Länderbahnen
Encyclopedia
The German term Länderbahnen (singular: Länderbahn) generally refers to the state railways of the German Empire
in the period from about 1840 to 1920 when they were merged into the Deutsche Reichsbahn
after the First World War.
or KPEV did not exist - see article - although some of the rolling stock carried 'KPEV' emblems and the abbreviation is commonly used in railway circles nowadays.
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...
in the period from about 1840 to 1920 when they were merged into the Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn was the name of the following two companies:* Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German Imperial Railways during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the immediate aftermath...
after the First World War.
Railways merged into the Deutsche Reichsbahn
The seven state railways forming the merger were the:- Prussian State LinePrussian state railwaysThe term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
(Preußische Staatsbahn or P.St.B.) - Royal Bavarian State RailwaysRoyal Bavarian State RailwaysAs 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...
(Königlich Bayerische Staatseisenbahn or K.Bay.Sts.B.) - Royal Saxon State RailwaysRoyal Saxon State RailwaysThe Royal Saxon State Railways were the state-owned railways operating in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1869 to 1918...
(Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen or K.Sächs.Sts.E.B.) - Royal Württemberg State RailwaysRoyal Württemberg State RailwaysThe Royal Württemberg State Railways were the state railways of the Kingdom of Württemberg between 1843 and 1920...
(Königlich Württembergische Staatseisenbahn or K.W.St.E.) - Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahn or G.Bad.St.E.), 1840–1920
- Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz RailwayGrand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz RailwayThe Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz Railway was the state railway company in Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz...
(Großherzoglich Mecklenburgische Friedrich-Franz-Eisenbahn or M.F.F.E.) - Grand Duchy of Oldenburg State RailwaysGrand Duchy of Oldenburg State RailwaysThe Grand Duchy of Oldenburg Railway was the railway company that was run as a state railway for the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg , part of the German Empire....
(Großherzoglich Oldenburgische Staatseisenbahn or G.O.E.), 1867–1920
Other state railways
Other state railways that existed during this period, but which later folded or were absorbed, included the:- Royal Hanoverian State RailwaysRoyal Hanoverian State RailwaysThe Royal Hanoverian State Railways existed from 1843 until the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866...
(Königlich Hannöversche Staatseisenbahnen or K.H.St.B.), merged with Royal Prussian State RailwaysPrussian state railwaysThe term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
(Königlich Preußische Staatseisenbahnen or K.P.St.E.) in 1866 - Nassau State RailwayNassau State RailwayThe Nassau State Railway took over the privately built railway lines on the Rhine and Lahn rivers in the Duchy of Nassau from the Nassau Rhine and Lahn Railway Company in 1861 and extended them further...
(Herzoglich Nassauische Staatsbahn or H.N.St.B.), merged with the K.P.St.E.Prussian state railwaysThe term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
in 1866 - Bebra-Hanau Railway (Bebra-Hanauer Eisenbahn), a KurhessianProvince of KurhessenThe Province of Kurhessen was a province of Prussia within Nazi Germany from 1944-45.Although all German states, including Prussia, had been de facto dissolved since 1933, the Nazi government formally dissolved the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau into two provinces on 1 April 1944: Kurhessen and...
state railway, merged with the K.P.St.E.Prussian state railwaysThe term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
in 1866 - Duchy of Brunswick State RailwayDuchy of Brunswick State RailwayThe Duchy of Brunswick State Railway was the first state railway in Germany. The first section of its Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway line between Brunswick and Wolfenbüttel opened on 1 December 1838.-Opening:...
(Herzoglich Braunschweigische Staatseisenbahn), merged with the K.P.St.E.Prussian state railwaysThe term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
in 1870 - Anhalt Leopold Railway (Anhaltische Leopoldsbahn), merged with the K.P.St.E.Prussian state railwaysThe term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
in 1882 - Grand Duchy of Hesse State RailwaysGrand Duchy of Hesse State RailwaysThe Grand Duchy of Hesse State Railways belonged to the Länderbahnen at the time of the German Empire. In the 19th century, the Grand Duchy of Hesse consisted of three provinces. Between the rivers Rhine, Main and Neckar the province of Starkenburg embraced the Odenwald and the Hessian Ried...
(Großherzoglich Hessischen Staatseisenbahnen or G.H.St.E.), merged with the K.P.St.E.Prussian state railwaysThe term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
in 1897 to form the Royal Prussian and Grand Duchy of Hesse State RailwayPrussian-Hessian Railway CompanyThe Royal Prussian and Grand-Ducal Hessian State Railways was a state-owned network of independent railway divisions in the German states of Prussia and Hesse in the early 20th century...
(Königlich Preußische und Großherzoglich Hessischen Staatseisenbahnen or K.P.u.G.H.St.E.) - Imperial Railways in Alsace-LorraineImperial Railways in Alsace-LorraineThe Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine were the first railways owned by the German Empire.They emerged in 1871, after France had ceded the region of Alsace-Lorraine to the German Empire under the terms of the peace treaty following the Franco-Prussian War...
(Reichseisenbahn Elsaß-Lothringen), lost to FranceFrench Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
after the First World War
KPEV
Note that the so-called Royal Prussian Railway AdministrationRoyal Prussian Railway Administration
The title Royal Prussian Railway Administration or KPEV is often mistakenly used to describe the Prussian state railways ....
or KPEV did not exist - see article - although some of the rolling stock carried 'KPEV' emblems and the abbreviation is commonly used in railway circles nowadays.
Sources
- German Wikipedia article on the "History of the Railway in Germany"