List of trolleybus systems in Germany

This is a list of trolleybus systems in Germany by Land. It includes all trolleybus systems, past and present. A city name in bold indicates a presently existing system.

Baden-Württemberg

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Baden-Baden 26 June 1949 31 July 1971  
  Esslingen am Neckar 1 April 1944   See also Trolleybuses in Esslingen am Neckar.
Gleislose Bahn Heilbronn–Böckingen Heilbronn am Neckar 16 January 1911 1916 See also Gleislose Bahn Heilbronn–Böckingen (in German) for the old system
23 September 1951 30 December 1960
Ludwigsburger Oberleitungs-Bahnen Ludwigsburg 21 December 1910 1 May 1923 See also Ludwigsburger Oberleitungs-Bahnen (in German)
  Mannheim 1930 1931  
  Pforzheim 29 September 1951 1 October 1969  
  Ulm 14 May 1947 23 October 1963  

Bavaria

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Augsburg 28 October 1943 17 March 1957  
  Landshut 27 November 1948 22 May 1966  
  München /Munich 28 April 1948 28 April 1966  
  Nürnberg /Nuremberg 15 November 1948 12 December 1962 Also a line at the MAN factory, 25 January 1931 – 1935.
  Regensburg 18 March 1953 17 May 1963  

Berlin and Brandenburg

Historic Škoda 9Tr in Eberswalde
Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Berlin      
Electromote ♦ Halensee, Charlottenburg – Spandau Bock 29 April 1882 13 June 1882 Electromote, world's first trolleybus operation.
Gleislose Bahn Niederschöneweide–Johannisthal ♦ Schöneweide – Johannisthal 5 December 1904 4 January 1905 See also Gleislose Bahn Niederschöneweide–Johannisthal (in German).
Oberleitungsbus Steglitz ♦ Steglitz 20 April 1912 31 July 1914 See also Oberleitungsbus Steglitz (in German)
  ♦ Spandau, West Berlin 24 December 1933 17 December 1952  
  ♦ Steglitz, West Berlin 2 May 1935 22 March 1965  
  ♦ Mitte – Lichtenberg, East Berlin 1 August 1951 1 February 1973  
Gleislose Bahn Eberswalde Eberswalde 22 March 1901 June 1901 See also Trolleybuses in Eberswalde, see also Gleislose Bahn Eberswalde (in German) for the old system
3 November 1940
  Potsdam 1 October 1949 2 February 1995

Bremen

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
Bremen-Arster Gleislose Bahn for the old system Bremen 7 August 1910 19 June 1916 See also Bremen-Arster Gleislose Bahn (in German), for the old system
1 November 1949 5 November 1961
  Bremerhaven 20 November 1947 30 June 1958  

Hamburg

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
Gleislose Bahn Blankenese–Marienhöhe Hamburg 2 January 1911 1 August 1914 See also Gleislose Bahn Blankenese–Marienhöhe (in German)
  ♦ Harburg 12 July 1949 18 January 1958  

Hesse

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Darmstadt 1 March 1944 16 April 1963  
  Frankfurt am Main 6 January 1944 17 October 1959  
  Gießen 18 June 1941 23 December 1968  
  Kassel 12 July 1944 Feb 1945  
1 October 1947 27 May 1962
  Marburg 19 May 1951 5 October 1968  
  Offenbach am Main 14 July 1951 26 September 1972  
  Wiesbaden 23 December 1948 17 November 1961  

Lower Saxony

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Hannover 6 June 1937 10 May 1958  
  Hildesheim 7 August 1943 30 May 1969  
  Oldenburg 26 September 1936 26 October 1957  
  Osnabrück 2 December 1949 10 June 1968  
  Wilhelmshaven 1 October 1942 30 October 1960  
  ♦ Wilhelmshaven – Jever 8 December 1944 30 September 1954  

