A contemporary witness tells: Tour in the underground museum train DT1 with Ernst Wentzel

Nuremberg: Nuremberg has had a subway for over 50 years. Two people who have been there from the beginning are now inviting people on a special tour: Ernst Wentzel, who helped plan the subway back then, and the DT1 museum train, part of the first series of Nuremberg subway trains, alongside him. On Friday, July 18, 2025, at 7:00 p.m., both witnesses will embark on a tour through Nuremberg's underground, and anyone interested can join them. Afterward, no questions about the Nuremberg subway should remain unanswered, as no one knows it better than Ernst Wentzel. Tickets for the 90-minute tour cost €22.50 and can be reserved by phone at +49 911 283-4646 or online at www.vag.de/rundfahrten

Ernst Wentzel im Fahrerstand eines DT1 - ein Nürnberger U-Bahn-Zug der ersten Stunde. (c) VAG – Medienwerkstatt Franken

Real pioneering work

A look back: On November 24, 1965, the Nuremberg City Council decided to build a traditional subway. Almost two years later, in April 1967, electrical engineer Ernst Wentzel started working at VAG Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft Nürnberg as assistant to the technical director. His task: to plan the operation of the new Nuremberg subway. "That was pioneering work," recalls the now 89-year-old. "Up to that point, only Berlin and Hamburg had subways in Germany. Munich was building at the same time as us."

The Nuremberg subway's starting point was the newly built depot in Langwasser. The first section ran between Langwasser South and Bauernfeindstraße. It opened in March 1972. Ernst Wentzel not only planned subway operations for the VAG, but later also oversaw them as operations manager for decades. Hardly anyone knows the subway network and its operational requirements as well as he does.

Nuremberg's first subway trains

It was also Ernst Wentzel who, together with colleagues from Munich, designed the first subway trains for Nuremberg. Here, too, the city council had decided that Nuremberg and the state capital should jointly procure vehicles so that they could assist each other. This was particularly important for Munich, which was about to host the 1972 Olympics. The manufacturer MAN delivered the first two Nuremberg double-decker railcars on November 4, 1970, from Frankenstrasse via railway tracks directly to the new subway depot in Langwasser. Over the years, VAG has received a total of 64 vehicles of the first DT1 series – initially with direct current and then with the significantly more efficient three-phase current drive. Overall, the DT1 series vehicles have proven to be extremely robust and durable, traveling between 3.5 and 4.5 million kilometers. When they reached the end of their service life, the vehicles were professionally recycled from 2010 to 2023. Except for two double-decker railcars, which were preserved as museum trains.

Museum train DT1 as a venue for events

The two twin-axle railcars, built in 1975 (DC) and 1984 (AC), can be used as individual short trains or coupled together as a long train, as needed. For VAG, they will now form the DT1 museum train, which, like its tram and bus counterparts, will regularly offer special underground rides at the St. Peter Historic Tram Depot. Equipped with a timeline and special stop announcements depicting the more than 50-year history of the Nuremberg U-Bahn, it offers an ambiance in which passengers can experience local transport and thus the city's history in a unique way. On July 18, they will learn everything there is to know about Nuremberg's U-Bahn.