Johann Strauss the Younger Archives

ADDITION IN RED MADE ON 4/3/2024

Note: In this postscript, I discuss the timing and path of construction of the Austrian Ferdinand Northern Railway vis a vis the Wilhelmsbahn Railway, and its likely impact on the family-owned hotel establishment in Ratibor, Prussia, which at least for some time likely benefited from the routing.

POST 156: THE ARRIVAL OF TRAIN SERVICE IN RATIBOR AS SEEN ON CONTEMPORARY MAPS

Multiple of my earlier posts have discussed the family establishment in Ratibor [today: Racibórz, Poland], the Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel, owned by three generations of my family from roughly 1850 until 1926. Based on the evidence I’ve amassed, I’m convinced that my family owned the hotel from the time it was built sometime between 1846 and 1850, and that its construction was tied to the arrival of the railroad in Ratibor which began service there on the 1^st of January 1846.

There are at least two reference points that prove the “Prinz von Preußen” was in existence by 1850. First, the hotel is listed in John Murray’s 1850 “Hand-Book for Travellers on the Continent: Being A Guide Through Holland, Belgium, Prussia, and Northern Germany, and Along the Rhine from Holland to Switzerland” as a place for people to stay in Ratibor while voyaging between Breslau [today: Wrocław, Poland] and Vienna, Austria. (Figures 1a-b) Second, a notice published announced a recital by the noted Austrian composer Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) at the Prinz von Preußen on the 17^th of October 1850. (Figure 2) The composer performed at the hotel while on his way to Vienna, then again a month later on the 17^th of November 1850 on his way back through. (Figure 3)

Figure 1a. Cover of John Murray’s 1850 “Hand-Book for Travellers on the Continent” discussing the “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel

Figure 1b. Page of John Murray’s 1850 “Hand-Book for Travellers on the Continent” discussing the “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel

Figure 2. Notice for Johann Strauss II’s recital at the “Prinz von Preußen” on the 17th of October 1850

Figure 3. Notice for Johann Strauss II’s recital at the “Prinz von Preußen” on the 17th of November 1850

Following publication of Post 156, I did further research on the Wilhelmsbahn or Upper Silesian railway. Just to remind readers, the Wilhelmsbahn was a private railway company in Prussia. It was founded in 1844 in Ratibor in Upper Silesia to connect the Upper Silesian Railway (Breslau—Oppeln—Kosel—Gleiwitz) (today: Wrocław—Opole—Kozle—Gliwice) with the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand Railway. (Figures 4a-b; 5) Construction of this railway through Ratibor for the first time connected the Austrian railway network with the Prussian one.

Figure 4a. Upper Silesian Railway Stations from 1842 to 1883

Figure 4b. Timetable of the Upper Silesian Railway from Breslau (Wrocław) to Myslowitz (Mysłowice) and back in 1848-49

During my research, I stumbled on the following mention of the opening of the railroad in Racibórz:

“In 1846, the first section of the Wilhelm Railway ((German: Wilhelmsbahn, currently railway line No. 151) connecting Racibórz with Koźle was opened. In Koźle, the line connected with the Upper Silesian Railway ((German: Oberschlesische Eisenbahn) connecting Upper Silesia with Wrocław. In 1847, Wilhelm’s Railway was extended to Bohumín. In the years 1855–1858 further sections of the Wilhelm Railway connecting Racibórz with Katowice through Rybnik (currently railway line No. 140) were opened.”

This obscure reference comes from a report entitled “Road to Rail Potential shift of transport flows” published by the so-called Central Europe TRANS TRITIA. Suffice it to say, that TRITIA is a “European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation” in which three regions of Poland, Slovakia, and Czech Republic cooperate to improve coordination and planning of freight transport.

This seemingly insignificant mention of the Wilhelmsbahn Railway caused me to reexamine the references I’d consulted earlier related to the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway and reconsider the timing and route of its construction. In the process, I discovered I’d left readers a bit hanging as to where exactly the Wilhelmsbahn Railway connected with the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway after it left Ratibor. This, in turn, made me realize the Wilhelmsbahn Railway played a more significant role in the region’s economic development than I’d previously understood and that this no doubt resulted in significantly more business for my family’s hotel in Ratibor. Let me explain.

The Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway was a railway company that existed during the time of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. The main line of this railway was intended to connect Vienna with the salt mines in Bochnia, east of Krakau [today: Kraków, Poland]. Bochnia is located on the river Raba in southern Poland, and the salt mine there is the oldest functioning one in Europe, built in the 13^th century.

