Hanover-Altenbeken Railway Company

The Hanover-Altenbeken Railway Company (German: Hannover-Altenbekener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, HAE) was among the companies of the German "railway king" Bethel Henry Strousberg. Its route network at the end of the first phase (up to 1872) consisted of two lines, Hanover–Altenbeken and Weetzen–Haste (Deister Railway). In addition, a branch line was opened from Linden-Küchengarten to Linden-Fischerhof for freight transport. The Löhne–Hamelin–Hildesheim–Vienenburg line was built in a second phase up to 1875. The section to Hildesheim is now known as the Weser railway, further east it is operated as the Hildesheim–Goslar line. This extended the network from the Weser Uplands to the Harz.

The planning of this rail network was already under way during the existence of the Kingdom of Hanover, but its construction commenced after Hanover's annexation by Prussia in 1866. The main purpose of the railway's construction was to connect Hamelin to the rail network and to improve the transport of coal from the Deister hills. Strousberg's motivation, however, was the idea of a connection of the rail network in the east (Silesian industrial belt and East Prussia) with the Ruhr industrial area. Along with building the Altenbeken line, he attempted to acquire the network of the Royal Westphalian Railway Company (Königlich-Westfälische Eisenbahn).

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