The Leipzig-Dresden railway line through time

The year 1848 was witness to a series of revolutions throughout Europe. Starting with Paris Revolution of 24 February 1848, an upsurge of revolution spread quickly. A group of prominent people met in Heidelberg on 5 March claiming to represent all-Germany. Saxony experienced a 'bloodless revolution' before the end of March. A 'Central Committee of Working Men' was formed in Leipzig on 22 April. The revolutionary process went on throughout the summer, with both Prussia and Austria trying to reassert their authority. Much time was expended on the formulation of 'new' constitutions, and the power play between Austria and Prussia for supremacy continued. The debate raged throughout 1848 and much of 1849. Many attempts were made at unifying the states under the liberal banner. However a tight grip was held on society by the traditional forces of law and order. When the Saxon King was forced out of Dresden by disturbances in 1849, Prussian troops were quickly dispatched to quell the riot. The troops were transported into Saxony and then along the Leipzig - Dresden railway line:

Leipzig 3 May 9.00 pm 1849 - Increased unrest among the people
" Unrest already caused by the question of the constitution, was increased by the news that a battalion of troops had received an order to travel by rail from Leipzig to Dresden.
A large crowd of people had gathered by the entrance and exit of the Leipzig to Dresden railway station and had ripped up sections of the track for some distance outside the town to prevent the troops being transported by rail."

Leipzig 4 May, late evening, 1849
" We left Leipzig by train at 12.30 midday. There were approximately 50 armed men aboard, who wanted to take part in the fight in Dresden. During the journey we heard often of groups that had already travelled to Dresden and there was also mention of groups that planned to go there. In Riesa we heard that at the very moment a battalion of Prussian infantry was on its way from Röderau. About a quarter of an hour from Priestewitz, the train was brought to a halt when the railway official informed us that the track had been ripped up just outside Priestewitz. We continued our way to Priestewitz on foot. A train full of Prussian military was stopped there, (apparently 850 men from the Kaiser Alexander regiment ). The railway lines were then relaid. This was completed in about half an hour and both the military train and our train continued their journey. The armed men on our train left the carriages on the sight of the Prussian infantry and headed for Meissen using a path across the fields. ( They arrived in Dresden, as we were informed by an eyewitness, during the night or the following morning. )"

The riots that the Prussian troops were sent to put down had a variety of causes, the mass of the Saxon people had not really been affected by spreading economic development. In 1840, a law had been passed in Saxony, which insisted that every village should have one tailor, shoemaker, white bread baker, butcher, smith, saddler, harness-maker, carpenter, glazier, rope-maker and cooper. The Act preserved the feudal guild system and the life of the peasant had changed little over the centuries. The ordinary people were desperate for change, they could see how the railways were changing industrial society, but their lives were little changed.

"...the proletariat could not come to terms with the half-feudal production conditions, shortage of food and rising prices were other factors."

The following extract illustrates the plight of German weavers:

"For a web of cotton of 140 ells, on which a weaver had to work for 9 days and for which other employers paid 32 silver groschen they paid only 15. For 160 ells of fustian, which required 8 full days of strenuous work, they paid a wage of 12 silver groschen. Indeed, they declared themselves ready to give work to another 300 weavers prepared to work as much for 10 silver groschen. From his 12 or 10 silver groschen respectively, the weaver had to give up between 2 and 3 silver groschen to the bobbin-winder, bear all state, communal and seigniorial dues - and live."

The forties had been years of hunger across Germany and the poor were hit hardest, but their forces were unable to withstand the might of the army. The King of Prussia, Frederick William IV had given the signal for the crushing of the demonstrations in Dresden on 27 April 1849 when he had contemptuously refused the Frankfurt's Assembly's offer of 'the Crown' describing it as a 'sausage sandwich'! The arrival of the troops was recorded by a Leipzig journalist:

" The Prussian infantry got out of the carriages just before they reached Dresden Station and we had to wait until this had happened. They assembled in front of the station and were received with cheers by a group of Saxon infantry and cavalry and marched them from town accompanied by marching music.

"We found out here that the battle had been going on at full tilt since the early hours of the morning and it would not be possible to reach the old town. It was about a quarter to seven, when we reached the station. Now and then we heard shots in the old town. As we stepped out of the station we met a man who informed us that things looked bad for the civilians who were fighting because they were faced by armed Prussian troops"

King Frederick William signed an agreement with the monarchies of both Saxony and Hanover on 27 May that laid the blueprint for future unification of Germany; the 'Three Kings Agreement', Dreikönigsbündnis. Popular revolution had collapsed, and Prussia took the lead in persuading the fellow monarches of Hanover and Saxony to sign a treaty whose purpose was to:

"..safeguard the internal and external security of Germany and the independence and inviolability of the several German states."

with a fourth provision that:

"should there be diplomatic negotiations, they shall be conducted by the Crown of Prussia."

This treaty put Prussia into the ascendency over the two monarchies of Hanover and Saxony, but also significantly weakened the influence of Austria. Austria at the time was preoccupied with problems in Hungary but when its forces had subdued the trouble there they turned their attention back to Germany. In October 1850, Saxony pulled out of the Dreikönigsbündnis and again sided with Austria.

The commerce of Saxony continued to expand throughout the decade. Although there was turmoil on the political and social front, the railway line continued to attract traffic. During the forties the Leipzig - Dresden railway repaid its Directors' initial commercial hopes by steadily increasing both passenger and more significantly its goods traffic. Such an expansion in goods trade was part of the economic development of Saxony that the railway was generating. It was not only trade generated within Saxony, but more importantly the nodal position of the state meant that bulk goods were being shipped through Saxony as the influence of the Custom Union, the Zollverein became more intense.

The economist, List had seen railways and the Zollverein as inextricable linked - Siamese twins, and they were proving inseparably. In 1848 there was a downturn in trade because of two factors, firstly a general agricultural depression and secondly the revolutions and general social disruption. Economic output declined dramatically and many industries suffered financially. However the decade had witnessed a massive transformation. Austria lost economically in this period as it was industrially weak, the economic unification impulse now lay with Prussia and its growing Ruhr and Silesian industrial base. Its close neighbour Saxony had a developing economic base that rivalled Prussia's but lacked the political base. The Leipzig - Dresden railway both encouraged and developed economic interdependence, while at the same time stimulating regional industry.

The construction of the German rail network up to 1850 was the building block not only for a unified Germany but of a European railway system. It meant that the centre of the continent steadily grew in importance after decades of economic power resting on the western seaboard of the European continent.