Background
Lebus is a town of 3124 people (as of December 2019, in 1971 it had a population of 1736) in the far east of Germany, located right on the Polish border 10km/6.2mi north of Frankfurt (Oder)* and 78.5km/49mi east of Berlin (both measurements in linear distance). Sitting in the federal state of Brandenburg Lebus was part of the DDR/GDR from 1949 until German reunification in 1990.
*Frankfurt (Oder), named after the Oder River, is a small city in the east of Germany and is not to be confused with Frankfurt (Main) 480km/298mi linear distance to the southwest.
At the time of the accident Lebus was connected to the eastern-German railway network via the Küstrin-Kietz-Frankfurt (Oder) railway, a 28.7km/17.8mi single-track branch line opened in 1857 (reduced to a single track due to reparations after World War 2). The branch line departed the Eberswalde-Frankfurt (Oder) Railway, an 86km/53.5mi single track main line opened in 1877, at the town of Booßen 6km/3.73mi (linear distance) south of Lebus. Neither line was ever electrified, so all services at the time were provided by diesel and steam locomotives.
The trains involved
All trains involved were operated by the DR (“Deutsche Reichsbahn”/”German Reich’s railway”), the national railway of the DDR/GDR which had adopted the name from the previous national railway of post WW1 Germany (1920–1945). Travelling northbound the night of the accident was D 1918, an express train from Zittau via Cottbus and Frankfurt (Oder) to Stralsund on the coast of the Baltic sea. The train was pulled by DR 03 0078, a 23.9m/78.5 feet long oil fired express train steam engine weighting 177 metric tons including its tender and oil/water loads. Without the tender and “dry” it weighted 92.7 metric tons. The oil-fired version had been constructed in 1965 using 17 locomotives. The locomotives were the star of the DR’s high-class express trains at the time, and ran up mileages as high as 22000km/13670mi per month reaching speeds of up to 140kph/87mph. Driving the train was Mr. Goletzke with Mr. Mickelun acting as the stoker. Both men were fairly inexperienced with the route, with Mr. Goletzke being at the controls without a supervisor present for the sixth time overall and Mr. Mickelun being on his fourth journey. It’s unknown what quantity of previous journeys had taken place at night.
DG 50101 was a freight train from Kietz (17km/10.5mi linear distance north of Lebus) to Frankfurt (Oder). It carried different kinds of solid cargo including large amounts of paper in the two forward cars. Pulling the train was DR 132 200, a heavy six-axle diesel locomotive adapted from the near-identical series 130 specifically to pull passenger trains, possessing the systems for electric heating of a passenger train. . The series 132 (later renumbered 232 after integration into the DB (reunified Germany’s national railway)), nicknamed “Ludmilla”, weights 124 metric tons at 20.8m/68ft long and can reach up to 120kph/75mph, enough for even heavy express trains. A freight train like this didn’t strain the locomotive at all. Like most heavy diesel locomotives of the era the 132 was made in the Soviet Union and the GDR had to buy them, pretty much, not being allowed to make a competing product. 132 200 was fairly new, having only been picked up at the factory in May 1975.
Parked at Booßen station was DG 61180, a set of freight cars that had been stored on Track 2 as its nearby destination was at capacity. The unknown Locomotive had been uncoupled and was to return to Frankfurt (Oder) once D 1918 had passed through. Booßen station had 2 tracks in a north-south orientation. Track 2 would carry northbound trains straight through the station and then towards Eberswalde on the main line, while track 4 turned into the branch line if trains didn’t use the points 4 (for going straight). The northbound train had to use the siding (track 4) to pass through Booßen station and rejoin the main line north of the station. Leaving Booßen station on the branch line (passing points number 1) there would be no further connection. Neither railway had a block-section system to keep trains at a distance or any ability to stop a train running a red signal, train drivers had to rely on their knowledge of the routes as well as have professional trust in the signal box crews.
The accident
On the 27th of June 1977 at 0:45am Mr. S, the dispatcher at Booßen station (sitting in signal Box B2) orders his coworker (in charge of setting the paths for trains) in box W1 at the other end of the station to set a path for DG 61180’s locomotive to return to Frankfurt (Oder) once the passenger train has passed through. Mr. H, working the night shift under medication and a lack of sleep, sets the path and confirms it to be set before falling asleep in his stuffy warm office. He’s woken up a few hours later when Mister S calls to order and confirm the path for the passenger train. Due to having fallen asleep Mr. H has forgotten about the freight train’s locomotive waiting to return and assumes the points are all set in the usual arrangement for the express train. They aren’t, at their current state the express train would be diverted off the main line into the branch line towards Küstrin-Kietz. Mr. H could easily find this out by trying to lock the path with a key, as he forgot to set points 3 to straight the system wouldn’t allow him to direct the express train back onto the main line. However, the key isn’t needed to set the path up or operate the signals. Mr. H doesn’t check if the paths are setup correctly and instead just responds to his coworker saying everything is set and the train is clear to approach. Trusting his coworker Mr. S turns the signal at Booßen station green. The passenger train is nearing the station at 100kph/62mph under green signals, the crew not knowing they refer to the wrong rail line. There is little to avoid the disaster at this point.
