Lusatian Railway Company
Preserved 1935 type T2 diesel railcar at the Minden Museum Railway | |
| Industry | Rail Transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 21 March 1896 |
| Defunct | 1 January 1939 |
| Successor | Deutsche Reichsbahn |
| Headquarters | Sommerfeld (Lubsko) |
| Parent | Lokalbahn AG |
The Lusatian Railway Company (German: Lausitzer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft; LEG) was a German railway company which operated railway lines in Lusatia, as well as Lower Silesia, both modern day Poland and Germany. The company was based in Sommerfeld (now Lubsko), and was a subsidiary of Lokalbahn AG, which was based in Munich.[1]
Until its nationalisation in 1939, the company operated four railway lines: Ruszów–Gozdnica, Lubsko–Muskau, Jankowa Żagańska–Przewoź, and Muskau–Weißwasser.[2]
History
The company was founded on 21 March, 1896. Its first railway line, the Ruszów–Gozdnica railway opened on 1 December, 1896. The 8.42 km (5.23 mi) line branched off the Miłkowice–Jasień railway.[3]
The second railway line opened was the Lubsko–Muskau railway, via Tuplice. The northern section opened first, on 1 October 1897, with the southern section opening on 15 June 1898, which made the line a total of 42.7 km (26.5 mi) long.[4] In the same year, the company took over the 7.7 km (4.8 mi) long Muskau–Weißwasser railway, which was previously owned by the Berlin-Görlitz Railway Company, opened on 15 October 1872.
On 1 April 1901 the company took over the Jankowa Żagańska–Przewoź railway, which was previously opened on 1 October 1895.[5] The line was extended to Przysieka in Dąbrowa Łużycka on 1 October 1913, but this line closed in 1936.[6] By 1913, the company had operated 87 km (54 mi) of railway lines. The Ruszów–Gozdnica railway was planned to be extended to Przewoź would have created a continuous Lusatian railway network, was never constructed due to World War I.
On 1 January 1939, the Lusatian Railway Company was nationalised, being taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Lokalbahn AG was nationalised the year prior on 1 August.[7] After World War II, the area east of the Oder–Neisse line was placed under Polish administration. Almost all railway lines previously owned by the company now lie in modern-day Poland, being fully or partially abandoned, or owned and operated by Polish State Railways.
References
- ^ "Lausitzer Eisenbahn AG". ZBW (in Polish and German). 1895–1939. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
- ^ "Verstaatlichung der Lausitzer Eisenbahn" [Nationalisation of the Lusatian Railway]. Frankfurter Zeitung (in German) (587). Lusatian Railway Company. 15 November 1938.
- ^ "Linia 339 Ruszów - Gozdnica". www.jelenia.rail.pl. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ^ "365 Stary Raduszec - Łęknica". Atlas Kolejowy (in Polish). Retrieved 29 November 2025.
- ^ "380 Jankowa Żagańska - Sanice gr. p. [PL/DE]". Atlas Kolejowy (in Polish). Retrieved 29 November 2025.
- ^ "380a Przewóz - Przysieka". Atlas Kolejowy (in Polish).
- ^ Amtsblatt der Reichsbahndirektion Mainz [Official Gazette of the Deutsche Reichsbahn] (in German). Vol. 1. Deutsche Reichsbahn. 7 January 1939. p. 3.
Bibliography
- Kuchinke, Stephan (2000). Die Localbahn-Actiengesellschaft. Eine bayerische Privatbahn und ihre Geschichte (in German). Stuttgart: Transpress. ISBN 3-613-71125-7.
- Bürnheim, Hermann (1974). Localbahn A.-G. München (in German). Gifhorn: Kleinbahn-Bücher. ISBN 3-921237-21-1.
- Zintl, Robert (1977). Bayerische Nebenbahnen (in German). Stuttgart: Motorbuch. ISBN 3-87943-531-6.