Alsfeld under steam!The railroad line to Alsfeld is opened

At last it was here, the long-awaited and hoped-for connection to the railroad network, to national and international passenger and commercial traffic in Germany and Europe, but this event, so important for the city, could not be properly celebrated.

In January 1868, the financing of the state construction had been secured by private banks, on March 25, 1868, the Second Chamber of the Grand Duchy in Darmstadt had decided, after protracted negotiations, to build an “Upper Hessian Railway” via Alsfeld to Fulda, and on July 24, the first train rolled in here. “25.7.1870 Alsfeld.

Yesterday the first locomotive with 11 cars of the Oberhessische Eisenbahn arrived here…” With these brief words, the “Allgemeine Intelligenzblatt – Amts-& Anzeigenblatt für den Kreis Alsfeld” informed its readership one day later, but due to France’s declaration of war on Prussia on July 19 and the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, all celebrations were cancelled.

The opening of the line from Alsfeld to Lauterbach followed on November 22, 1870, and the opening of the entire Giessen-Fulda line had to be postponed “due to unexpected difficulties in the construction of the line between Lauterbach and Fulda” and took place with the completion of the last section of the line to Fulda on July 31, 1871. MNic