Private company

Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen

Logo: Osthannoversche Eisenbahn, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

German transport company

The Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG (OHE) is a Celle based transportation company with railway network in North-eastern Lower Saxony around the Lüneburg Heath area of over 250 km. The OHE's main business is the transportation of freight through their own routes as well as the network of the Deutsche Bahn.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1944Founded¹

Industryrail transport¹
HeadquartersCelle¹
Websitewww.ohe-transport.de
Legal formAktiengesellschaft¹

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The Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG (OHE) is a Celle based transportation company with railway network in North-eastern Lower Saxony around the Lüneburg Heath area of over 250 km.²

Corporate structure

Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen Celle
- Erixx Subsidiary · Soltau

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

Erixx

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.¹

The story

Formation

In 1944 the OHE arose from the merger of several companies from the northeast area of Lower Saxony, its creation was not purely for economic reasons, but also being politically favourable to the national socialist Gau Osthannover government.

The company was formed on 10 July 1944 from a number of small railways previously under the management of the Niedersächsisches Landeskleinbahnamt (LKA):

Celler Eisenbahnen AG - formed in March 1944 from the merger of two companies:

Eisenbahn Celle-Wittingen AG; before 1940 the Kleinbahn Celle-Wittingen (CW) (established 1904)

Eisenbahn Celle-Soltau, Celle–Munster; before 1940 known as the Kleinbahn Celle-Soltau-Munster GmbH (CSM) before 1910 known as the Kleinbahn Garßen-Bergen (first established 1902)

Winsener Eisenbahn GmbH - formed in 1933 from the merger of two companies:

Kleinbahn Winsen–Niedermarschacht

Kleinbahn Winsen–Evendorf–Hützel (WEH)

Read the full text

Lüneburg-Bleckeder Eisenbahn GmbH formed from the Bleckeder Kleinbahn GmbH (BI.KB) in September 1943.

Lüneburg-Soltauer Eisenbahn formed in 1943 from the Kleinbahn Lüneburg-Soltau GmbH (founded 1913)

Kleinbahn Soltau–Neuenkirchen (founded 1920)

Additionally the Kleinbahn Wittingen-Oebisfelde (KWOe) was also incorporated on the same day. The new company Osthannoverschen Railways AG 1944 had routes of 340 km total length: it was for decades the largest of the non-federal railways of Germany

At its founding in 1944 the main shareholders were the Prussian State and the Province of Hanover with 53% of the shares combined, the districts of Celle, Fallingbostel, Gifhorn, Harburg and Lüneburg also had owned shares.

By the end of 2006 the OHE was still state-owned with 40.2% held by the state of Lower Saxony and 33.8% by the German state

In July 2006 the German state, the state of Lower Saxony and DB Regio AG decided to sell their shares as part of a privatisation process. The successful bidder was Arriva-Bachstein GmbH; a consortium made up of Arriva (86%) and Verkehrsbetriebe Bach Stein GmbH (14%), with an offer of 30million Euros, and various supplementary promises, subject to regulatory and parliamentary approval.

Shareholders as of 2008 were: Arriva Bachstein GmbH - 85.118%, Celle council - 5.615%, Gifhorn council - 3.224%, Lüneburg council- 2.178%, Soltau-Fallingbostel council- 2.160%, City of Celle - 1.187%, City of Wittingen - 0.468%, Flecken Brome - 0.050%

From Wikipedia’s article on Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁴

Products and brands

Rail network

Decommissioned and closed routes:

The network is open to other rail companies, the OHE offers cheaper track access charges for through workings than for trains starting or ending on its own tracks.

Operations

Rail freight

The transportation of freight has always been an important part of the railway: in 2006 1.4 million of materials were transported, including wood, other construction materials, chemicals and fertilizers and military equipment for the military training grounds at Munster and Bergen. The relative amounts of freight were: wood 47%, chemicals/oil 17%, aggregates/building materials 16%, container 8%, other 7%, military 4%. As a railway company OHE transported in 2006 Germany 1.6 million tonnes (2005: 0.95 million tons) with unit train loads being the main type of transport.

The OHE also operates in partnership with the Deutsche Bahn.

