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Duchy of Brunswick State Railway

Transport company of the Duchy of Brunswick (1838-1869)1

The Duchy of Brunswick State Railway (Herzoglich Braunschweigische Staatseisenbahn) 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 1838.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Dec 1, 1838Founded1
  • HeadquartersBrunswick1

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Braunschweig Erster Bahnhof Kopfgebaeude 1838
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

The Duchy of Brunswick State Railway (Herzoglich Braunschweigische Staatseisenbahn) 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 1838.2

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On 10 July 1843 the eastern branch Wolfenbüttel–Oschersleben via Jerxheim and Schöningen was opened with the junction to the Prussian railways operated by the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company and further connection to Berlin and Leipzig as well as to the Brunswick exclave of Blankenburg.

The western Brunswick-Peine line was opened on 19 May 1844 with a junction to the Royal Hanoverian State Railways after an agreement had been reached finally with reluctant Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover.

The Brunswick Southern Railway branch from Börßum to the Hanoverian Southern Railway at Kreiensen was built from 1853 and opened in 1856.

In 1858 the Helmstedt brown coal district was connected to Jerxheim by the Jerxheim–Helmstedt railway.

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Another branch from Vienenburg to Goslar opened in 1866; as this line ran entirely through Hanover territory it had been built by the Hanoverian State Railway, but was at first operated by the Brunswick State Railway.

When the southwestern link from Kreiensen to Holzminden and Höxter link to the lines of the Royal Westphalian Railway Company opened in October 1865, a through route was established via Altenbeken to the Rhine-Westphalian industrial region.

With the completion of the Jerxheim–Börßum railway, a long-distance through route was established in 1868 between Magdeburg and the Ruhr area bypassing both Hanover and Brunswick, which was of particular interest to Prussia. The major east–west thoroughfare was superseded by the Berlin–Lehrte railway (Lehrter Bahn) opened in 1871.

From Wikipedia’s article on Duchy of Brunswick State Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Acquisitions

After the 1866 annexation of Hanover by Prussia, the Brunswick lines were entirely surrounded by the Prussian state railways. In 1869 Amsberg entered into the sale of the Brunswick State Railway to Prussia with a heavy heart. The Duchy of Brunswick had amassed heavy debts at that time, that had arisen mainly due to the expansion of the railway.

In March 1870, with effect from 1 January 1869, the Brunswick State Railways were transferred to a private railway concern, the Brunswick Railway Company. Amsberg did not survive to see the Prussian state buy up the shares in this company between 1879 and 1882, operate it under the Prussian state railways and subordinate it in 1886 to the royal railway division (Eisenbahndirektion) of Magdeburg.

From Wikipedia’s article on Duchy of Brunswick State Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. Jan 1, 1869Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. Dec 1, 1838Founded Founded1

Sources

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