The end of the Duesseldorf Metropolitan Railway (Stadtbahn)
The Duesseldorf Stadtbahn was founded 20 years before the Rheinbahn as a horse-drawn tram company. In 1895 the first line was electrified on Grafenberger Allee as far as the Haniel & Lueg factory. In summer 1900, the last tram horse retired. In the years to follow, the Stadtbahn’s financial situation continually deteriorated. As a result, Duesseldorf city council kept on the look out for a solvent partner. It soon found one in the Rheinbahn, in which it held a majority stake. On 21 st December 1921, an agreement on the merger of the Rheinbahn and the Stadtbahn was signed.
Many small shareholders were not happy about the merger of the successful Rheinbahn and the Stadtbahn. They were afraid they would lose out on their dividends. In a letter, they said "... we reject the merger with the Stadtbahn. We small shareholders are exclusively dependent on our dividends. These funds will probably be used to restructure the Stadtbahn and we will be left empty handed!" However, these fears were initially unfounded because the Rheinbahn assumed the function of a profit centre for the Duesseldorf city council and realised various operations that were unrelated to local public transport, which generated acceptable profits.
The Weimar Republic was the most terrible epoch in the Rheinbahn’s history.