Buses and Coaches - Germany: Books - History (2/2)

Reichspost-Album - Postomnibusse der dreißiger Jahre

110 years ago, on June 1 1905, the German Post began to build a modern, motorized bus service throughout Germany - the days of the good old horse-drawn mail coach were over. After the end of the First World War, the motor mail service quickly became the most important and significant means of transport on country roads.
Wherever there were no tracks, the yellow post buses supplemented the railways and, in addition to transporting passengers, also distributed mail and packages.
After the German Reichsbahn, the German Reichspost was the second largest transport company in Germany and the largest bus company in all of Europe. The variety of the vehicle fleet was enormous and extremely varied, and standardization was only just beginning.

This EK book uses impressive images to describe the history of the German Reichspost as the most important road transport company of the pre-war period, with all its peculiarities.
A history lesson for transport and vehicle enthusiasts, postal historians and all those who would like to find out more about the connections in German transport in the 1920s and 1930s.

For vehicle enthusiasts, the number of brands and types is extremely attractive, including the leading manufacturers at the time, Mercedes-Benz and Büssing, with their legendary image.
A particular attraction lies in the widespread use of the motor postal service throughout the German Reich, its still undestroyed villages, towns and landscapes from East Prussia to Silesia, the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas to the Bavarian mountains. Many unpublished, high-quality photographs document this period.

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Reichsbahn und Reichsautobahn

In 2008, the EK-Verlag published the book "Der Autobahn-Schnellverkehr der Deutschen Reichsbahn". This work, which has long been out of print, reports in words and pictures on the surprising commitment of the German Reichsbahn to long-distance bus service on the newly opened Reichsautobahns from 1935 onwards.

The author has now compiled new material that impressively complements the first book and deepens the role of the Reichsbahn on the road. Not only are further aspects of traffic handling with the futuristic-looking streamlined buses of the Reichsbahn taken up.
In addition, the horizon is broadened to include topics such as advertising for this express service, the role of the German Reichspost on the motorways and the whereabouts of the vehicles. The further development of motorway traffic after 1945 is also presented.

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Mit der Kraftpost durch Deutschland

The Kraftpost was not only the modern successor to the horse-drawn mail coach, but after the Bundesbahn, it was the largest form of public transport in the young Federal Republic. The yellow postal buses could be found all over the country, transporting passengers and mail wherever there was no railway line.

This EK book brings a forgotten world back to life in magnificent, unpublished images: the typical, tranquil interurban scheduled services of the fifties and sixties, on secondary routes and scenic routes away from the big cities, the flair of the economic miracle years and the classic road vehicles of that time.

The network of buses stretched from the sea to the Alps under the sign of the post horn, which they still sounded back then. The scenery is reminiscent of the pre-war period in many details, and many a small or large train station was also a stop for the motor post.
A book that invites you to indulge in and appeals equally to transport and postal enthusiasts interested in contemporary history, automobile historians and model railway enthusiasts.

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Mit dem Postbus durch Deutschland - Gelbe Mobilität seit 1905

The Post has been transporting passengers in German lands since 1640, around 200 years before the railway. With its horse-drawn carriages, the post office was the first large transport company in all of Germany.
From 1905, motorized horsepower took over the transport of people and postal items, now number two after the Imperial and later Bundesbahns. The yellow post buses provided local transport from the North Sea and Baltic Sea to the Alps wherever there were no rails.
On country roads, the motor post remained the largest provider, with over 400 million passengers per year in some cases. It was not until the mid-1960s that the DB caught up with its red rail buses.

In 1985, the scheduled use of the post horn had done its duty, only a few museum post buses remained active. From 2013 to 2017, the post office was once again involved in bus transport, this time with the new long-distance bus connections across Germany.
This EK book takes a richly illustrated tour through the history of the postal travel service and its vehicles. At the same time, it provides a fascinating look at public transport and the image of German transport routes, cities, villages and landscapes over more than 100 years.

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Damals auf Linie - Linienbusse der fünfziger und sechziger Jahre

Buses from Büssing, Henschel, Krupp, etc. are long gone. Some of us still drove them and were able to experience them first hand. Many of us, however, only know them from pictures, books or stories. In any case, they have not been forgotten and never will be.

In this book, we want to dedicate ourselves to the buses, or more precisely the city buses, that people used to travel to school, work or to go shopping during the economic miracle - the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, it was still a real pleasure to stand at the bus station and observe the variety of vehicle and body manufacturers, custom-built and converted vehicles, as well as small series and special models.

Numerous high-quality, previously unpublished photos invite you to take an interesting journey through time and illustrate what it was like to travel by bus in the Federal Republic of Germany at that time. Some bus companies are also shown and introduced, so there is no chance of boredom with this illustrated book.

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Damals auf Linie (2) - Linienbusse der sechziger und siebziger Jahre

Bus construction was in full bloom at the beginning of the sixties. New models with technical innovations and plenty of chrome were constantly coming onto the market. Bus operators were spoiled for choice when it came to equipping their fleet with new rolling stock, as there was a huge selection.
But things were also slowly starting to get tense. Competition was tough, which unfortunately meant the end for many manufacturers.

In the mid-sixties, the Verband öffentlicher Verkehrsbetriebe (VÖV) drew up a specification sheet according to which the manufacturers Büssing, Mercedes, MAN and Magirus were to develop the new standard bus. Using almost exclusively the same components, the 11-meter VÖV bus went into series production at Büssing in 1968.
Overall, it was a very economical and modern vehicle with excellent driving characteristics. However, in the seventies it brought a certain monotony to the colorful and interesting variety that had existed on our roads up to that point.

Take another look back at the sixties and seventies of German bus production. Peter F. Linhart has compiled many previously unpublished photos and information from West German transport companies from his archives. An interesting journey through time.

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Damals auf Linie (3) - Omnibusse der siebziger und achtziger Jahre

The 1970s in West German bus construction were characterised by the newly developed standard bus, which quickly gained more and more acceptance. Mercedes, MAN and Magirus, as well as Büssing at the beginning, each brought their own standard buses onto the market, but due to the VÖV specifications, these were now very similar to each other.
With this standardisation, the large variety of models of the 1950s and 1960s was massively reduced - which also meant that numerous smaller body manufacturers were no longer competitive under the new conditions and disappeared from the market.

At the same time, other groundbreaking technologies were introduced with the standard bus. In particular, the articulated pusher bus with rear-wheel drive and electronic articulation angle control developed by Mercedes was an important milestone in bus development.
And intensive work was already underway on the second generation of VÖV standard buses: from 1979, the first prototypes from MAN, Mercedes and Magirus appeared, among others, and the manufacturer Neoplan also shook up the development of the Standard II buses and was "a step ahead" of the major manufacturers with many innovative models.

In this third volume of the popular series "Damals auf Linie", EK author Peter F. Linhart has once again "rummaged through" his archives and compiled numerous interesting pictures of everyday life on a regular bus in the seventies and eighties.

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