The Ferdinand Northern Railway was financed by Salomon Mayer von Rothschild (1774-1855) and was Austria’s first steam railroad. The first stretches connected small towns outside Vienna, then extended to Vienna in 1838. From there it connected to Lundenberg [today: Břeclav, Czech Republic] (Břeclav – Wikipedia) and Brunn [today: Brno, Czech Republic] in 1839; to Prerau [today: Přerov, Czech Republic] and Olmütz [today: Olomouc, Czech Republic] (Olomouc – Wikipedia) in 1841; to Leipnik [today: Lipník nad Bečvou, Czech Republic] in 1842; and to Ostrau [today: Ostrava, Czech Republic] (Ostrava – Wikipedia) and Oderberg [today: Bohumín, Czech Republic] by 1847. (Figure 5) What I failed to mention in Post 156 is that Oderberg or Bohumín, Czech Republic, as it is known today, is where the Ferdinand Northern Railway and the Wilhelmsbahn met in 1847. (Figure 6)

Figure 5. Railroad route from 1849 with some of the German place names mentioned in the text circled

Figure 6. Oderberg (today: Bohumin, Czech Republic), south of Ratibor, where the “Wilhelmsbahn” and the “Ferdinand Northern Railway” met in 1847

The Ferdinand Northern Railway never directly reached Kraków or the salt mines in Bochnia. The first rail connection from Vienna to Krakau took place via Oderberg (Bohumín), Ratibor, Kosel, and Myslowitz, and this was provided by the Wilhelmsbahn and the Oberschlesische Eisenbahn (Upper Silesian Railway). The line from Myslowitz to Krakau was built by the Krakau-Oberschlesische Bahn (Kraków and Upper Silesian Railway). Bearing in mind that the towns that are today in the Czech Republic were once part of the Austrian Empire, an entirely Austrian route from Vienna to Krakau did not exist until 1856, nine years after the Ferdinand Northern Railway reached Oderberg (Bohumín) and a full ten years after the Wilhelmsbahn railroad reached Ratibor.

In reviewing the construction timeline of the Ferdinand Northern Railway what I previously failed to fully comprehend is that the Wilhelmsbahn Railway was completed before the Northern Railway’s segment from Oderberg (Bohumín) to Krakau. The significance is that at least for some period Ratibor was an important transit point for people traveling between Vienna and Krakau, and the Bruck’s Hotel would have provided the then-modern amenities voyagers sought. Following completion of the more direct route from Oderberg (Bohumín) to Krakau would have meant that some business was lost, although Ratibor would have continued as a logical way station for people traveling to Breslau, Berlin, and points west from there.

Coincidentally, on the same page as the Prinz von Preußen is mentioned in John Murray’s 1850 “Hand-Book for Travellers on the Continent,” Oderberg and the Kaiser Ferdinand Nordbahn (i.e., Ferdinand Northern Railway) are also discussed. The train coming from Prague to the west connected to the Ferdinand Northern Railway via Olmütz [today: Olomouc, Czech Republic] in Prerau [today: Přerov, Czech Republic]. (Figure 7)

Figure 7. Page of John Murray’s 1850 “Hand-Book for Travellers on the Continent” discussing Oderberg and the “Kaiser Ferdinand Nordbahn”

REFERENCES

“Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway.” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, 20 September 2023. Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway – Wikipedia

Interreg Central Europe TRANS TRITIA. Road to rail potential shift of transport flows. March 2020. 9.2.21.-Road-to-rail-potential-shift-of-transport-flows.pdf (interreg-central.eu)

Murray, John (1850). A hand-book for travellers on the continent: being a guide through Holland, Belgium, Prussia, and Northern Germany, and along the Rhine from Holland to Switzerland London. John Murray. A hand-book for travellers on the continent. [1st] [2 issues of the 16th and … : John Murray : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

“Upper Silesian Railway.” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, 5 July 2023. Upper Silesian Railway – Wikipedia

Weltzel, Augustin (1861). Geschichte der Stadt Ratibor : Weltzel, Augustin : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

“Wilhelmsbahn.” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation, 7 December 2020. Wilhelmsbahn – Wikipedia

Note: This postscript discusses additional information obtained about the Bruck’s “Prinz Von Preußen” Hotel from a Polish gentleman who has written a book on the history of Ratibor.

Figure 1-Cover of Paul Newerla’s book entitled “Ratibor einst und jetzt”

Following publication of Post 11, Mr. Paul Newerla from Raciborz, Poland, author of a book on Ratibor, entitled “Ratibor einst und jetzt” (“Ratibor, then and now”) (Figure 1), contacted me. He shared a lot of information and visuals from his book and other sources, including historic maps, to round out my understanding of the Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel, the inn owned by my family for three generations. Mr. Newerla also made me aware that my family’s connection to Ratibor extends a generation earlier. According to land registers from the city of Ratibor, Jacob Bruck (1770-1832), father of the original owner of the Prinz von Preußen, Samuel Bruck, was an arrendator, a lease-holder, on two properties within Ratibor. Jacob owned properties on Jungfernstrasse and Stockhaus-Gasse prior to construction of the family hotel; interestingly, an 1812 city map sent to me by Mr. Newerla shows the exact parcels owned by Jacob. (Figure 2)

Figure 2-1812 map of Ratibor showing location of parcels owned by Jacob Bruck along Jungfernstrasse & Stockhaus-Gasse, and location of “Odertor,” the city gate atop which Bruck’s Hotel was built

Figure 3-The only preserved tower of Ratibor’s fortifications, along with a fragment of Gothic defensive wall

Ratibor’s city walls, towers (Figure 3) and gates, surrounding the town, were only demolished in 1828, after which the Prinz von Preußen was constructed at the corner of Oderstraße and Bollwerkstraße. (Figures 4, 5, & 6) The same 1812 map just alluded to shows the city walls and gates. Approximating the position of the family hotel, it appears it was built almost atop where one Odertor, city gate, once stood.

