VHS Lecture: The Development of the Austrian Eisenwurzen through the Crown Prince Rudolf Railway

The Crown Prince Rudolf Railway (KRB) received its "Concession Document" on November 11, 1866, for the planned routes from "St. Valentin via Steyr, Hieflau, Rottenmann, St. Michael, Judenburg, Friesach, Launsdorf, and St. Veit to Villach, with branch lines from Klein-Reifling to Amstetten, from Launsdorf to Mösel, and from St. Veit to Klagenfurt." It was intended to create a north-south connection in this area and to develop the valleys traversed in terms of transportation. This was urgently necessary for the economy of the Austrian Eisenwurzen, as it faced economic decline due to the lack of railway connections. While Archduke Johann had pointed out the necessity of railways for the development of the iron industry in Styria decades earlier, such awareness of the problem was largely absent in the Archduchy of Austria and later in Austria above and below the Enns for a long time.

Beyond this regional development function, there was also a medium-term goal to establish an additional connection to Trieste or another Adriatic port, as well as towards the imperial border near Udine. The connection to the Adriatic was desired by business operators and the ruling house to break the monopoly of the Southern Railway Company. To the north, a connection to the Franz Josef Railway was to be established.

While the plans for the major north-south connection were only partially implemented, the routes built by the KRB still fulfill the originally intended functions today: all ore trains, both those from Eisenerz to Donawitz and those to Linz, still run on the former KRB routes. The eventful history of these railways is illustrated by numerous photographs.

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