At times, as in this photo by Jay Daves from 1970 or 1971, Helmstedt Bahnhof could revert to its placid small town appearance. Situated sixty miles (97 km) east of Hannover via Braunschweig, the sudden creation of a pseudo-international border in the Cold War division of Germany resulted in it becoming the focus of Allied activity on the autobahn and military rail links with divided Berlin.
The Helmstedt units, located in what had been the British Zone of occupied post-World War II Germany, were operated by the U. S. Army as subsidiaries of Berlin Brigade. Thus Berlin, known as the "Outpost City" in the U.S. military, had its own outpost.
With a modest population of its own, fewer than 50,000 residents, Helmstedt generated relatively little passenger traffic, but suddenly it was in the international timetables. If one had alighted there from the Ost-West Express one could have stayed at the Stettiner Hof, with its 21 rooms, for DM13,10 a night (about US$3.30). None had baths.
Here is the typical line-up of main line eastbound passenger trains at Helmstedt from the Winter 1970/71 Amtliches Kursbuch (holiday specials and cancellations excluded):
00.43 on Mondays only, N2701 arrive from Braunschweig .A careful reader can see what a dead-end Helmstedt was, with the few Interzone trains excepted. A branch line from towns southwest of the town also terminated there. One may also note the military town influence, with the extra late trains on Sunday night.01.14 Dm80637 Duty Train for the United States military arrive from Bremerhaven - Bremen - Hannover - Braunschweig.
01.40 Dm80637 Duty Train depart for Berlin-Lichterfelde West.01.58 Dm80609 Duty Train for the United States military arrive from Frankfurt - Friedberg - Bad Nauheim - Giessen - Marburg - Kassel - Goettingen - Kreiensen - Braunschweig.
02.30 Dm80609 Duty Train depart for Berlin-Lichterfelde West.03.05 D119 arrive with cars from Aachen - Cologne - Dusseldorf - Gelsenkirchen - Wuppertal - Bielefeld - Wilhelmshaven -Bremen - Hannover - Hildesheim - Braunschweig.
03.16 D119 depart with cars for Berlin, including Mitropa sleeper from Aachen.03.42 D105 Ost-West Express arrive with cars from Paris - Oostende (London boat train connection) - Hoek van Holland (London boat train connection) - Aachen - Cologne - Dusseldorf - Essen - Dortmund - Hannover - Braunschweig.
03.54 D105 Ost-West Express depart with cars for Berlin - Frankfurt (Oder) - Poznan - Warsaw - Brest - Minsk -Moscow, including a liegewagen (couchette) and a DSG sleeper from Aachen to Berlin, the famous Paris-Moscow sleeping car (with its wheels to change rail gauges at Brest), and another Soviet Railways sleeping car originating either at Oostende, Hoek van Holland, or Aachen , depending on the day of the week.04.43 Dm80641 Train Militaire Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays only for the French military, arrive from Strasbourg - Kehl - Karlsruhe - Frankfurt, including couchettes, a sleeping car, and a French buffet car serving bier d'Alsace.
05.03 Dm80641 Train Militaire depart for Berlin-Tegel.07.19 workdays only, N2713 arrive from Braunschweig.
08.21 N2721 arrive from Braunschweig.
09.04 D115 arrive from Hannover - Braunschweig. Carrying a DSG dining car, this was one of a pair of business-oriented trains running on "fast" schedules between Berlin and Hannover. These were the only such trains into Berlin, and had only recently been agreed to. This train made the run with West German rolling stock from Hannover Hbf to Berlin-Zoo in 4:07.
09.12 D115 depart for Berlin.09.20 E2139 arrive from Braunschweig.
10.16 N2725 arrive from Lehrte - Braunschweig.
11.30 D111 arrive with cars from Aachen - Cologne - Dusseldorf - Essen - Dortmund - Bremen - Hannover - Kassel - Braunschweig, including a dining car.
11.40 D111 depart for Berlin.12.18 D113 arrive with cars from Aachen - Monchengladbach - Krefeld - Oberhausen - Gelsenkirchen - Dortmund - Hannover - Braunschweig, including a buffet car to Helmstedt.
12.28 D113 depart for Magdeburg - Potsdam - Cottbus - Goerlitz.12.29 E2165 arrive from Kriensen - Braunschweig.
13.21 E2143 arrive from Hannover - Braunschweig.
14.45 N2145 arrive from Hannover - Braunschweig.
15.30 D109 arrive with cars from Bonn - Cologne - Dusseldorf - Hoek van Holland (London boat train connection) - Bentheim - Hannover - Braunschweig, including a Mitropa diner.
15.41 D109 depart for Berlin - Frankfurt (Oder) - Poznan - Warsaw (this train would drop the diner in Berlin, and pick up a Mitropa sleeper to Warsaw).16.09 N2743 arrive from Braunschweig.
16.21 Dm80671 British Military Train arrive from Braunschweig. Note that this was timed to pick up passengers from the Hoek-Harwich ferries of British Rail and Netherlands Railways. An alert passenger from Britain would note that he was having lunch in an East German dining car in West Germany on D109, and then having tea or supper in a West German dining car in East Germany. [What a wonderful introduction to the situation in Berlin!]
1633 Dm80671 British Military Train depart for Berlin-Charlottenburg.16.50 E2149 except Saturday arrive from Celle - Lehrte - Braunschweig.
17.24 2747 except Saturdays, Sundays arrive from Braunschweig. This train and its weekend counterpart Train 2755 were at the bottom of the ranks of German passenger trains, known sometimes as "P"-trains, for Personenzug, just above freight trains. It functioned as a commuter train making all stops from Braunschweig. I imagine that the zugfuhrer on this one was in a nervous state if passengers did not move quickly enough, because closing in fast behind him was...
17.30 D117 arrive from Hannover - Braunschweig. This was the East German counterpart to D115 above, carrying a Mitropa dining car.
17.38 D117 depart for Berlin.17.58 N2751/N2753 workdays only arrive from Braunschweig.
18.46 2755 Saturdays only arrive from Braunschweig (cross-reference 2747).
18.53 N2759 except Saturdays, Sundays arrive from Braunschweig.
19.30 E2151 workdays only arrive from Hannover - Braunschweig.
20.13 N2153 workdays only arrive from Hannover, daily arrive from Braunschweig.
21.43 E1938 arrive from Hamburg - Lehrte - Braunschweig.
22.43 N2775 arrive from Braunschweig.
23.33 E2189 except Saturdays arrive from Kriensen - Braunschweig.
23.59 N2781 Sundays only arrive from Hannover.
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