Railways - GDR: Illustrated History Books & Guides

Die Deutsche Reichsbahn in West-Berlin - Interzonenverkehr, die S-Bahn und die DR

The tasks, rights and duties of the German Reichsbahn form an important part of the history of the German-German division. During the Cold War, the East German Reichsbahn secured railway operations in the western part of the city on behalf of the Allies.

Pages of the book "Die Deutsche Reichsbahn in West-Berlin - Interzonenverkehr, die S-Bahn und die DR"

Bernd Kuhlmann provides a fascinating piece of Berlin's railway and city history. He gives an overview of the political and economic conditions surrounding the Deutsche Reichsbahn in West Berlin and provides essential information about the working conditions of West Berlin's railway workers, who often became political footballs.

Product details

Author:	Bernd Kuhlmann
Details:	192 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	350 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Transpress (D, 2020)
ISBN:	9783613713116

Die VES/M Halle in Farbe

In addition to the volume on the VES/M photographer Ruth Pelliccioni in the series "Alte Meister der Eisenbahn-Photographie", Ek-Verlag has compiled a representative selection of mostly previously unpublished color photographs taken between 1956 and 1992 as a further highlight from the photographer's extensive collection.

Experience real rarities in color: for example, early images of the high-speed locomotives 18 201 and 18 314, of 03 or 23 001, the first 44 converted to oil firing, of numerous Reko locomotives and color images of rare locomotives that were in Halle for weighing.
In addition, there are numerous images of the trial operation of new diesel and electric locomotives of the DR, starting with V 180 001 and the DR medium-distance railcars VT 4.12 to the "White Lady" 243 001 and the 230 series.

Product details

Author:	Ek-Verlag Gmbh
Details:	96 pages, 6.5 x 9.25 in (16.5 x 23.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	96 color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	EK-Verlag GmbH (D, 2012)
Series:	Eisenbahn-Bildarchiv (56)
ISBN:	9783882554793

Kolonne - Die Deutsche Reichsbahn im Dienste der Sowjetunion

The term "Kolonnenwesen" (convoy system) was used to describe the transport of reparations goods by the DR from the Soviet occupation zone to the Soviet Union. In addition to locomotives, tracks, overhead lines and entire industrial plants were transported from what later became the GDR to the Soviet Union.

How these goods got to the USSR, how these transports were organized and under what conditions those affected had to work remained a mystery for a long time.
This book, for which the authors also interviewed contemporary witnesses, offers a comprehensive overview of this important chapter in German railway history.

Product details

Author:	Michael Reimer, Lothar Meyer, Volkmar Kubitzki
Details:	176 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	150 photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Transpress (D, 2020)
ISBN:	9783613716063

Lokomotivbau 'Karl Marx' - Die Lokschmiede der DDR in Babelsberg

Potsdam, just outside Berlin, with the district of Babelsberg, is not only well-known for its traditional film studio, but also for its locomotive construction under the brand name "Locomotives from Babelsberg".
Founded in 1899 as a branch of the Märkische Lokomotivfabrik Orenstein & Koppel, after the Second World War, with the division of Germany, it became a state-owned enterprise with the approval of the Soviet Military Administration. Initially run as the "Lokomotivfabrik Karl-Marx Babelsberg", in 1951, with the merger of the locomotive and wagon factories under the umbrella of the Association of State-Owned Locomotive and Wagon Construction Companies of the GDR (VEB LOWA), it became the "Lokomotivbau Karl Marx Babelsberg" company.

This volume documents the reconstruction and early activities of the state-owned company, the construction of field and mine locomotives, fireless locomotives, narrow-gauge steam locomotives and the like.
Irrepeatable snapshots show the workers at their workplaces handling a variety of machines and equipment, at the lathes and milling machines, during the water pressure test of steam cylinders, as well as during locomotive assembly.
The look back behind the scenes of this famous locomotive forge is characterized by a good portion of the color of a bygone era.

Product details

Author:	Udo Kandler
Details:	112 pages, 8.25 x 11.6 x 0.67 in (21 x 29.5 x 1.7 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	188 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	EK-Verlag GmbH (D, 2018)
ISBN:	9783844662245

Reichsbahnausbesserungswerke der DDR - Im Inneren der Bahnbetriebswerke

On the railways, repair shops (in German Ausbesserungswerke, abbreviated Aw) were used to maintain rail vehicles or their components. They specialized in major repairs, general inspections and the reconditioning of replacement parts. In addition, some repair shops also undertook the manufacture of switches, the construction of signal bridges, platform roofs and similar steel structures.

Pages of the book "Reichsbahnausbesserungswerke der DDR - Im Inneren der Bahnbetriebswerke"

Lothar Weber describes the important role that the Aw of the German Reichsbahn of the GDR played in the maintenance and construction of new vehicles. This is of course only possible on the basis of the historical development, which the author succinctly describes in the introduction.

Product details

Author:	Lothar Weber
Details:	160 pages, 8.25 x 6.7 in (21 x 17 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	66 b&w and 19 color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Transpress (D, 2017)
ISBN:	9783613715226

Reichsbahn-Report - Zwischen Ideologie und Wirklichkeit

During countless visits to archives over the past decades, Erich Preuss (1940-2014) was able to collect and evaluate extensive, previously unknown documents on the subject of the German Reichsbahn of the GDR. The wealth of material found resulted in two volumes of the "Reichsbahn Report".

The renowned railway expert Preuss used his extensive knowledge as a long-time employee of the DR for these works. He began his apprenticeship in the mid-1950s and worked his way up to become a senior employee of a Reichsbahn directorate by 1974.

Pages of the book "Reichsbahn-Report - Zwischen Ideologie und Wirklichkeit"

Product details

Author:	Erich Preuss
Details:	416 pages, 9 x 6.7 in (24 x 17 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	313 b&w photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Transpress (D, 2015)
ISBN:	9783613715165