Entitled “A Century under Steam”, this section of the exhibition provides a modern look at the beginnings of railway history until the revolutionary year of 1919 on an area covering 1,000 square metres on the ground floor.

Early beginnings of rail travel in Germany

A virtual tour Open interactive graphic: A virtual tour

Passenger coach of the Ludwigsbahn

The construction of the railway brought about a radical change in people’s living conditions. With the aid of impressive exhibits, historical photographs and unique objects, visitors experience the hitherto unknown dynamic development that engineering, the economy, culture and political relations went through as a result of this new mode of transport. The inauguration of the Nuremberg-Fürth line in 1835 and the history of the origins of the Ludwigsbahn played a special role in the process. The film on this subject is a highlight of the exhibition. The start of “railway fever”, the brisk development of the rail network, the emergence of Germany into the industrial age and the beginning of the change in people’s way of life are presented with the aid of modern exhibition technology.

From the construction of the first six-kilometre line from Nuremberg to Fürth in 1835, by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, a total of 62,000 kilometres of track had been laid. The effort required for this outstanding constructional achievement was tremendous: in addition to thousands of tons of iron, timber and stone, an enormous amount of labour was needed and huge cuttings had to be made in the landscape.

Entering the industrial age

The large-scale expansion of the rail network was, however, also accompanied by the technical further development of vehicles and signals, a substantial increase in the number of persons employed and the nationalisation of numerous private railways. As early as the second half of the 19th century, the railway had already become a means of mass transport. The railway supported mass migration and accelerated the urbanisation process with all the consequences this would have on people’s individual living conditions.

The new means of transport brought regions, towns and people closer together. It was now possible for people living in the country to reach the towns and cities quickly to go to work or do their shopping, whereas those living in the towns and cities used the railway for a trip into the countryside at weekends. In the stagecoach era, there were only a few nobles and the rich upper class who could afford to travel. Growing prosperity in the 19th century subsequently enabled the middle class for the first time to travel into the countryside on a summer holiday. From the very beginning, travel was a lucrative business – for hoteliers or picture-postcard sellers, for example. Travellers around 1900

Travellers around 1900 Enlarge image: Travellers around 1900

The railway engine also made its appearance in everyday culture and left its traces in nearly every area of life. Whether as an advertising message, children’s toy or an article of decoration, no other machine was a better symbol of the new age and progress.

Completion of the renovation

The opening of “A Century under Steam” concludes the complete renovation of the DB Museum. The new exhibition section fills the gap that existed to the other exhibition areas that were already accessible and now enables the museum to provide a non-stop journey through nearly 200 years of railway history from its beginnings to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Catalogue for “A Century under Steam”

A 150-page catalogue (in German only) is available for the “A Century under Steam” exhibition section at a price of EUR 10 in the museum’s shop.