Border station - Zelezna Ruda-Alzbetin/Bayerisch Eisenstein - Train Stations/Depots on Waymarking.com

Zelezna Ruda-Alzbetin
The village was named to honour Marie Alžbeta Hafenbrädl, the daughter of Jan Jirí Hafenbrädl. The Austrian Emperor together with his Bavarian Royal Colleague in 1877 opened the brand new, „changing point in Eisenstein – the German name of Železná Ruda, which literally means iron ore) " – this is the name of the railway station given to it by the state treaty from 1873.

This document also identified the persisting rarity of this railway station: "the Eisenstein railway station to be founded so that the middle of it would touch the border line.“ As a result the respectable railway building of a symmetrical design with two two-level-buildings on the wings and the linking part built by the workers employed by the Bavarian Eastern Railways is even today exactly in its very middle split into two parts by the state border. The rail yard is split into two identically as the railway station building.

The end of the Habsburg Empire and the birth of Czechoslovakia did not result in any dramatic changes here. The rail and half of the station in Železná Ruda were acquired by the Czechoslovak Railways (CSD), which especially in the mid-30s of 20th century cleverly responded to the growing interest and popularity of travel and tourism in the Šumava region. In October 1938 – under the provisions of the notorious Munich Agreement – the Czech Railways (CSD) transferred the Czech half of the Železná Ruda station including the rail up to Nýrsko to Germany. However, the premises survived the war and its end practically undamaged and the first Czech motor railcar could leave Nýrsko already on the 2nd of June 1945 heading for the shared railway station in Železná Ruda Alžbetín.

The first post-war years in this part of Šumava were typical of an increased frequency of cargo transport from Czechoslovakia to the West. However, at the same time there appeared something the railways had not seen here in Železna Ruda before – on the orders of the US army the rail yard at the border line was split into two parts with wooden barriers.

After 1948 the whole area was declared closed, which resulted in the end of the public passenger transport. On the 3rd of September 1953 Železná Ruda Alžbetín as a change station was closed down, the Czech ticket office for private passengers bricked up, and the building and railway premises cut by blocks and barriers, which, however, at that time were far more robust then the American ones. Here was the legendary border between the two worlds. The passenger transport ended in the last but one stop Železná Ruda –town and trains used to reverse from here back to the Špicák railway station.

Already before the November 1989 you could now and then hear talks about activating the Železná Ruda Alžbetín as a change station. But it always ended at the level of thoughts only. The events moved on at an unusually brisk pace at the end of 1989. Having signed the official agreement in April 1990 the rail was restored as well as the shared railways station building and open to the public within just one year. On the 2nd of June 1991 the trains finally got going again.

Is the station/depot currently used for railroad purposes?: Yes Is the station/depot open to the public?: Yes Station/Depot Web Site: [Web Link] If the station/depot is not being used for railroad purposes, what is it currently used for?: Not listed What rail lines does/did the station/depot serve?: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/27/2023 Metal Breath visited it 09/08/2016 Mopple-the-whale visited it 05/29/2014 taxoft visited it 11/25/2013 Monty&Miru visited it

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