Europe > Germany > Saxony > Railroading > Saxon Railroad Museum

Schauplatz Eisenbahn

Sächsisches Eisenbahnmuseum Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf

ABOVE: Visitors gawk at steam locomotive 38 205, the "Sächsischen Rollwagen," which was in service from 1928 until 1968. INSET BELOW: The museum's official beer, and a high-speed train from the German Democratic Republic.

By Durant Imboden

For sheer "wow factor," the Schauplatz Eisenbahn in the Hilbersdorf district of Chemnitz is hard to beat. To begin with, the place is huge: Two brick roundhouses accommodate 26 locomotives, and the late 19th Century marshalling yards (which lie directly next to the Deutsche Bahn's tracks) include historic structures such as a coal bunker, water cranes, and maintenance shops where steam locomotives can be overhauled at a cost of half a million euros each.

But that's just the infrastructure. The real excitement comes from a huge collection of historic steam, diesel, and electric locomotives from Eastern Germany, along with a fleet of freight cars, passenger carriages, and other rolling stock. Visit in late August, during the Boiler House Festival, and you can see a "steam engine parade" of 10 coal-fired locomotives. (The annual exhibit draws some 15,000 visitors, many of whom vie for seats on excursion trains between the museum and Leipzig. The museum also has 20 to 30 other steam excursions during the year.)

If you're visiting Saxony and you're interested in railroading, the Saxon Railroad Museum is a "must see" destination. It's easy to reach from downtown Chemnitz by train, car, or CVAG city bus. For more information, including hours of operation and directions, visit the Schauplatz Eisenbahn Web site. (If you don't read German, use the free translation tool at Google Translate.)

More photos:

Photo: Tourism Marketing Company of Saxony.

The Saxon Railroad Museum has two roundhouses that were built from 1897-1900. One houses steam engines; the other is dedicated to diesel and electric locomotives.

Each roundhouse has a 20-meter turntable that can accommodate massive steam engines with their tenders.

Warning signs are parked in front of a maintenance car.

The restored Kohlenhochbunker, or high coal bunker, can fill two tenders simultaneously.

In the German Democratic Republic, multimodal transportation sometimes meant putting railcars on road trailers (as opposed to "piggybacking" truck trailers on railway flatcars).

One of my own favorite exhibits is this high-speed diesel train from the 1970s, which has a museum café in the passenger cars.

About the author:

Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European cities and transportation.

After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors (now including Germany for Visitors) in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post.

For more information, see About Europe for Visitors, press clippings, and reader testimonials.

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