Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (1924–1937)
Among the provisions of the 1924 Dawes Plan was a plan to utilize the state railway completely for the payment of war reparations. Following the plan's publication, on 12 February 1924, the Reich government announced the creation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn as a state enterprise under the Reich Ministry of Transport.
As this was not enough to satisfy the reparations creditors, on 30 August 1924 a law was enacted providing for the establishment of a state-owned Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft ("German Imperial Railway Company", DRG) as a public holding company to operate the national railways. The aim was to earn profits which, under the Dawes Plan, were to be used to contribute to Germany's war reparations.
At the same time as the Reichsbahn law was enacted, the company was handed a bill of eleven billion Goldmarks to be paid to the Allied powers, while its original capital was valued at fifteen billion Goldmarks. These terms were later amended in the Young Plan. Nevertheless, the Great Depression and the regular payment of war reparations (about 660 million Reichsmarks annually) put a considerable strain on the Reichsbahn. Not until the Lausanne Conference of 1932 was the Reichsbahn released from its financial obligations. In total, about 3.87 billion Goldmarks was paid in reparations to the Allied powers.
During the DRG period the following milestones occurred:
The beginning of the DRG was characterised by the acquisition of new rolling stock built to standard types, such as the standard steam locomotives (Einheitsdampflokomotiven). The stock already in use had been inherited from the various state railways and comprised a great number of designs, many of them quite old. In fact, the DRG was unable to procure new stock in the numbers it wanted to both for financial reasons and due to delays in upgrading the lines to carry higher axle loads. The locomotive classes taken over from the old state railways, especially those from the Prussia, continued to dominate the scene until the end of the 1930s. They included, for example, the Prussian P 8 (BR 38.10-40), Prussian P 10 (BR 39), Prussian G 12 (BR 58.10) and the Prussian T 20 (BR 95). The Bavarian S 3/6 (BR 18.5) express locomotive even continued in production until 1930.
Not until the procurement programme for the wartime Kriegslokomotiven were new goods locomotives built in large numbers, but of course now for a very different purpose.
Taking lead from the German Labor Front, the Deutsche Reichsbahn took part in the conflict of intermarriage in Germany. In August 1933 Robert Ley, leader of Reich Labor, demanded that those administrators working for the German Labor Front be married only to German individuals. The Deutsche Reichsbahn took the lead in discriminating against intermarried workers, firing German employees married to Jews and forbidding intermarried Germans from working there in the future, starting in November 1933.[10]
In 1935 the railway network had a total of 68,728 km of line, of which 30,330 km was main line railway, 27,209 km were branch lines and 10,496 km were light railways.[11] The vehicle fleet in 1926 comprised 27,600 locomotives, 63,900 passenger cars, 690,000 freight cars, 21,800 luggage cars, and 1,000 motor locomotives.[12]
In the latter part of the 1930s, the development of high-speed trains like the "Flying Hamburger" was accelerated. Before that streamlined steam engines had been built, but they were not as economical as the high-speed diesel and electric railcars. Although the Borsig streamlined steam engine, the no. 05 002 reached a speed of 200.4 km/h during a demonstration run, the Reichsbahn preferred fast railcars on its high speed network. The potential of these express trains was demonstrated by the Schienenzeppelin in its record run on 21 June 1931 when it reached a top speed of 230.2 km/h.
Before the Second World War the most important railway lines ran in an east–west direction. The high-speed lines at that time were on the Prussian Eastern Railway which ran through the Polish corridor (albeit slower there due to the poor state of the tracks), the lines from Berlin to Hamburg, via Hanover to the Ruhrgebiet, via Frankfurt am Main to southwest Germany, on which the diesel express trains ran, and the Silesian Railway from Berlin to Breslau (now Wrocław).
- 1 October 1930: the DRG took over the Bremen Port Railway (Hafenbahn Bremen)
- 27 June 1933: the DRG's sister company the Reichsautobahn was founded
- 1 March 1935: the railways of the Saar were incorporated
Bavarian Group Administration
Within the state of Bavaria, the Bavarian Group Administration (Gruppenverwaltung Bayern) had its head office (Zentrales Maschinen- und Bauamt) and was largely independent by § III 14 of the DRG's company regulations. It was responsible for the electrification of many lines, following the commencement of electric power generation to the railways at the Walchensee Power Plant, and for the independent trialling and procurement of locomotives and passenger coaches. The Group Administration introduced, for example, the Class E 32 locomotive and Class ET 85 railcar into service.
Bavaria also continued to use its own signalling system for many years after the merger.
In 1933 the Group Administration was disbanded and administration of the railways in Bavaria was taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn.
Electrification
Between 1901 and 1904 first electric high-speed pilot vehicles were proven in Zossen/ Berlin Marienfelde station. The electrification of many lines started with local grids, so in Bavaria (Augsburg), Saxony (Central Germany (cultural area), Berlin (pilot lines) and in Lower Silesia. 1911 the first 15 kV AC (16.7 Hz) line was erected between Dessau and Bitterfeld including the power plant Muldenstein. 1914 started the electrified Silesian grid with the power plant Mittelsteine.
Leadership of the Reichsbahn
