We are one big family:
The Rheinbahn’s social welfare network

The war was over. After twelve years of Nazi dictatorship, the situation was appalling. Although Duesseldorf‘s inner city had suffered considerable damage as a result of air raids and Allied gunfire, fewer buildings were destroyed than in neighbouring towns. It was possible to implement emergency repairs so that 145 of the public buildings could be used again, one of these buildings being the Rheinbahn headquarters.

On 8 th June 1945, the military government ordered that the first tram should operate a service to Benrath as a sign that things were returning to normal. This project involved a great deal of hard work. Extensive sections of the track were still damaged, the overhead power line had been destroyed, and many burnt out or damaged wagons were strewn around the city.

The extremely limited funds meant that planning had to be realised on a day to day basis. Damage to the rail network’s working stock and buildings was extensive. 45% of the depot on Erkrather Strasse and 80% of the Derendorf depot had been destroyed by bombs. All other depots and residential buildings incurred damage in varying degrees of severity. In 1947, total damages were estimated at 5.5 million marks.

The most important objective was initially to partially rebuild the depots. After this, it was possible to commence operations again. Building ruins and trams that had been burnt out or ripped to shreds were lying around blocking tracks and access roads. Much of the clearing work could only be carried out by hand. This was a difficult enough task in itself, and the labourers’ malnutrition meant that they found it even harder to perform the work.

In order to make sure its employees were fit to work, the Rheinbahn organised food that was made into stews at the canteens. This plan brought about the desired results. The relatively prompt repair of most of the rail network between 1945 and 1946 would otherwise have been impossible to realise. The workforce was 2,643 strong in 1945, and 460 of these were prisoners of war.

From 1947 onwards, the Rheinbahn provided its employees with monthly reports on the progress of repair work. At the same time, it set up a large social welfare department, which was mainly concerned with providing healthcare for employees.

A 1946 statistic reveals that 10.92 percent of male employees who reported in sick were suffering from exhaustion and malnutrition. The same statistic for women was only 8.08 percent, which shows that women are more resilient.

Housing was one of the most urgent problems. Many Rheinbahn employees were living in temporary accommodation under extremely cramped conditions. To provide them with low cost accommodation, the Rheinbahn initially built houses at the Handweiser depot and, in 1948, it started to build the terraced homes that were similar in style to miners’ estates in the Ruhr region, such as Kalkumer Schloßallee in Kaiserswerth. The Rheinbahn extended its works kitchen so that it had the capacity to prepare 2,000 hot meals every day.

Boxing matches and operettas were held in the repaired paintshop at the central depot on Erkrather Strasse. This tradition has now been revived. When the central depot was closed down and sold in 1993, the Duesseldorf "Capitol" music theatre occupied this historic site. The numerous company houses, some of which were damaged, were repaired by the employees within the scope of a comradeship initiative.

From 1947 onwards, the company newspaper, "Das Rad", was published again by the managing board and works council. The influence of employee representatives’ in the company was growing and they demanded rights of co-determination in the company’s official bodies. It is evident that they had learned a lesson from experiences in the Nazi era, when the company newspaper atrophied into a management and NSDAP propaganda instrument.