Elektrische Straßenbahn Spandau–Nonnendamm

In 1897, Siemens & Halske acquired approximately 21 hectares of land on Nonnendamm, where a new large industrial site was to be developed over the next few years, later known as Siemensstadt. Around the same time, a residential colony was established in the nearby Haselhorst area, including housing for the workers of the army's canned food factory, owned by the Prussian military treasury. The city of Spandau aimed to increase its tax revenue through these new industrial settlements. In support of these activities, the Mayor of Spandau, Koeltze, proposed the construction of a freight railway in 1899, branching off from the Spandau Military Railway to serve Nonnendamm. The following year, the Spandau Senate commissioned a railway construction company to begin preparatory work for a standard-gauge freight and tramway line connecting Spandau, Haselhorst, Nonnendamm, and Charlottenburg. During the negotiations, which lasted until 1902, several technical and legal issues were resolved, but financing the costly project, totaling 530,000 marks, remained unresolved. Consequently, the city initially did not pursue the expensive project further. Additionally, the project seemed unpromising as the relevant districts received a connection to public transport in 1905 with the Fürstenbrunn station, although it was over a kilometer away from the factory halls.

From 1904, the Siemens works expanded beyond the administrative borders of the Spandau exclave Nonnendamm into the neighboring districts of Niederbarnim and Osthavelland. Subsequently, both the city of Spandau and the city of Charlottenburg made efforts to bring the area under their jurisdiction. However, Charlottenburg, as a residential city, did not wish for further expansion of industrial facilities as it did not align with its urban planning ideals. On the other hand, Spandau sought to incorporate the area lying between the core city and the exclave, a goal achieved in 1908 and 1910. With the expansion of the factory site, Siemens revived the plans for the freight and tramway, taking the initiative for their implementation. In 1906, a contract was concluded with the military treasury for the construction of the freight railway, and in 1907, the company signed an agreement with the city for the construction of the tramway, which also stipulated the handover to the city in 1909.

The President of the Government in Potsdam granted Siemens & Halske the concession to operate the Spandau – Nonnendamm tramway on February 24, 1908. Initially, construction of the Siemens freight railway took precedence, which commenced operations on March 16, 1908. The construction of the tramway mainly took place in the summer of 1908. Due to track construction work on the Berlin Bridge, the opening date had to be postponed several times. Finally, on September 30, 1908, the tramway commenced operations from the intersection of Nonnendamm and Reisstraße via Haselhorst to the intersection of Breite and Havelstraße in Spandau. Two of the four tramcars were deployed at intervals of 30 minutes on the single-track route. Since the terminus in Spandau Old Town did not have a turnaround facility, trailer cars could not initially be used. From October 27, 1908, an additional third tramcar was deployed between Spandau and Haselhorst for worker transportation to the army canned food factory, and from early December, a fourth tramcar was added for evening services.

In March 1909, a new depot was built at the intersection of Nonnendamm and Grenzstraße. Prior to this, the cars were housed in the Siemens railway hall on Rohrdamm. The construction of the depot was necessary due to the expansion of the vehicle fleet, and initially, accommodation at the municipal tram depot was not feasible as it was already operating at full capacity. At Easter 1909, the tramway operated for the first time with trailer cars. For this purpose, a switch connection to the Spandau tramway network was established, which could be used as a provisional turning triangle. As this operating mode was insufficient, trains began to use a loop via Havelstraße, Potsdamer Straße, Markt, and Breite Straße from May 2, 1909.

To hand over the tramway to the city of Spandau, Siemens & Halske and Siemens-Schuckertwerke founded the Elektrische Straßenbahn Spandau–Nonnendamm GmbH on March 23, 1909. The city of Spandau acquired their shares in the company for 300,000 marks on October 1, 1909, at a price of 463,000 marks. The transfer of the concession to the city took place on February 16, 1910. Only the tracks exclusively used for passenger traffic were transferred. The tracks shared with the Siemens freight railway in Nonnendamm and Schwarzer Weg remained with Siemens. From April 1, 1910, the Spandauer Straßenbahn took over the operation of the tramway.

