page_title: Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway
section_title: Private railway era
hierarchical_section_title: Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway / History / Private railway era
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Bahnhof Wolmirstedt an der Magdeburg-Wittenbergeschen Eisenbahn um 1880
context_page_description: The Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway is a two-track, electrified main line in the east of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is one of the oldest lines in Germany, opened in 1849 by the Magdeburg-Wittenberge Railway Company, which operated it until 1863, when it was taken over by the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company. It was nationalised in 1879.
context_section_description: The line was opened in the three phases. On 7 July 1849, the 99 km-long section from Magdeburg to Seehausen was opened. On 5 August 1849 this was followed by the eight km-long section to the Elbe levee. Since the Elbe bridge was under construction, passengers had to cross to Wittenberge by ferry. On 25 October 1851, a wooden, single-track bridge was opened to traffic. To avoid this low-level structure obstructing shipping, part of it was built as a swing bridge. During the construction of the Berlin–Hamburg line, the terminus had been designed to integrate with the line from Magdeburg. The station building was originally located between the junction of the two lines.
  As well as a direct line from Magdeburg to Hamburg, the route was initially seen as a route between the coast and central and southern Germany. This service did not prove as profitable as initially suggested to shareholders. In addition, in 1855 a large part of the line had to be rebuilt as a result of several floods in Altmark. In 1863, the company was bought by the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company. A direct connection did not exist between the two company’s lines and trains had to use a short piece of the Leipzig line.
  In 1867, the MHE received a concession to build the Berlin–Lehrte railway (also known as the Lehrter Railway or Lehrter Bahn). A direct line already existed via Magdeburg, but the new route via Stendal was more direct and thus services would be quicker. The railway facilities in Stendal had to be rebuilt to make it easy for passengers to change trains. The Lehrter Railway runs south of the old town of Wittenberg from east to west, while the old line ran on the eastern edge of the town. The new Lehrter Railway has a connection with a relocated line from Wittenberge to the west of Stendal. This allowed two routes to share the new Stendal station. The diverted line to Wittenberge passes around the town along the north western boundary and then returns to its old route to the north. In addition to the Lehrter Railway, which opened through Stendal in 1871, the so-called America Line opened in 1873 from Stendal via Uelzen to Bremen.
  In subsequent years operations in Magdeburg became increasingly unsatisfactory. The transfer of trains to the Leipzig railway was difficult and the Elbe river prevented the expansion of the rail facilities. Hence the old idea of a common route through the ring of forts was taken up again. As the urban area was growing and the area outside the walls were being settled, the fortifications were increasingly seen as a nuisance. There still had to be lengthy negotiations with the Prussian military before the railways were offered a suitable site along the northern and western moat. The line was built jointly by the MHE, BPME and MLE. The new Magdeburg Central station was built as an island station (with the main station building between the tracks) because the three railway companies were still working separately. The eastern station tracks were built and operated by the MLE and the western tracks by the BPME and the MHE. The first train ran on 15 May 1873 to Burg; work continued, however, until 1893. During this period, in 1876, the MLE was taken over by the MHE. Three years later the MHE was nationalised.
caption: Wolmirstedt station in 1880
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