top of page

Reichsbahn repair shop M.

In the vicinity of train stations there are always interesting lost places, like this one. The former RAW comprises several 1000 square meters of hall space. Unfortunately, all 35 km of tracks have already been dismantled. The brick halls and the boiler house are of course architecturally interesting. The smith's fire is still in the forge. In the neighboring turning shop, however, only the machine foundations can be admired. On a Saturday afternoon in Corona spring 2021 there was a real crowd of visitors on the site.

Started as the Royal Railway Main Workshop in 1895, despite the destruction and damage of around 80 percent of the operating area during World War II, the company continued to operate as VEB. Before the First World War, the plant already had more than 1,000 employees. In addition to freight cars and special freight cars, passenger cars were also serviced. From 1935 the construction of a central forge and a central turning shop began, which were completed in 1938. This is where the spare parts required for repairing cars were also produced. After the Second World War, the car straightening hall, the roof structure of which had collapsed, was restored. In the area of the destroyed bathing establishment, the metalworking shop was built, which worked there from October 1948 and was completed in 1951. By 1951, in addition to the wagon straightening hall, the ancillary workshops and the central forge had been rebuilt.

At the beginning of 1992, 1262 people were still working in the plant, in 1993 there were 800 and in 1994 it was 630. In 1994 the RAW was incorporated into Deutsche Bahn. In the end, there were only 150 employees left. The plant was closed at the end of 1998. It has since been unused and is in ruins.

bottom of page