eisenbahn stellwerk

We tried to visit this site in Aug 2011, as I am a railfan and enjoy trains. You could see a couple of rail cars and a tower outside, but the train station appeared to be under renovation and the site was closed with no signage to indicate what was happening (and it was not a language barrier, as I speak German). Fortunately, there was a Lidl store next door, so our time was not completly wasted. The tourist brochure for Calw does refer to this site but gives little info other than the address.

The building is only opened on Heritage Day (guidetour) but this doen not mean one cannot enjoy its exterior. When I visited renovationwork was going on so the site looked like Beiroet on clear daylight... In 1872 the first trains pulled into Calw with the Württemberg "Black Forest Railway“ operating from Stuttgart via Weil der Stadt. Hermann Hesse made mention of this picturesque route in his works. There are plans to revive the route, which has been out of operation since 1989. “Stellwerk 1 Calw Süd“ (signal box 1, Calw South) which dates back to 1889 is the oldest signal and turnouts box of the former “Königlich Württembergische Staatsbahn” (Royal State Railway of Württemberg) that still exists and it still has the original mechanic equipment.