As a result of the continuous expansion of the Siemens works, demand on the Nonnendamm line also increased. In the morning and evening hours, trains operated with three cars. The extension of the route by 800 meters through Reisstraße and Rohrdamm to Fürstenbrunn station, which Siemens had already planned, was opened on November 1, 1911. The route ran via Reisstraße and Rohrdamm to the station on the Hamburg Railway.

At the beginning of 1912, a 700-meter branch line between the army canned food factory and Gartenfeld, where Siemens established its cable factory, was put into operation. The line was only intended for worker trains, which operated at the beginning and end of the working day. The city of Spandau subsidized the construction with 250,000 marks. Siemens also participated in the construction of the line, as there was a joint operation with the freight railway.

In 1913, line N, despite the heavy commuter traffic to the Siemens works, ranked third among the Spandau lines. While lines P to Pichelsdorf and H to Hakenfelde carried 3.26 million and 2.55 million passengers, respectively, the Nonnendamm line carried 1.865 million passengers. The other two lines, B and J to Spandauer Bock and Johannesstift, followed closely. Despite the extensions, the Nonnendamm line remained deficit-ridden throughout its existence. Revenue was relatively low because the line between Spandau and Haselhorst ran through predominantly undeveloped areas, and most passengers could use non-profit worker tickets. On the other hand, there were high operating expenses, which included the interest and amortization of the capital investment of 780,000 marks. Additional cars had to be provided for the commuter traffic, which concentrated within a few hours, but remained unused for the rest of the day. Finally, even after the city took over the tramway, it continued to source its electricity from the company's power plant, for which Siemens charged 12 pfennigs per kilowatt-hour. The municipal tramway transferred between 42,000 and 71,371 marks annually to the Nonnendamm line to offset its losses from 1910 to 1913. In 1912, the additional revenue was insufficient to cover the shortfall, so the city contributed an additional 11,000 marks. It was not until around 1914 that the situation seemed to improve. As the company was now fully integrated into the Spandauer Straßenbahn, considerations were made to dissolve the company from 1911. The city councilors made the decision on April 3, 1914. On October 1, 1914, the Elektrische Straßenbahn Spandau–Nonnendamm GmbH was removed from the commercial register.

Bus depot

The vehicles were initially housed in the station hall on Rohrdamm before a new depot at the corner of Nonnendamm and Grenzstraße was handed over to the operation on May 1, 1909. This Grenzstraße depot was first expanded in 1912 and provided space for 18 vehicles on an area of 1380 square meters. In 1920, the Berlin tram took over the depot as a branch of the Pichelsdorfer Straße depot under the number 28a. In 1923, the hall was extended by 35 meters. In 1944, the halls were heavily damaged due to combat actions. After temporary repair work, the BVG temporarily stored war-damaged vehicles there. In 1951, the building remnants were removed, and in 1954, the track loop was decommissioned, followed by the return of the site to Siemens.

Vehicles

The tram initially ordered six railcars and six sidecars. When operations opened, only four railcars were available; the remaining vehicles were delivered at the beginning of 1909. At Easter 1909, the railway used sidecars as planned for the first time. In 1911 the railway ordered seven more railcars and ten sidecars. The Spandau tram took over these cars in 1914 and included them in its numbering scheme. With the transition to the Berlin tram, the number was renumbered again.

The cars had open entry platforms and six or eight windows on each side. At the ends of the car and below the row of windows, the car number was written in the middle, with the words STRASSENBAHN SPANDAU – NONNENDAMM underneath. Line route signs were placed above the windows. Electricity was drawn from the overhead line via roller pantographs. Although Siemens preferred the pantograph for its trams at the time, a transition to the Spandau tram, which also used roller pantographs, was planned from the start. The railcars had 18 seats and 16 standing places, the sidecars had 24 seats and 20 standing places.

After 1920, the railcars were given the numbers 4156 to 4168. The Berlin tram retired them by 1929.