Ludwigsdorf railway disaster
| Ludwigsdorf railway disaster | |
|---|---|
The siding at the Wenceslaus mine ended on a high embankment; the runaway wagons fell from the end of the track. | |
| Details | |
| Date | 27 January 1945 c. 06:30 |
| Location | near Ludwigsdorf, Lower Silesia, Germany now Ludwikowice Kłodzkie, Poland |
| Coordinates | 50°38′01″N 16°25′43″E / 50.633700°N 16.428747°E |
| Country | Germany (at the time) |
| Line | Waldenburg–Glatz railway |
| Operator | Deutsche Reichsbahn |
| Incident type | Train separation, runaway wagons, derailment, fire |
| Cause | Unknown |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Deaths | At least 60 |
| Injured | 3 |
Ludwigsdorf railway disaster was a railway accident that occurred on 27 January 1945 near Ludwigsdorf, Lower Silesia, then in Germany and now Ludwikowice Kłodzkie, Poland, on the Waldenburg–Glatz railway. During the incident, several rear wagons became detached from a train and rolled downhill uncontrollably. The runaway section was diverted onto a siding near Ludwigsdorf, overran the buffer stop, fell down an embankment, and caught fire. At least 60 people were killed.
Background
On 25 January 1945, Luftwaffe hospital unit 8/XVII was ordered to relocate from Niederlindewiese, now Lipová-lázně, to Cottbus.[1]
The first transport section, numbered 157 451, consisted of one passenger carriage and four freight wagons.[1]
This section, one of the two hospital-train sections, was attached to a passenger train that left Niederlindewiese at about 2:00 a.m. on 26 January 1945.[1][2]
The hospital-train section reached Glatz, now Kłodzko, on 26 January 1945.[2] In the evening of 26 January 1945, both sections of the hospital train reached Mittelsteine, now Ścinawka Górna, where they had to wait for a locomotive.[2]
In addition to the two sections of the hospital train, two ammunition trains were also waiting there for locomotives.[2]
Coupling
In Mittelsteine, both sections of the hospital train were attached to the ammunition trains, one section to each train. Each ammunition train consisted of about 25 wagons.[1]
The train section that later crashed consisted of a locomotive, 25 ammunition wagons, and the hospital-train section with one passenger carriage and four freight wagons. The passenger carriage carrying people was the penultimate wagon in the train.[2]
Accident
On 27 January 1945, the train was travelling north on the Waldenburg–Glatz railway, now Linia kolejowa nr 286, between Mittelsteine and Waldenburg, now Wałbrzych.[1]
Accidental uncoupling
At about 06:30, while the train was entering the railway tunnel near Niederkönigswalde, now Świerki Dolne,[3] several rear wagons became detached on a steep gradient.[1]
Because the line south of the tunnel descended at around 1.6%, the detached wagons rolled downhill under gravity.[1][3]
At Ludwigsdorf station, a crowded refugee train was reportedly standing ready to depart about 11.5 kilometres further down the line.[1][3][2]
Routing
The signalman at Ludwigsdorf diverted the runaway wagons onto a siding in order to prevent a collision with that train.[1][3]
Overrun, derailment, crash and fire
The siding formed part of the Wenceslaus mine railway facilities. It ran level for about 600 metres and ended on an embankment roughly 10 metres high.[1][3][2]
The runaway wagons overran the buffer stop at the end of the siding, fell down the embankment, and caught fire.[1][3][2]
The blaze was reportedly intensified by medical oxygen carried in the passenger coach and by the ammunition wagons.[3]
Rescue and casualties
The first rescue personnel reached the site about an hour after the accident.[3]
Not enough water could be brought to the site to fight the fire effectively, and attempts to extinguish it with snow had only limited effect.[3] Six or seven survivors were taken to the reserve military hospital at Neurode, now Nowa Ruda.[3]
The victims were buried on 30 January 1945 in the cemetery at Kunzendorf.[1][4][3]
The mass grave of the victims is located in the cemetery at Kunzendorf, at 50°36′04″N 16°30′04″E / 50.60120145609899°N 16.5011984674101°E.
At the time of burial, only four victims had been identified. Today, all of their names have been recovered.[4][5][6]
Uncertainties
Sources differ on how many wagons became detached. A Red Cross nurse who survived the disaster later stated that 30 wagons had broken away from a train of 60 wagons in total, although she had not counted them herself.[2]
In a report dated 6 February 1945, Willgrod referred to 60 detached axles.[1]
In another report dated 7 February 1945, he referred to 30 detached axles.[7]
A newspaper article from 1958 refers to 120 axles in total and to 30 detached wagons.[3]
There is no clear evidence establishing why the train separated or why the detached wagons did not brake automatically.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Hans Dieter Schneider (2025-08-20). "Die letzte Fahrt meines Vaters: Ein Eisenbahnunglück vor 80 Jahren in Schlesien" (PDF). Forschungsgruppe Grafschaft Glatz (Dokument „Brief von Dr. Willgrod vom 06.02.1945“) (in German). pp. 20–21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kummerer, A. (1951). Annemarie Georg. Tagebuch eines tapferen Mädchens (PDF) (in German). Selbstverlag. pp. 28–30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2026-03-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Eser, J. (April 1958). "Das Eisenbahnunglück zwischen Ludwigsdorf und Centnerbrunn" (PDF). Grafschafter Bote: Informations- und Mitteilungsblatt der Heimatgruppe Grafschaft Glatz (in German). 9 (4): 13.
- ^ a b Hans Dieter Schneider (2025-08-20). "Die letzte Fahrt meines Vaters: Ein Eisenbahnunglück vor 80 Jahren in Schlesien" (PDF). Forschungsgruppe Grafschaft Glatz (Dokument „Eintrag ins Kirchenbuch von Pfarrer Alfred Schindler vom 31.12.1945“) (in German). p. 15.
- ^ Forschungsgruppe Grafschaft Glatz (2025-06-22). "Zum Gedenken an die Todesopfer des Eisenbahnunglücks bei Neurode. 27. Januar 1945" (PDF) (in German). pp. 1–28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2026-03-02.
- ^ Hans Dieter Schneider (2025-08-20). "Die letzte Fahrt meines Vaters: Ein Eisenbahnunglück vor 80 Jahren in Schlesien" (PDF). Forschungsgruppe Grafschaft Glatz (Dokument „Verlustliste 27.01.1945“) (in German). pp. 22–23.
- ^ Hans Dieter Schneider (2025-08-20). "Die letzte Fahrt meines Vaters: Ein Eisenbahnunglück vor 80 Jahren in Schlesien" (PDF). Forschungsgruppe Grafschaft Glatz (Dokument „Brief von Dr. Willgrod vom 07.02.1945“) (in German). pp. 25–27.
Sources
- Marek Cybulski, Nowa Ruda Neurode Tajemnice, zagadki, historia, part 1. ISBN 978-83-942498-1-6, pp. 185–192.