Read the full text

Passenger

Passenger work on OHE lines was at its peak at the very beginning of the companies history. In the subsequent decades a few passenger routes were shut, by the 1970s many remained but by 1977 all had closed:

1 July 1945: Rühen–Oebisfelde

22 May 1955: Beedenbostel–Mariaglück (works transport remained until 1958)

28 May 1961: Soltau–Neuenkirchen

22 May 1966: Winsen–Niedermarschacht

31 May 1970: Hermannsburg–Munster (Lager) und Salzhausen–Hützel

3 June 1973: Bleckede–Alt Garge

26 May 1974: Steinhorst–Wittingen und Wittingen–Rühen Horst

5 July 1974: Winsen–Salzhausen

1 June 1975: Bergen–Soltau

26 June 1975: Soltau–Hützel–Schwindebeck

30 May 1976: Celle Nord–Bergen und Beckedorf–Hermannsburg

23 June 1976: Celle Nord–Steinhorst Celle

22 May 1977: Lüneburg–Bleckede und Lüneburg–Schwindebeck

As a replacement for the rail closures the OHE ran bus services instead.

Through the subsidiary NiedersachsenBahn GmbH (60% owned with a 40% stake from Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser (EVB) ) the OHE became involved in rail passenger transport once again with the company metronom which has operated since 2003 on the tracks of the Deutsche Bahn. Maintenance of metronom vehicles is carried out at the OHE owned works at Uelzen

Heritage traffic

Through the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Verkehrsfreunde Lüneburg e.V. (AVL) ("Association of friends of Lüneburg transport eV") the Heide-Express is run on the OHE network with rolling stock from yesteryear.

Management of other railway lines

With the dissolution of the Niedersächsisches Landeseisenbahnamt (NLEA) in 1959 the OHE' (along with the Bentheimer Eisenbahn) took over some of the operations of the railway companies previously managed by the NLEA:

Bremervörde-Osterholzer Eisenbahn GmbH (BOE) (until 1980, now managed and part of the Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser (EVB) )

Buxtehude-Harsefelder Eisenbahn GmbH (BHE) (since July 1993 managed by Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser)

Eisenbahn Gittelde-Bad Grund GmbH (decommissioned 30 December 1971)

Lüchow-Schmarsauer Eisenbahn GmbH (LSE) (until 30 March 1969, subsequently self managed)

Niederweserbahn GmbH (NWB) (decommissioned 26 September 1964)

Steinhuder Meer-Bahn GmbH (StMB) (acquisition of the remaining rail operations by the OHE in March 2000)

Wilstedt-Zeven-Tostedter Eisenbahn GmbH (WZTE) (until 1980: in 1982 the company merged with the Bremervörde-Osterholzer Eisenbahn GmbH to form the Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser)

Since 1995 workings on the Rinteln-Stadthagener Verkehrs GmbH (RStV) have been operated by the OHE, the Verkehrsbetriebe Grafschaft Hoya was managed by OHE between 1993 and 2001. (The operations subsequently taken over by the WeserBahn GmbH)

In addition, the operation of the 15 km long railway line from Bomlitz to Walsrode (Bomlitz–Walsrode railway) is operated by the OHE for the benefit of Dow Wolff Cellulosics

Subsidiaries

In addition to the company metronom and its main rail transport business the OHE operates a number of subsidiaries - mostly symbiotic to its main operational mode:

Kraftverkehr Osthannover GmbH (KOG) - a road transport business established 1973.

Kraftverkehr Celle Stadt und Land GmbH (KVC) - a shareholder of Cebus GmbH & Co. KG, operator of coach transport.

Osthannoversche Umschlagsgesellschaft mbH (OHU) - provides storage and handling facilities at the ports of Hafen Wittingen on the Elbe Lateral Canal

Uelzener Hafenbetriebs- und Umschlags-GmbH (UHU) - Operates the port of Uelzener Hafen on the Elbeseitkanal.

Unikai Hafenbetrieb Lüneburg GmbH - Operates the port of Hafen Luneberg

Verkehrsbetrieb Osthannover GmbH (VOG) - A bus route operator with over 50 vehicles operating in the counties of Soltau-Fallingbostel, Luneberg und Harburg of northeast Lower Saxony