Industry | Rail transport |
---|---|
Fate | Merged with Deutsche Bundesbahn |
Predecessor | Deutsche Reichsbahn |
Successor | Deutsche Bahn |
Founded | 1949 |
Defunct | 31 December 1993 |
Headquarters | 33 Voßstraße, East Berlin, East Germany |
The Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR (German Reich Railways) was the operating name of state owned railways in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and after German reunification until 31 December 1993.
In 1949 occupied Germany's railways were returned to German control after four years of allied control following World War II. Those in the Soviet occupation zone (which became the German Democratic Republic or GDR on 7 October 1949) continued to run as the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the name given to the German national railways in 1937. In West Germany, the Reichsbahn was succeeded by the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB).
Both the Reichsbahn and the Bundesbahn continued as separate entities until 1994, when they merged to form the Deutsche Bahn.
The DR was the largest employer in the GDR and as a state-owned firm was directly subordinated to the GDR Ministry of Transport (Ministerium für Verkehr der DDR). From November 1954 - November 1989, the GDR Minister of Transport also occupied the position of the Director General of the DR (Generaldirektor der Deutschen Reichsbahn). The headquarters of the DR was located in East Berlin at No. 33 Voßstraße, close to the Berlin Wall and across from the site of the former Reich Chancellery.
The company was administratively subdivided into eight regional directorates (Reichsbahndirektionen) with headquarters in Berlin, Cottbus, Dresden, Erfurt, Greifswald, Halle, Magdeburg and Schwerin.