Meanwhile DG 50101 is rumbling along the branch line towards Booßen in what appears to be a perfectly ordinary trip. Driving the locomotive is Mr. Grund with his assistant Mr. W. He has been with the DR for 29 years, looking to add several more. Coming around a turn just past Lebus station Mr. Grund suddenly sees 3 headlights coming towards him. The passenger train is barreling down the branch line, its inexperienced crew hasn’t noticed the mix-up at Booßen and presumably doesn’t know that they’re several kilometers from where they are supposed to be. Now the collision is unavoidable. It’s unknown if the crew on the locomotive tried to slow down, some witnesses do report hearing the whistle go off several times. Mr. Grund snaps out of his shocked state in a moment, tells his assistant to get off the locomotive, triggers an emergency stop and jumps off the locomotive, being knocked unconscious as he hits the ground. A moment later the residents of Lebus are woken up by a deafening crash as the two locomotives collide head-on at high speed. DR 03 0078’s extremely stiff construction barely compresses as the heavy diesel locomotive slams into it. However, the weight and momentum of its train pushes the tender into the rear of the firebox, eliminating the driver’s cabin before the resistance from the locomotives forces the rear of the tender upwards. The forward passenger car is compressed underneath the tender, ending in a mangled triangular ball of steel along with the second passenger car, the two of them together shorter than one of them was originally. In an instant 25 passengers are dead, along with Mister Grund’s assistant on the diesel locomotive.
Aftermath
A witness in the rear car reports being awoken by a rough jolt, wondering why the train stopped in the middle of nowhere (with no station visible) and steps off the train along with a few other survivors. He later remembers seeing a flashing red light in the distance, suspecting a collision with a truck at a level crossing. Meanwhile further up front oil is leaking out of the locomotives, igniting on the hot metal of the destroyed steam engine. The passenger comes upon an unidentifiable pile of twisted metal just as he sees the first flames flicker up in the dark. Despite seeing a passenger alive in the mangled mess he has to retreat as the fire spreads in the dry grass. As he finds another surviving but trapped passenger further back in car 3 the first responders start reaching the scene, bringing much needed tools and lights that the residents didn’t have. Some reports later say that first responders found the crew of the steam locomotive alive but trapped, but they can’t approach as a boiler explosion caused by the heat of the fire would kill nearby responders too. When they can be approached hours later both men have died. The passenger entered car 3, talking to the trapped passenger he had spotted hanging out the window but having difficulty reaching him due to the deformations inside the passenger car. Meanwhile the conductor climbs out of the wreckage, makes her way to the nearby level crossing and calls the dispatcher at Booßen station. She is met with a puzzled reaction as the dispatcher doesn’t understand how the express train can be involved in an accident far away from where he thought he had directed it. Police officers make their way to Booßen station later in the morning and arrest both Mr. H and Mr. S.
Mr. Grund regains consciousness in a ditch by the side of the track a few meters away from the site of the crash. He broke a few bones and has a head wound but is alive. A local resident spots him and advises him to lie down and wait for medical personnel, instead Grund limps down to the nearby station. Looking back towards the accident he can see the flames stretch into the night. Shortly after reaching the station he’s taken to the Hospital at Frankfurt (Oder). Back at the site responders keep combing through the wreckage for survivors, anyone who doesn’t require hospitalization is taken to a nearby culture center. The fire department successfully keeps the fire from reaching the passenger cars, but both locomotives and the forward to freight cars are lost to the flames. The rescue and recovery effort takes hours, eventually the GDR’s and Soviet Union’s armies send soldiers and vehicles to help with the recovery of the victims. Some of the dead can’t be identified by their IDs, one of the era’s highest-respected coroners is eventually asked to aid in identifying the bodies. One passenger dies a few hours after the collision, bringing the total death toll including staff to 29 victims while 7 passengers survive with severe injuries. While it’s assumed that the crew of the steam locomotive could’ve survived had they been reached earlier it also has to be noted that a lot of seats in the leading car had been booked for children going to a holiday camp at the shore which had been cancelled, sparing several potential victims’ lives.
At 5am the rescue and recovery effort was finished with the wrecked locomotives and cars being dragged off the tracks and the remaining cars towed away, just ours later the first trains could pass the site again. Otto Arndt, at the time the GDR’s traffic minister, made a famous statement standing in front of the wreckage, telling viewers in both eastern and western Germany that “all safety systems had worked fine”. He wasn’t lying, the fact was just that there were next to no systems in the first place. Arndt also heads the investigation into the cause, something you wouldn’t see today as this does not allow an impartial investigation.
On the 18th of July 1977 Mister H is sentenced to five years in jail and full financial responsibility. The fatally lackluster safety equipment of the branch line is brushed under the rug in the public eye and trial, only decades later does an internal report surface that mentions it and blames it on the reparations paid after World War 2 ended 30 years prior leaving too little material or money to have all railway lines up to standard. This had been rumored before, but any mention of the lacking safety standard was seen as simple being “hostile towards the state”. Mr. Grund returns to work with the DR in late 1978 and works as a train driver until he retires in 1989 with 41 years of service. Mister H also returns to work with the DR after being released on probation shortly before finishing the full sentence, now working in the luggage and freight handling at Frankfurt (Oder) station. In December 1979 an electric signal box system replaces the old split system, making a repeat of the chain of events impossible. The new signals at Booßen station indicated which track they referred to, the main line or the branch line. With that, any train crew would’ve known if they were headed into the wrong line.
The branch line is retired and largely removed in 2000, having seen falling usage for years in the period after German reunification. Today there is no sign of the disaster at the site, no memorial. After German reunification the series 132-locomotives became property of the DB (German national railway), being renumbered as series 232 as 1XX was the designation for electric locomotives. 232 009 remained in service until September 1995, being retired and eventually scrapped in 1999. A small number of series 232 locomotives is still in service with the DB today, almost exclusively pulling freight trains, with another few having found a new home with various private rail service providers. The last series 03 steam locomotive is retired from service in 1980, today one (returned to coal-fire) is preserved in working condition, one (oil-burning version) is preserved as a static display and the PKP (Polish national railway) has a series 03 with a streamlined cover on static display in Warsaw.
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