Ceske Budejovice (Budweis) horse-drawn railway

The original Bodvar (Budweiser) beer and Koh I Noor pencils are manufactured at Ceske Budejovice in southern Bohemia, but the town was also a place of great trade, and is important as the terminus of the first lengthy horse-drawn railway in continental Europe, the 120 km line to Linz, of 1106 mm gauge, opened throughout in 1830. The project was suggested by Franz Josef Gerstner in 1807, but was realised by his son Franz Antonin Gerstner, a professor at Vienna Polytechnic, who studied similar lines in England. The line was converted to steam operation in 1870, but 19 stations remain intact on the Austrian and Czech portions of the route, and the passenger and freight terminals at Ceske Budejovice are preserved. The principal cargo on the line was salt, and re-enactments of the railway’s history are staged in the imperial salt warehouse in Ceske Budejovice.

Ceske Budejovice (Budweis) horse-drawn railway
Muzeum koněspřežky
Mánesova 10
2T38 Ceské Budìjovice
Czech Republic
+420 (0) 386 - 354820
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