A quiet anniversary:
The Rheinbahn is 50 years old The Rheinbahn celebrated its 50 th anniversary on 25 th March 1946. It was impossible to celebrate on the scale of the 25 th anniversary festivities in 1921 because the problems, hunger and concerns of the employees were too great. Not only this, the company also lacked the funds to pay for a celebration. The employees were merely informed about the event by way of a copied announcement. All company employees were requested to attend a works meeting at the staff room on Erkrather Strasse on Saturday 30 th March at 9.30 a.m., where speeches were made by Mayor Arnold and the chairman of the supervisory board, Dr. Kolb.
Four days previously, the workforce had been informed via Announcement 70 that they would receive a one-off anniversary bonus to mark the occasion. Depending on their position and years of employment at the company, this varied between 30 and 100 marks. It was accompanied by a request to all employees to keep up their efforts to rebuild the company.
In his speech, the city clerk, Dr. Kolb, made reference to the bonus again: "By finding an additional 254.130 Reichsmarks on top of the normal salaries and pensions on the occasion of today’s jubilee, the supervisory board hopes that it can bring a little happiness to the homes and hearts of our employees, because the times when marks and pfennigs will be worth something again are not far off and, in a few months’ time, you will find that you no longer have to turn over every coin before you spend it..."
It is possible that Dr. Kolb was attempting to avert criticism from the workforce, because many would have preferred a sausage or a piece of ham instead of the relatively worthless monetary bonus. However, his statement turned out to be prophetic. Two years later, the currency reform was introduced and hard currency regained its value.