The "Oberkassel deal":
the Rheinbahn as a property development company

Right from the outset, the company founders planned to finance the Rheinbahn through property deals. When the company was founded, one of its business visions was to increase in the value of the land it owned in Heerdt. The subsequent Rheinbahn director and surveyor, Max Schwab, joined the company in 1906 and was specifically responsible for enhancing the value of the land that was envisaged as an industrial estate through persuading important companies to set up business there.

Special benefits were derived from the works railway, which did more than merely provide access to the national railway network. The original route of the Neuss line along the Heerdt wharf dyke offered the opportunity of procuring raw materials via ship or distributing factory products via the waterways.

The following companies established factories there: Stahlwerk Krieger, Gebr. Boehler u. Co., Matthes-Fischer-Werke, de Fries u. Comp. (later Schieß AG.), Allgemeine Hochbaugesellschaft, Kranbaugesellschaft C.W. Liebe, now Schenk- u. Liebe-Harkort AG., Chemische Fabrik fuer Huettenprodukte, now Gesellschaft fuer Blechverarbeitung mbH, A. Ehrenreich u. Co., J. Willems u. Co., C.F. Beck, Lebensmittel-Industrie, Rheinische Kampferfabrik, which was later to become a victim of rationalisation, now Reining u. Co. GmbH, Rohde und Doerrenberg.