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The pearl of Southern Burgenland

Güssing Railway

The Güssinger Bahn is a former railway line in the border area of Austria and Hungary. It connected the town of Güssing, the capital of the district of the same name in southern Burgenland, since 1 September 1909 with the Körmend railway station in Hungary, located in the Raab valley on the main railway line Steinamanger (Szombathely) - Fehring - Graz. The local railway had been built and operated by Körmend-Németújvári h.é. vasút. The station building in Güssing was built in 1899. Today almost nothing reminds of the railway line between Güssing and Körmend, which had been used mainly for transporting wood. After the Second World War, it seemed pointless to maintain the railway operation, because the traffic was only directed towards Hungary and the Iron Curtain now separated the railway line. Railway traffic was stopped, the tracks were rotting. Also the extensive network of forest railways, which served as feeder lines to the railway, no longer exists. Today the new federal road B 56 between Güssing and Strem demonstrates all along the territory of the former railway body. The station building in Güssing was renovated and is still standing today (private residence including doctor's office). Southeast of Strem you can still follow the railway embankment to Körmend.

Bau: After a construction period of 10 years, the railway line was opened in August 1899. The construction cost 260,000 crowns, even own shares were issued for it. The railway line in the Stremtal valley was not only used for passenger and mail transport, but mainly for timber transport. Enormous quantities of construction timber and sawn timber were delivered to Hungary by rail. At the railway station Güssing there was a small timber industry at that time, from which many people lived.

1945 was the end: In February 1945 the last train went to Güssing. With the end of the war in 1945 the railway operation was completely stopped. Some structural remains still remind us of the Güssing railway today. For example a bridge (Viadukt Pinkamindszent) in a remote forest near Moschendorf, or a vault (below it is the left bank tributary of the Schöngraben) at the roundabout outside of Strem, near the former customs houses. The station building in Strem was privately owned and was demolished in 2018.

Pinkamindszent Viaduct: The Viadukt (only german) or reinforced concrete bridge near the west of Pinkamindszent (position: 47.040032, 16.459118) still exists. The beautiful valley was named "Zendülő Gorge" (Gorge of the Desperate ?) because of the route taken by the refugees in 1956, as the boundary stone on the other side of the bridge marks the border with Austria and promised safety at the time.

Viaduct Pinkamindszent 2: The brick bridge (only german) is located at the horse farm for Icelandic horses (Vindstadir), position: 47°02'22.9 "N 16°27'56.4 "E. To get to the bridge, a total of three pasture fence gates (live) must be opened (with the kind permission of the house owner, of course).

Forest railways:
Forest railway Punitzer Gemeindewald - Urbersdorf The Punitz forest railway - Urbersdorf was in operation from 1905 - ca. 1933. Operation: Animal train. Track gauge 600.
Waldbahn Güssing - Neuberg im Burgenland (1913 - 1921), gauge 760, operation: steam operation. Operator: WGN (Waldbahn Güssing - Neuberg). On the 14 km long line through the Stremtal valley wood was brought to the station Güssing by steam locomotives. It was only used for freight traffic. With the connection of Burgenland to Austria the railway line was discontinued. There is a book by Karl Knor from Neuberg on this subject, which can be obtained in Neuberg from the Raiffeisenbank, the Novakovits/Zsifkovits inn, the cafe pub "Tankstö" and the Bauer department store, and in St. Michael im Burgenland from the post office partner Kulovics.
Forest railway Güssing - Rohr im Burgenland (1913 - 1921), gauge 760, operation: steam operation. Starting from Rohr im Burgenland, the 27 km long forest railway transported wood with steam locomotives to the station Güssing.
Forest railway Großmürbisch - Unterradling (Alsórönök), in 1934 the line between Großmürbisch and Alsórönök in Hungary was opened, on which wood was transported by a petrol-driven locomotive from Orenstein & Koppel. In 1935 the line was extended by a funicular railway, in 1936 a diesel locomotive type RL 1a, also built by Orenstein & Koppel in 1930, was put into service. In 1937 the railway was discontinued and sold.



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Contact

Günter Nikles
Josef Reichl-Str. 17a/7
7540 Güssing, Austria

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