The Southern Berlin suburban railway or Südliche Berliner Vorortbahn A.G. (SBV) was a tramway company in the southern part of Berlin, whose lines primarily ran within the then-independent municipalities of Schöneberg, Rixdorf (later Neukölln), Tempelhof, and Britz. In addition, the company owned several lines that were exclusively used by vehicles operated by other companies. The fleet consisted of 30 railcars. Sidecars, depots, staff, and administration were owned by the Große Berliner Straßenbahn (GBS), which became the majority shareholder in 1910. SBV remained independent until 1919, when it was merged into GBS.
History
The company was founded on 4 July 1898 with a share capital of three million Mark (adjusted for purchasing power in today's currency: around 25 million euros). Half of the share capital was held by GBS, and the other half by the . The company took over the contracts of the Südlichen Berliner Vorortbahn Konsortium, which had reached agreements with the municipalities of Britz, Lankwitz (whose municipal head, Friedrich Dillges, led the negotiations), Rixdorf, Schöneberg, Tempelhof, Treptow, and the city of Berlin. These municipalities were responsible for maintaining the railway line for the construction of a small railway. The approval contract for the city of Berlin was concluded until 31 December 1919, while the contracts for the other municipalities were valid until 1 July 1947. The state concession to operate the railway was issued until 1948. The operator was required to pay eight percent of the gross income to the city of Berlin each year, and if the net income exceeded six percent of the capital invested, half of the additional amount. No charges were to be paid to the other municipalities for the first five years. An annual payment of 70 Pfennig per kilometre of single track was to be made to the municipality of Rixdorf, and 20 Pfennig per kilometre to the other municipalities for pavement maintenance. SBV started the first construction phase between Britz and Tempelhof in November 1898. Operations began on 1 July 1899 on two lines. As with the GBS, these were marked with different coloured signal boards.
+ Line overview 15 December 1900Line/Signal boardCourseClock(in min)Length(in km)„Südring“Bf Rixdorf – Richardplatz – Hermannplatz – Kaiser-Friedrich-Platz – Blücherplatz – Bf Schöneberg – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz – Hauptstraße – Sachsendamm – Dorfstraße (Tempelhof) – Dorfstraße (Britz) – Buschkrug – Bf Rixdorf2421,2Bf Rixdorf – Hermannplatz – Kaiser-Friedrich-Platz – Blücherplatz – Bf Schöneberg – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz – Schöneberg, Hauptstraße/Eisenacher Straße8–169,5Tempelhof, Friedrich-Karl-Straße – Bf Mariendorf – Bf Südende – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße – Bf Groß-Lichterfelde Ost245,7Eichhornstraße/Potsdamer Straße – Dennewitzplatz – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz – Bf Schöneberg – General-Pape-Straße185,3Eichhornstraße/Potsdamer Straße – Dennewitzplatz – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz – Bf Schöneberg – General-Pape-StraßeNo data available3,7
The first line, named Südring, was marked with blue signal boards and ran from Rixdorf stationtoday: Bahnhof Neukölln via Bergstraße,today: Karl-Marx-Straße Blücherplatz (later part of Berlin), Schöneberg, Tempelhof, and Britz, before returning to Rixdorf. Because the section between Tempelhof and Britz passed through mostly undeveloped areas, the line quickly earned the nickname "Wüstenbahn" (Desert Railway). A second line, marked with white/blue signal boards, ran alongside the Südring from Rixdorf station to Schöneberg. The terminus was located at the intersection of Hauptstraße and Eisenacher Straße. The exact opening date is uncertain, recorded as either 1 October or 1 December 1899. Initially, the line ended at the military railway station in Kolonnenstraße. Shortly after opening, it was extended four days later to Hauptstraße and Mühlenstraße.today: Dominicusstraße Between Rixdorf station and Yorckstraße/corner of Katzbachstraße, as well as between Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platztoday: Richard-von-Weizsäcker-Platz and the corner of Hauptstraße and Mühlenstraße, the GBS tracks were also used. It was noted that traffic would be restricted in the event of snowfall and completely canceled in the event of snowdrifts.
The route of the second line was slightly changed on 1 October 1900. On that day, a parallel route between Katzbachstraße and Kolonnenstraße via Kreuzbergstraße, Monumentenstraße, and Siegfriedstraßetoday: Czeminskistraße began operations. On 15 December of the same year, a new route from Bergstraße via Richardplatz and Kaiser-Friedrich-Straßetoday: Sonnenallee to Hermannplatz was put into operation for both lines within Rixdorf. The direct route via Bergstraße continued to be used by the GBS lines.
The third line of the SBV began operations a few months earlier, on 16 July 1900, and had no connection to the other two lines. It ran from Tempelhof, Friedrich-Karl-Straße/Berliner Straße,today: Tempelhofer Damm via Mariendorf station,today: Bahnhof Attilastraße Südende station, and Lankwitz, to Anhalter Platztoday: Kranoldplatz at Groß-Lichterfelde Ost station.today: Bahnhof Lichterfelde Ost The line, marked with white signal lamps, was initially operated as a horse-drawn tram, as the cable installations could not be completed on time due to objections. After police approval in November 1901, the tram began operating electrically from 22 March 1902. The track infrastructure was entirely owned by the SBV.
