The ünde–Angermünde–Stralsund railway is a major railway in the north-eastern German states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is part of the long-distance line from Berlin to Rügen. The line is one of the oldest lines in Western Pomerania and was built and operated by the Berlin-Stettin Railway Company (Berlin-Stettiner Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) from 1863.
Route
The line start at Angermünde station, where the line branches off to the north from the main line of the Berlin–Szczecin railway. It first runs along the Uckermark lakes and the adjoining Uecker river through Prenzlau to Pasewalk. The border between Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is about 1800 metres north of Nechlin station. The line swings to the north northwest to Pasewalk and runs on a mostly straight course through the foothills of Ueckermünder Heide. In Ferdinandshof the line runs for a few hundred metres through an extension of the Friedländer Große Wiese (a largely drained bog). It passes through Ducherow, which until 1945 was the start of a branch line to Heringsdorf, and continues to Anklam. About five kilometres before Anklam station the line turns more to the northwest. The line runs through Züssow to Greifswald. The last section of the line to Stralsund runs at a distance of about five kilometres from the coast. Before Stralsund the line turns back to the north and ends at Stralsund Hauptbahnhof in the suburb of Tribseer.
Since parts of the line crosses boggy terrain and several small and medium-sized rivers, several bridges and culverts are necessary. Major bridges include the crossing of the Ryck at Greifswald and the Zarow in Ferdinandshof. The Anklam railway bridge, a bascule bridge over the Peene, however, is most elaborate engineering structure on the line.
In addition, the line crosses in its course several main roads and autobahns, including the A 20 autobahn, which crosses the line on the Uecker Viaduct. Federal highway B 109 runs between Prenzlau and Greifswald largely parallel to the line and crosses it six times.
History
The first plans to build a branch line towards Pomerania arose with the development of plans for the Berlin–Szczecin railway in 1837. The city of Prenzlau approached the planning committee for the Berlin-Stettin Railway Company (BStE) to ask it to build the line to Stettin (now Szczecin) as close as possible to Prenzlau. The Prussian inspector of road building, Friedrich Neuhaus investigated the various route alternatives and favoured a route via Prenzlau. Two years later, Prenzlau sent a deputation to offer a grant equivalent to 30,000–50,000 marks to sway the committee accordingly. Furthermore, it presented the benefits of a northern alignment via Prenzlau rather than a direct connection. These were mainly flatter terrain for the construction of the railway and the connection of the centre of Uckermark to the railway network.
The committee agreed that the line could run two kilometres from Prenzlau. A branch-line would provide a direct link. A later extension to the Pomeranian port cities was also considered. A discussion with these cities had already taken place, but the BStE demanded the financial participation of Prenzlaus and the port cities, before they would build such a line. Since Prenzlau refused to invest in the line, the BStE decided to build its main line along the southern route. The Prenzlau magistrate, however, succeeded in having a station established at Passow and a highway constructed between the two towns, which at least guarantee the first connection to the line from 1843.
In subsequent years, Prenzlau continued to campaign for a connection and hoped for the support of the Pomeranian port cities, especially in 1842 when plans surfaced for a direct connection from Berlin to Stralsund via Neustrelitz. As it was predicted that only one railway would be built initially, this created rivalry between the supporters of both routes. The Pomeranian cities, however, saw an advantage in the route designated as the Northern Railway running through Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Although the Northern Railway, ran through a more sparsely populated area, the line was licensed by Prussian King Friedrich William IV, as a state railway, on 18 June 1853. His ministers did not support the construction of a state railway, causing the king to change his mind the same year on 16 November 1853, when he agreed to the construction of three lines in Western Pomerania between Passow and Greifswald, Züssow and Wolgast and Pasewalk and Szczecin. The decision to build an extension from Greifswald to Stralsund followed later. Construction and management of all three routes was undertaken by the BStE.