Just a few years separate the founding of the Reichsbahn in the first German democracy from its being harnessed to play an important role in the war and the holocaust. The exhibition takes visitors on a tour of the highly innovative, but also economically and politically turbulent times of the Weimar Republic, and then demonstrates how the Reichsbahn was used to serve the purposes of the Nazi regime.

Reichsbahn and Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft in the Weimar Republic from 1920 to 1933

The year 1920 was a turning point in the history of the German railway. This was the year in which Deutsche Reichsbahn was founded as the first national and centrally managed railway company in Germany. The exhibition shows the political background of the company’s foundation.

A virtual tour Open interactive graphic: A virtual tour

As early as 1924, the state-owned company was transformed into a company run according to private enterprise principles, the “Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft”. The aim of that reform was to earn profits that were to be used to contribute to Germany’s war reparations. In fact, the Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft was highly successful and innovative in the Weimar Republic. In the exhibition, visitors can see and hear milestones of railway history, such as a BASA telephone (the railway’s internal telephone network), models of the newly developed standard locomotives, a radio broadcast on the record-breaking run by the “Rail Zeppelin”, and countless exhibits relating to the “Flying Hamburger”, the famous high-speed diesel multiple unit.

Model of the “Flying Hamburger” Enlarge image: Model of the “Flying Hamburger”

This section also gives visitors an impression of day-to-day life and work of the railway workers. For example, the Reichsbahn played a key role as a provider of housing during these years. This was also the first time that railway workers were permitted to form a trade union to represent their interests.

The Reichsbahn during the Nazi dictatorship from 1933 to 1945

Beginning in 1933, the political conditions changed drastically for the Reichsbahn. The exhibition includes countless documents and objects that show how the company was gradually taken over by the Nazis. Through targeted dismissals, enormous propaganda and changes to the corporate structure, the Reichsbahn was gradually brought in line with the ideology of the new regime. It was forced to perform additional tasks, ranging from job creation schemes to the organisation of “Kraft durch Freude” (“Strength through Joy”) holiday trips and the construction of the German Reich’s autobahn system and through to logistics support for the National Socialist party conventions.

The Reichsbahn motto of this period on a wrought iron grille Enlarge image: The Reichsbahn motto of this period on a wrought iron grille

The subordination of the state-run railway to the National Socialist state ultimately led to its direct involvement in World War II and the crimes of the regime. Documents, pictures and filmed reports of contemporary witnesses prove that neither the war of extermination in the East nor the deportation of millions of Jews to the extermination camps would have been possible without the organisation of shipments by the Reichsbahn. A subsection of the exhibition is dedicated to the involvement of the railway in the use of foreign and forced labour. The exhibition ends with the presentation of the almost total destruction of the Reichsbahn during the Allied air raids.

A suitcase from the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Enlarge image: A suitcase from the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Catalogue for “Serving Democracy and Dictatorship”

A catalogue (in German only) is available for the “Serving Democracy and Dictatorship” exhibition section at a price of EUR 10 in the museum’s shop.