Two more lines were introduced on 10 August 1900. The fourth line, marked with a red signal board featuring a white stripe, ran from the junction of Eichhornstraße / corner of Potsdamer Straße, via Dennewitzplatz and Kolonnenstraße, to General-Pape-Straße, near the Papestraße ring and suburban railway station.today: Bahnhof Südkreuz The GBS tracks were used between the northern terminus and the junction of Mansteinstraße / corner of Großgörschenstraße. The fifth line, marked with white signal boards, ran from Blücherplatz to General-Pape-Straße. On 6 May 1902, it was combined with the Brunnenstraße - Kreuzbergstraße line of the GBS, forming the new line 41, Brunnenstraße - General-Pape-Straße, and operated as a connecting service. According to unconfirmed information, the fourth line is said to have been diverted via Yorckstraße, Katzbachstraße, and Dreibundstraße from this day onwards. At the end of 1902, the line returned to its original route. + Congruence of line designationsuntil 19021902–1922from 1922I6IIIII140IVV106 On 21 April 1905, Line III was extended via Potsdamer Straße, Leipziger Straße, Lindenkreuzung, Hackescher Markt, and Zionskirchplatz to the intersection of Swinemünder Straße and the corner of Ramlerstraße, in connection with the GBS. After the opening of the Lindentunnel, the line used the eastern part of the tunnel starting on 19 December 1916.
On 1 January 1907, Line V was established, with every second carriage on Line II running beyond the Eisenacher Straße terminus via Hauptstraße, Rheinstraße, and Schloßstraße to Steglitz, Schloßpark. On 1 October 1910, this line was extended via Chausseestraßetoday: Hindenburgdamm to Lichterfelde, Händelplatz. The remaining carriages on Line II, on the other hand, began operating from 1 October 1910. On 1 February 1910, Line IV was extended to Tempelhof, Germaniastraße/Oberlandstraße to reinforce Line I, before being replaced that same day by GBS line 99. On the same day, Line IV was replaced by the GBS connection line 99. On Sundays, the line also ran to Steglitz, Schloßpark instead of Tempelhof if required. With the beginning of the First World War, Line II was discontinued on 3 August 1914. At the same time, Line I in Neukölln (formerly Rixdorf until 1912) was restored to its old route via Bergstraße and Berliner Straße.
On 28 May 1918, a new agreement was concluded between the Greater Berlin Association, which had been founded in 1911/1912, and GBS. Among other things, the agreement stipulated the merger of GBS with its branch lines. GBS had held all the shares in SBV since 1910. On 3 March 1919, the association meeting gave its approval to the project, which was implemented on 15 May 1919, or, according to other sources, on 26 April 1919. The Southern Berlin Suburban Railway, the Berlin-Charlottenburg Tramway, the Western Berlin Suburban Railway, and the North-Eastern Berlin Suburban Railway ceased to exist on this day. The accounting of the companies was standardized with retroactive effect from 1 January 1918.
On 11 May 1922, the remaining lines were integrated into the numbering system of the Berlin Tramway (BSt), which had emerged from GBS in 1920. At that time, the total route length was 37.29 kilometers, of which 19.63 kilometers were double-track. The operating voltage ranged from 500 to 550 volts of direct current. + Line overview 3 August 1914LineCourseClock(in min)Length(in km)I„Südring“Bf Neukölln – Hermannplatz – Kaiser-Friedrich-Platz – Blücherplatz – Bf Schöneberg – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz – Hauptstraße – Sachsendamm – Dorfstraße (Tempelhof) – Dorfstraße (Britz) – Buschkrug – Bf Neukölln3020,2IIISwinemünder Straße/Ramlerstraße – Vinetaplatz – Arkonaplatz – Zionskirchplatz – Hackescher Markt – Lindenkreuzung – Potsdamer Platz – Dennewitzplatz – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz – Bf Schöneberg – General-Pape-Straße2011,7VBf Neukölln – Hermannplatz – Kaiser-Friedrich-Platz – Blücherplatz – Bf Schöneberg – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz – Hauptstraße – Rheinstraße – Schloßstraße – Chausseestraße – Lichterfelde, Händelplatz1514,3
Other SBV routes In addition to the lines already listed, the Südliche Berliner Vorortbahn built several lines that SBV never operated itself. The details of these lines are as follows:
Around 1905: Mariendorf, Dorfstraßetoday: Alt-Mariendorf – operated by GBS 18 February 1907: Kolonnenstraße/Sedanstraße – Gotenstraße – GBS Line 23 20 November 1909: Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße (between Hertzbergstraße and Teupitzer Straße) – GBS Line 65 27 November 1909: Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße/Wildenbruchstraße – Wildenbruchplatz – GBS Line 89 20 October 1910: Wildenbruchplatz – Elsenstraße/Heidelberger Straße – GBS Line 89 18 June 1911: Elsenstraße (between Heidelberger Straße and Görlitzer Bahn) – GBS Line 19 18 June 1911: Erkstraße (between Donaustraße and Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße) – GBS Line 19 13 June 1913: Britz, Chausseestraße/Triftstraße – Buckow West – GBS Line 28 1 October 1913: Britz, Buschkrug – Rudow – GBS Line 47
In addition, there were already installed tracks in the Wittelsbacherkorso (today: Boelckestraße) in Tempelhof. They were never used for their intended purpose and were removed again in the 1920s. The tracks built by SBV via Richardplatz and Bahnstraße were opened on 1 October 1899 and used exclusively by GBS.
Car fleet