesbahn while East Germany continued operating Deutsche Reichsbahn.

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3. 1938Austrian railway incorporated

   Following the Anschluss, the Reichsbahn took over the Bundesbahn Österreich.

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4. 1937Return to direct Reich authority

   The DRG was placed under Reich sovereignty and renamed Deutsche Reichsbahn.

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5. 1935Network reaches major historical scale

   The railway network comprised approximately 68,728 kilometres of line, including main, branch and light railways.

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6. 1933Bavarian Group Administration dissolved

   Railway administration in Bavaria was brought under the central Deutsche Reichsbahn structure.

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7. 1931Schienenzeppelin speed record

   The experimental railcar reached 230.2 km/h on 21 June, demonstrating the potential of high-speed rail technology.

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8. 1924Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft established

   The railway was reorganized as a state-owned public holding company connected with reparations financing under the Dawes Plan.

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9. 1921Name Deutsche Reichsbahn adopted

   A decree of the Reich Transport Minister formally introduced the Deutsche Reichsbahn name.

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10. 1920National consolidation of the German state railways

    The railways of several German states were transferred to national control on 1 April, creating the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen.

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State-owned national railway and integrated rail transport operator

• Passenger rail servicesPassenger transport1920

  The Reichsbahn operated local, regional and long-distance passenger trains across Germany. Its services included conventional steam-hauled trains, electric services in selected regions and fast diesel railcars. Passenger transport connected major cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt with regional centres and rural branch-line communities.

• Freight rail servicesFreight transport1920

  Freight was a core activity, serving German industry, ports, agriculture and military logistics. The organization maintained a very large goods-wagon fleet and operated shipments across the national network and, during the war, across annexed and occupied railway systems.

• Flying HamburgerHigh-speed passenger rail1933

  The Flying Hamburger was a streamlined diesel railcar service developed for fast intercity travel. Its operation demonstrated the efficiency of lightweight diesel multiple-unit technology and became one of the best-known symbols of interwar German railway modernization.

• Electrified railway servicesElectric rail transport1911

  The Reichsbahn expanded electric traction from earlier regional experiments, particularly in Bavaria, central Germany and Silesia. The 15 kV, 16.7 Hz system used on the Dessau–Bitterfeld route became part of the technical tradition of German main-line electrification.

• Military railway logisticsLogistics1937

  During the Nazi period and the Second World War, the railway moved troops, weapons, fuel, vehicles and other supplies. This function supported German military operations and was inseparable from the railway’s participation in occupation and deportation systems.

• 1994Merge the two German railway administrationsM&A

  German reunification created the need to integrate the East German Reichsbahn and West German Bundesbahn.

  What changed. The two organizations were combined to form Deutsche Bahn AG.

  Aftermath. Deutsche Reichsbahn ceased to exist as a separate railway operator, while its assets and operating traditions became part of the unified German railway.

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• 1937Return the railway to direct state authorityStrategy

  The Nazi government sought tighter administrative control over major national institutions and strategic infrastructure.

  What changed. The DRG was placed under Reich sovereignty and given the name Deutsche Reichsbahn.

  Aftermath. The railway became more directly integrated into the dictatorship’s economic, military and racial policies.

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• 1924Reorganize the railway as a state-owned public holding companyStrategy

  The Dawes Plan and Allied reparations demands required Germany to use the railway as a revenue-generating asset while preserving state ownership.

  What changed. The government established the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft with a nominally private corporate form and assigned it responsibility for operating the national railway.

  Aftermath. The structure supported reparations payments but placed substantial financial pressure on the railway and constrained investment.

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• 1939Participation in Nazi deportationsControversy

  Deutsche Reichsbahn infrastructure and personnel were used to transport Jews and other persecuted groups to ghettos, concentration camps and extermination camps. The railway’s role made it a practical component of the Holocaust’s deportation system.

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• 1933Discrimination against intermarried employeesControversy

  The railway adopted discriminatory employment measures under the Nazi regime, including dismissals and restrictions affecting German employees married to Jews or in relationships targeted by Nazi racial policy.

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• 1994Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn merge

  The two German railway administrations were combined to form Deutsche Bahn AG after reunification.

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• 1949German railways divided after the creation of the two German states

  Deutsche Bundesbahn was established in West Germany, while East Germany retained the Deutsche Reichsbahn name.

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• 1937Deutsche Reichsbahn placed under Reich sovereignty

  Legislation ended the DRG’s nominally separate corporate status and restored direct state authority over the railway.

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• 1924Railway reorganized as Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft

  A new state-owned public holding company was established in the context of the Dawes Plan and reparations arrangements.

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• 1920Creation of the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen

  Germany brought the principal state railways of the former Länder under national control, creating the institutional predecessor of Deutsche Reichsbahn.

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1. Deutsche Reichsbahn