North Rhine-Westphalia

Trolleybus of the Solingen network in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel
Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Aachen 2 January 1944 13 September 1944  
1 August 1948 3 February 1974
  Bielefeld 27 May 1944 8 November 1968  
  Bochum 18 June 1949 18 October 1959  
  Bonn 17 February 1951 30 June 1971  
  Dortmund 29 May 1942 17 June 1967  
  Duisburg 18 December 1954 28 May 1967  
  Essen 8 May 1949 23 November 1959  
28 May 1983 24 September 1995 Dual-mode guided bus (Duo-Bus) operation.
  Gummersbach 25 November 1948 30 September 1962  
  Köln /Cologne 6 November 1950 16 March 1959  
  Krefeld 3 December 1949 29 May 1964  
  Langenfeld – Monheim 31 May 1904 5 November 1908  
Veischedetalbahn Grevenbrück (today: Lennestadt) 6 February 1903 6 June 1916 See also Veischedetalbahn (in German)
  Mettmann 26 August 1930 31 December 1954  
  Minden 19 December 1953 20 July 1965  
  Moers 27 October 1950 19 September 1968  
Gleislose Bahn Monheim–Langenfeld Monheim am Rhein 31 May 1904 5 November 1908 See also Gleislose Bahn Monheim–Langenfeld (in German)
  Münster 1 October 1949 26 May 1968  
  Neuss 28 August 1948 31 December 1959  
  Neuwied 1 October 1949 28 February 1963  
  Rheydt 18 May 1952 16 June 1973 Rheydt was merged into Mönchengladbach from 1975.
  Siegen 16 October 1941 5 January 1969  
  Solingen 19 June 1952   See also Trolleybuses in Solingen.
  Wuppertal 1 October 1949 27 May 1972 One trolleybus line from Solingen terminates in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel

Rhineland-Palatinate

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
Elektrische gleislose Bahn Ahrweiler Bad Neuenahr – Ahrweiler 23 May 1906 1919 See also Elektrische gleislose Bahn Ahrweiler (in German)
  Idar-Oberstein 22 February 1932 11 May 1969  
  Kaiserslautern 29 October 1949 30 November 1985  
  Koblenz 17 July 1941 30 October 1970  
  Mainz 19 May 1946 12 February 1967  
  Pirmasens 25 November 1941 12 October 1967  
  Trier 20 January 1940[1] 27 May 1970[1]  

Saarland

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Neunkirchen 1 August 1953 31 March 1964  
  Saarbrücken 12 November 1948 11 May 1964  
  Völklingen 12 November 1950 4 June 1967  

Saxony

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
Mühlenbahn Großbauchlitz Döbeln 1 May 1905 1914 See also Mühlenbahn Großbauchlitz (in German), a non-passenger operation only, cargo line
Dresdner Haide-Bahn for the first system Dresden 24 March 1903 19 March 1904 See also Dresdner Haide-Bahn (in German) for the first system
5 November 1947 28 November 1975
  Hoyerswerda 6 October 1989 30 December 1994  
Gleislose Bielathal-Motorbahn mit elektrischer Oberleitung Königstein – Königsbrunn 10 July 1901 Sep 1904 See also Gleislose Bielathal-Motorbahn mit elektrischer Oberleitung (in German)
  Leipzig 1912 1912  
29 July 1938 31 May 1975
  Wurzen 7 April 1905 1929 Non-passenger operation only.
  Zwickau 1 December 1938 30 August 1977  

Saxony-Anhalt

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Bitterfeld Oct 1984 Oct 1988 Non-passenger (coal mine).
  Elbingerode (Harz) Mar 1988 Feb 1989 Non-passenger (limestone works).
  Magdeburg 1 July 1951 31 October 1970  

Schleswig-Holstein

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Flensburg 9 October 1943 15 September 1959  
  Kiel 28 May 1944 15 April 1964  

Thuringia

Name of System Location Date (From) Date (To) Notes
  Erfurt 26 February 1948 7 November 1975  
  Gera 2 November 1939 14 September 1977  
  Greiz 21 September 1945 11 July 1969  
  Weimar 2 February 1948 2 April 1993  

Towns in historic East Prussia, West Prussia, Lower Silesia and Brandenburg that are no longer part of Germany:

See also

Sources

References

  1. ^ a b Zenz, Emil (1980). 75 Jahre Städtische Verkehrsbetriebe, 1905–1980 [75 Years of City Transit Service] (in German). Stadtwerke Trier. pp. 60, 98–99.

Books and periodicals

  • Alan G. Murray (2000). World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia. ISBN 978-0-904235-18-0.
  • Werner Stock (1987). Obus-Anlagen in Deutschland: die Entwicklung der Oberleitungs-Omnibus-Betriebe im Deutschen Reich, in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik seit 1930. ISBN 978-3-926882-00-4.
  • Robert Peschkes (1993). World Gazetteer of Tram, Trolleybus, and Rapid Transit Systems, Part 3: Europe. ISBN 978-0-948619-01-4.
  • Trolleybus Magazine (ISSN 0266-7452). National Trolleybus Association (UK). Bimonthly.
  • Blickpunkt Strassenbahn. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Blickpunkt Strassenbahn e.V. (Germany). Bimonthly.

Media related to Trolleybuses in Germany at Wikimedia Commons