Goethe (train)

Goethe
Class 181, multivoltage locomotive
Overview
Service type	Trans Europ Express (TEE) (1970–1975 and 1979–1983) InterCity (IC) (1983–1987) EuroCity (EC) (1987–2007)
Status	Replaced by an ICE3
Locale	France Germany
First service	31 May 1970 (1970-05-31)
Last service	10 June 2007 (2007-06-10)
Former operator(s)	SNCF Deutsche Bundesbahn / Deutsche Bahn (DB)
Route
Start	Paris-Est/ Dortmund Hbf
End	Frankfurt Hbf
Service frequency	Daily
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	15 kV AC, 16.7 Hz (Germany)
Route map Legend Paris Est Metz-Ville Saint-Avold Forbach France / Germany border Saarbrücken Hbf Homburg (Saar) Hbf Kaiserslautern Hbf Neustadt (Weinstr) Hbf Mannheim Hbf Frankfurt Hbf Fulda Eisenach Erfurt Hbf Weimar Leipzig Hbf Dresden-Neustadt Dresden Hbf Bad Schandau Germany / Czech border Děčín Ústí nad Labem Prague-Holešovice Prague h.l.

The Goethe was an express train that, for most of its existence, linked Paris-Est in Paris, France, with Frankfurt Hbf in Frankfurt, Germany. Introduced in 1970, it was operated by the SNCF and the Deutsche Bundesbahn / Deutsche Bahn (DB).

The train was named after the German author and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who lived in Frankfurt.

Initially, the Goethe was a first-class-only Trans Europ Express (TEE). It originally was scheduled to operate westbound in the morning and eastbound in the late afternoon and evening. However, at the start of the summer 1972 timetable period, on 28 May, the schedule was reversed, with the TEE Goethe now scheduled to leave Paris at 8:00 and Frankfurt at 16:15.^[1] On 31 May 1975, it was discontinued, replaced by an unnamed two-class express train running on a similar schedule over the same route.^[2]

On 27 May 1979, the name Goethe was revived for a different route, between Dortmund Hbf, Germany, and Frankfurt Hbf, again as a TEE.^[3] This second TEE Goethe was discontinued on 29 May 1983, reclassified as IC Goethe, a two-class InterCity train.^[4] The Goethe name continued in use for this route through 1 June 1985.^[5]

During the same period, from 1975, the Paris–Frankfurt express/Schnellzug running on approximately the former Goethe schedule had continued to operate, without name, and was reclassified as an InterCity (IC 156/157) in June 1984.^[6] Subsequently, on 2 June 1985, the name Goethe was restored to that train and itinerary.^[5] On 31 May 1987, it was included in the then-new EuroCity (EC) network (with train nos. EC 56/57)^[7] and from 1997 to 1999 it was extended to Prague It was replaced in June 2007 by an ICE3 service, unnamed and initially requiring a change of train in Saarbrücken.^[8]

See also

• History of rail transport in France
• History of rail transport in Germany
• List of named passenger trains of Europe

References

Notes

Bibliography

v t e  Trans Europ Express trains International Albert Schweitzer Arbalète Bavaria Blauer Enzian Brabant Catalan Talgo Cisalpin Diamant Edelweiss Erasmus Étendard Étoile du Nord Goethe Gottardo Helvetia Île de France Iris Lemano Ligure Mediolanum Memling Merkur Molière Mont Cenis L'Oiseau Bleu Paris–Ruhr Parsifal Prinz Eugen Rembrandt Rheingold Rhein–Main Roland Rubens Saphir Ticino Van Beethoven Watteau Domestic France Aquitaine Le Capitole Étendard Faidherbe Gayant Jules Verne Kléber Le Lyonnais Le Mistral Le Rhodanien Stanislas Watteau Germany Bacchus Diamant Friedrich Schiller Gambrinus Goethe Heinrich Heine Rheinpfeil Roland Italy Adriatico Ambrosiano Aurora Cycnus Colosseum Settebello Vesuvio