Figure 4-1933 plan map of Ratibor showing location of Bruck’s Hotel at the intersection of Oderstraße & Bollwerkstraße

Figure 5-The Bruck’s Hotel at the time it was owned by Ernst Exner, located at the intersection of Oderstraße & Bollwerkstraße

Figure 6-View up Oderstraße looking at the Bruck’s Hotel

A historian, Ms. Katrin Griebel from Zittau, Saxony, who has studied the surviving personal papers of two of my great-aunts, Franziska Bruck and Elsbeth Bruck, archived at the Stadtmuseum in Berlin, has gleaned some anecdotes about the family hotel. According to Ms. Griebel, the building occupied by the Bruck’s Hotel was the former palace of a marquis. Upon the nobleman’s death, the palace became known as the “Prinz von Preußen.”

Figure 7-Advertisement for Johann Strauss the Junior’s orchestral performance at the “Prinz von ***Preußen***” on October 17, 1850

By 1850, the marquis’s palace was assuredly a hotel. Mr. Newerla sent me notices related to two orchestral performances given by Johann Strauss the Younger at the “Prinz von Preußen.” In October 1850, Johann Strauss had plans to perform in front of the Russian Czar, and on his way to Russia he performed at the hotel the evening of October 17, 1850, spending the night. (Figure 7) On his return from Warsaw, he again stopped in Ratibor, giving an orchestral performance “im Saale des Prinzen von Preußen,” the “Hall of the Prince of Prussia,” on the afternoon of November 17, 1850 (Figure 8), leaving that same evening for Vienna.

Figure 8-Advertisement for Johann Strauss the Junior’s encore performance at the “Prinz von ***Preußen***” on November 17, 1850

The Bruck’s Hotel’s “Saale des Prinzen von Preußen” (Figure 9) served other community functions. Mr. Newerla has found records indicating that on October 31, 1859, Ratibor’s fire department held a large carnival ball there; the fire department also organized a theatrical performance, the proceeds of which were earmarked for the assistance of an injured fire brigade colleague.

Figure 9-Location of the “Saale des Prinzen von Preußen”

Several pages from Mr. Newerla’s book discuss the founding in Ratibor of the “Peace Lodge XVII No. 361” of the “Independent Order B’nai B’rith” on May 9, 1886, which met at the “Prinz von Preußen.” B’nai B’rith was originally founded in 1843 in New York, and became established in Berlin, Germany in 1882. My great-grandfather, Fedor Bruck, was a member of Ratibor’s Lodge. Even though the statute of the Lodge specifically excluded politics from its field of activities, they were under police surveillance. While the Lodge continued to meet at the Bruck’s Hotel until at least April 1934 and steered clear of political matters, they appear to have been under pressure to disband.

Figure 10-Cover of Ratibor’s 1889 Address & Business Book

Page 39 from Ratibor’s 1889 Address & Business Book (Figure 10), sent to me by Mr. Newerla, lists residents along Oderstraße, including number 16. Both my great-grandfather, Fedor Bruck, and grandfather, Felix Bruck, are listed at this address. Fedor is the “Besitzer,” or owner, and Felix Bruck the “Geschäftsführer,” the Managing Director (Figure 11); by 1892 Fedor Bruck was deceased. Under business listings, there are none for hotels, but Fedor Bruck is listed under “Gasthöfe 1 Classe,” first-class inns, and, oddly, under “Bade-Anstalten,” or bathing establishments. (Figure 12)

Figure 11-My great-grandfather, Fedor Bruck, and grandfather, Felix Bruck, listed in Ratibor’s 1889 Address Book at Oderstraße 16

Figure 12-Listing for Fedor Bruck under “Gasthöfe 1 Clasße,” first-class inns, and under “Bade-Anstalten,” or bathing establishments

Mr. Newerla sent me a series of advertisements for the Bruck’s Hotel. (Figures 13-19) They appear to extend from the time the hotel was owned by my great-grandfather, Fedor Bruck, possibly through the 1930’s and later. Throughout its existence, it was known as the “Bruck’s ‘Prinz von Preußen’ Hotel,” even though it was no longer owned by my family.

Category: Johann Strauss the Younger

POST 156, POSTSCRIPT: THE ARRIVAL OF TRAIN SERVICE IN RATIBOR AS SEEN ON CONTEMPORARY MAPS

POST 11, POSTSCRIPT: RATIBOR & BRUCK’S “PRINZ VON PREUßEN” HOTEL