1896: Following in the footsteps of Jan-Wellem

In an age of industrial revolution, innovative genius and entrepreneurial courage, the Rheinbahn AG was entered in the register of companies at the Duesseldorf Reichsbank building on 25 th March 1896 in the presence of the Duesseldorf entrepreneurs, Franz Haniel, Heinrich Lueg, August Bagel and Friedrich Vohwinkel. In the years to follow, this company was to make a lasting impact on city of Duesseldorf, was instrumental to its development and enabled its further expansion.

The Rheinbahn’s history differs from that of most local transport companies in major German cities. It unites the various aims that were formulated by the company’s founding fathers when they established the company. These main aims were the construction of the Oberkassel Bridge, the provision of passenger and freight services to the city’s residents and the manufacturing enterprises that they hoped to attract to the city, the generation and supply of power to the new district of Oberkassel, land utilisation, housing and road construction.

The company’s rapid advancement was clearly associated with the overall development of Duesseldorf as a business stronghold. From the beginning of the 19 th century until 1870, the city’s population increased four-fold. This, and the incorporation of neighbouring towns, speeded up the pace of development.

The Duesseldorf region provided the Rheinbahn AG with optimal prerequisites for successful development, because there were plans to link the left and right banks of the Rhine in the immediate future, even though major traffic and building developments not were a priority until around 1890.

This did not change until the bridge construction plans took firm shape on 5 th February 1896. The industrialists, Heinrich Vohwinkel, August Bagel, Franz Haniel and Heinrich Lueg, teamed up with the city councillor, Wilhelm Marx, who was later to become Duesseldorf’s mayor, and proposed to the Duesseldorf city council that it should unite Duesseldorf with Heerdt, Oberkassel and Niederkassel on the other side of the Rhine by building a bridge on the site of the existing shipping bridge. They also planned to build a railway to forge closer links between the manufacturing enterprises on the left banks of the Rhine with those of Duesseldorf. Although several similar projects since 1852 had focused on realising plans for a direct rail link between Duesseldorf and Krefeld, they all failed for various reasons.

The Duesseldorf city council supported the bridge and rail projects, and they were given the go ahead on 3 rd and 10 th March 1896 respectively. On 26 th February 1896, the Prussian Ministry of Trade approved the construction and operation of the local railway from Duesseldorf to Krefeld and the construction of the bridge. However, Duesseldorf city council did not provide any funding for this technically sophisticated project.

This marked the birth of the first electrical suburban railway between Duesseldorf and Krefeld and, for the second time since Jan Wellem, the city set foot on the left banks of the Rhine. The first Rheinbahn director was the former Mayor of Solingen, Friedrich Haumann. Although the city council was not involved in the construction of the Oberkassel Bridge or the suburban railway to Krefeld, it did impose a number of conditions which, even from a modern-day viewpoint, are an example of bureaucratic red tape and a deterrent to investors.

For example: no horse-drawn carriages, locomotives or engines that produce smoke may be used; no above-ground sparking circuit may be installed between Ratinger Tor and Haroldstrasse. The tracks must be cleaned by the operating company and the city council reserves the right to also use these tracks, for which it will pay 0.50 marks per track to the company and, in the case of underground power supply, an additional 3% of costs. Electricity must be supplied at cost price; the travelling speed on city roads may not exceed 12 km/h.

If the local railway is not built or services are interrupted as a result of force majeure for longer than 3 months, the tracks and line systems shall be forfeited to the city council. In this event, no compensation whatsoever shall be paid to the operator. Duesseldorf city council is entitled to operate the Ratinger Tor - Haroldstrasse line on an exclusive basis for 30 years, commencing when the bridge opens, subject to notice of termination of one year, whereby the company shall receive compensation for use of the tracks. No charge will be made for the use of the city roads for 15 years. Thereafter, lease payments of 5 Pfennig per kilometre shall apply until the 30 th year of operation, 10 Pfennig from the 31 st to 45 th year and 15 Pfennig from the 46 th to the 60 th year.

The conditions imposed by the Krefeld city council were more moderate. It authorised the Rheinbahn to operate a service from Ostwall to Rheinstrasse. This line still follows the same route today. All attempts to ban the trams from Ostwall in the past have been successfully warded off.