page_title: Berlin–Halle railway
section_title: Early history and construction
hierarchical_section_title: Berlin–Halle railway / History / Early history and construction
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Eine preußische T3 drückt einen Eilzug in den Anhalter Bahnhof, Berlin. English: Prussian T3 loco doing shunting work on railway bridge over the Landwehrkanal in Berlin, Germany.
context_page_description: The Berlin–Halle railway, sometimes called the Anhalt railway, is a twin-track, electrified main line found in the German city and state of Berlin, and the states of Brandenburg and Sachsen-Anhalt. The railway was originally built and managed by the Berlin-Anhaltische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft.
  The Anhalt railway runs from Berlin via Jüterbog and Wittenberg to Halle. The line is part of the Line 1 of Trans-European Transport Networks. In the Berlin area, Anhalt Suburban Line, which carries Berlin S-Bahn services, runs parallel to the main line.
context_section_description: The Berlin-Anhaltische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company, BAE) was one of the most important railway companies in Germany for about four decades in the 19th century. In addition to the main Anhalt Railway, the BAE built a network of important railway connections between Berlin and the northern parts of the Kingdom of Saxony, the Prussian Province of Saxony, and the duchy of Anhalt, with a total length of 430 kilometres (270 mi) at its apex.
  The original Anhalt Railway ran from the Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin via Jüterbog, Wittenberg, and Dessau to Köthen (including the Wittenberg–Roßlau line, the Roßlau–Dessau line and the Dessau–Köthen railway) and was put into service in 1840/1841. The section of the current line north of Jüterbog was opened on 1 July 1841 and the section between Jüterbog and Wittenberg was opened on 10 September 1841. A connection was possible in Köthen over the Magdeburg-Leipzig railway to Halle and Leipzig. In 1859, the trip between Berlin and Halle/Leipzig was considerably shortened with the opening of the direct connection between Wittenberg and Bitterfeld.
caption: Same area around 1900
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