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| RALWAY |
| The exhibition presents stages of Saxon and German railway history from the beginnings to 1993, showing valuable originals and models. The replica of a Grubenhunt (underground train) from a European gold mine of the 15th/16th century illustrates the beginnings of rail-bound transport. The Leipzig-Dresden railway was opened in 1839 as the first German long-distance railway. Rare photographs, documents and models, e.g., of the first Elbe bridge near Riesa (in the north of Saxony), the first train station buildings or the Saxonia train all illustrate the history of railway and the Leipzig-Dresden Railway Company since its foundation in 1835 to its nationalization in 1876. Dresden’s importance as a railway junction is exemplified, among others, by the extremely valuable models of the Dresden central station, the Dresden-Neustadt station and the Dresden-Friedrichstadt marshalling yard of the time around 1900. The history of the Saxon State Railways until the origination of Deutsche Reichsbahn (German 'Reich' Railway) in 1920 covers concise developments of the Royal Saxon State Railways in addition to the development of the Saxon narrow-gauge railways. The vehicle development is given special attention here; among the exhibits is the model of the express steam locomotive 19 008 – an engine of the Saxon class XX HV, whose original (1920) had been developed at the Sächsische Maschinenfabrik (Saxon machine factory), formerly Richard Hartmann AG. |
| The setting up of the exhibition on the history of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft/Deutsche Reichsbahn (German 'Reich' Railway) between 1924 and 1993 was finished in 2002. Having been completely redesigned, it now is one of the most attractive permanent exhibitions of the Dresden Transport Museum. The description of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) – having developed into one of the most efficient railway administrations worldwide since 1938 – contains, among others, the difficulties of the Reichsautobahnen ('Reich' motorways) and their use in the 2nd World War. Furthermore, the exhibition focuses on the development of the DR during the socialist era, when it had to deal with huge freight transport volumes, partly under extremely difficult conditions. Railway uniforms and a variety of interesting vehicle models help illustrate the period between 1924 and 1993. Railway Vehicle Preservation |
  The Saxonia: the first operational German locomotive dating from the year 1839 |
 The world’s most powerful rail traction motor |