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The first train to run in Germany was on December 7th 1835 when a steam engine designed and built in Newcastle by George Stephenson was driven from Nürnberg to Fürth by an English driver, William Wilson (who remained in Germany and is buried in Nürnberg). The next couple of years saw other lines being built as the railway revolution swept the German states – Germany was then a collection of states, principalities and dukedoms rather than the unified country we know today. In 1872 the German Empire was formed consisting of 25 sovereign states, many of which operated their own railways.
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At the end of the Great War in 1919, the railway companies were brought together in the newly-formed Deutsche Reichsbahn. Locomotive construction was standardised, safety improved and a genuine national network was established. In 1924 the first Rheingold Express service began, running from the Hook of Holland to Basle in Switzerland. In 1936 the steam locomotive set a new world record speed of 200 km/h (126.5 mph) – a record that was only broken by Mallard in England two years later – and only by 2 mph.
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In 1937 the rise of Hitler and his political party meant the rebranding of much of Germany and the swastika started appearing on railways throughout the country. A year later Germany took control of the railways in Austria, Bohemia and Moravia – those of Poland and Czechoslovakia were to follow in 1939 as the Second World War began.
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Although the railways served the German war effort admirably, enormous damage was done to the infrastructure in later years by Allied bombing. In 1945 Germany was split between West Germany and East Germany though the occupation of Allied forces continued until 1949. The East Germans retained the DR (Deutsche Reichsbahn) name for their railways whilst newly-formed West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) adopted the name DB (Deutsche Bundesbahn). Both were controlled by their respective governments.
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In East Germany the trains were run according to communist principles, being cheap but overcrowded and inefficient. Steam was used extensively – ironically prior to the War much of the network had been electrified but most of it was removed and shipped to the USSR as war reparations. Most trains were hauled by Russian-built diesel locomotives and steam was used until 1988.
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In the West, railway development had been more rapid with the end of steam in 1976, extensive electrification, the reopening of international lines to link West Germany to the rest of (western) Europe and in 1988 DB began tests with the high-speed ICE trains (see our page dedicated to the ICE network – click on the button at the foot of the page). A year later the Berlin Wall fell – in October 1990 Germany was reunited and in 1994 all German rail operations were brought together under Deutsche Bahn (also DB).
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