Historians of the Second Empire later regarded the railways as the first indicator of a unified state; the patriotic novelist, Wilhelm Raabe, wrote: "The German empire was founded with the construction of the first railway..."
Sejarawan Reich Kedua nantinya menganggap jalur kereta api sebagai indikator pertama negara yang telah bersatu; novelis patriotik Wilhelm Raabe menulis: "Kekaisaran Jerman didirikan saat pembangunan jalur kereta api pertama..."