History
Freilassing - the Railway Town
The history of Freilassing is closely linked with the history of the railway. In the 1970s and 1980s a workforce of over 1000 was employed in the station, railway depot, regional permanent way maintenance office and regional catenary maintenance office.
When the German Railway was privatised in the 1990s many jobs were relocated or cut. The locomotive depot was not spared by this development. A number of years later the roundhouse was classified as a listed building and the town of Freilassing decided to purchase it from the German Railway and convert it into a railway museum - the "Freilassing Locomotive World" - in collaboration with the Deutsches Museum.
The roundhouse, which lies directly on the main Munich-Salzburg line, was constructed between 1902 and 1905. It is part of a group of buildings which includes an administration block, assembly shop, its own power station and various workshops, and is therefore a major industrial heritage site.
A relic from the earlier active times of the roundhouse is the 1924 turntable with a diameter of 23 metres. The catenary "spider web" bears witness to the electrification of the railway.
The town of Freilassing acquired the roundhouse from the Deutsche Bahn AG in 2003. A railway museum, the "Freilassing Locomotive World", was the result of a joint project with the Deutsches Museum. Of the 20 original radially arranged tracks of the roundhouse 17 may be used by the museum. The remaining three tracks are used as workshops. The interior of the roundhouse is particularly attractive with its wooden support structure.
From Locomotive Shed to Locomotive World
- 1860 Opening of the Munich–Salzburg line: the Maximilian Railway
- 1902-1905 Construction of the Freilassing locomotive shed (roundhouse)
- 1922 onwards Addition of the electrical shop
- 1924 Installation of a new turntable
- 1994 Closing of the Freilassing depot
- 1998 Closing of the apprentice workshop; classification by Bavaria as a listed building
- 2002 The town of Freilassing decides to purchase the roundhouse from the Deutsche Bahn
- 2003 Acquisition from the Deutsche Bahn AG: the roundhouse becomes the property of the town; a contract is signed with the Deutsches Museum
- 2004 Foundation of the association "Freunde des Historischen Lokschuppens 1905 Freilassing e.V." (Friends of the Historical Roundhouse 1905 Freilassing);
- start of the refurbishing work on the roundhouse
- 2005 "100 Years Roundhouse": exhibition about the history of the railway depot; re-edition of the chronicle about the Freilassing railway depot; refurbishing work: roof support construction is renovated, skylight is moved, new roofing is placed, plastering and painting work, turntable is restored to working order
- 2006 The first historical locomotives from the Deutsches Museum are stabled in the roundhouse on 9 April
- 2006 The Freilassing Locomotive World opens on 2 September
