This page lists the major German regional and national rail networks together with the Epochs used by model manufactures to indicate to which period a model belongs. The Epoch periods are taken from NEM (standards organisation) document 806 but fitted to events from the perpspective of a British man. The information here is deliberately limited in scope, it is a primer only. Local private railways are ignored.
| Historical Context | Länderbahnen | Abbreviation | English name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Epoch I 1835 to 1870 | At the start of the steam hauled railway era Germany existed as a number of independant states, each with a royal head. Railways in these regions came to be operated under the patronage of the state. We now call them collectively the Länderbahnen. In 1871 the German states were unified politically under Emperor Wilhelm I but independant railways continued. In 1918, at the end of WWI, German Emporer Wilhelm II abdicated and the state monarchies ceased. In 1920 seven remaining Länderbahnen were amalgamated to form the national Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen. (The names used here are those from the royal period, at the end of WWI). | Königlich Preußische und Großherzoglich Hessische Staatseisenbahnen | K.P.u.G.H.St.E. | Royal Prussian and Grand Duchy of Hesse |
| Königlich Bayerische Staatseisenbahn | K.Bay.Sts.B. | Royal Bavarian | ||
| Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen | K.Sächs.Sts.E.B. | Royal Saxon | ||
| Königlich Württembergische Staatseisenbahn | K.W.St.E. | Royal Wurttemberg | ||
| Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahn | G.Bad.St.E. | Grand Duchy of Baden | ||
| Großherzoglich Mecklenburgische Friedrich-Franz-Eisenbahn | M.F.F.E. | Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz | ||
| Großherzoglich Oldenburgische Staatseisenbahn | G.O.E. | Grand Duchy of Oldenburg |
| Historical Context | Period | Railway | Referred to as | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epoch II Nationalised German Railway 1920 to 1949 | In 1919 the Weimar Republic was established as the post WWI German government. In 1920 this administration created a national state railway. In 1924 the railway was structured as a company, the profits from which were to pay war reparations. The railway company remained wholly owned by the government. In 1937 the National Socialists, then the German government, returned the railways to state control. Initially after WWII the German railways in a region were controlled by the Allied military forces occupying that area. In 1949, following the broader division of Germany into East and West, the railways returned to German control but as two separate state networks. | 1920 to 1924 | Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen | |
| 1924 to 1937 | Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft | DRG | ||
| 1937 to 1949 | Deutsche Reichsbahn | DRB |
| Historical Context | Region | State | Railway | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Epochs III and IV Epoch III Epoch IV | The German Federal Republic created the Deutsche Bundesbahn. The DB got capital investment which provided renewed infrastructure. In the Democratic Republic the Deutsche Reichsbahn continued but with little investment. In 1968 the DB implemented a change to numeric only locomotive numbering, removing the use of a letter (e.g. V for diesel, E for electric) as part of the identification. In 1970 the DR adopted this new European standard too. In 1989 the Berlin wall fell, followed in 1990 by the re-unification of the German nation. | West Germany | German Federal Republic | Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) |
| East Germany | German Democratic Republic | Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) |
| Historical Context | Country | Railway | Abbreviations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epoch V Re-Unified Germany 1990 to 2006 | The backdrop is now moving from politics to business. It actually took until 1st January 1994 for DB AG to formally become the national railway company in Germany. In 1999 the assets of the company were split between 5 principal subsidiaries, a structure in part to support running rights of foreign train operators across EU rail infrastructure. In 2007 the organisation of Deutsche Bahn subsidiaries was changed again. | Federal Republic of Germany | Deutsche Bahn Aktiengesellschaft | DB AG, DBAG, DB |
| Current Context | DBAG Subsidiary | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epoch VI Liberalised operations 2007 and since | Market liberalisation has spawned restructured DBAG subsidiaries extending the influence of Deutsche Bahn all the way to Britain. The freight business, DB Schenker, now owns operations across Europe and runs them under its own brand. In the UK EWS (English, Welsh, and Scottish Railway) was acquired as part of this process. DBAG also intend to compete with Eurostar for Channel Tunnel passenger business. Trains meeting the technical requirements for this are in development. | DB Bahn | Passenger Services |
| DB Schenker | Freight Logistics | ||
| DB Netze | Infrastructure and Operations |