Eisenbahnmuseum Kötzschau

The railway museum in Kötzschau stands in the restored station building of the Leipzig–Großkorbetha line, opened in 1856. The brick structure, built in 1855–56, once served as a working station before falling into disuse. After decades of vacancy, the city of Leuna acquired the building in 2009 and funded its full renovation through the state’s Revita programme. Volunteers from the Eisenbahnfreunde Kötzschau association moved the museum here in 2014, completing a project that had begun with the dismantling of the old site in Schladebach.

The exhibits trace the history of the line and its stations, from the first steam trains to electrification in 1942 and 1964. Visitors can step into a 1935-era ticket office complete with uniforms, tickets, freight labels and signalling equipment. Outside, a short stretch of track holds a restored V 22 B diesel locomotive and offers rides on hand-powered draisines or rail bicycles. The museum also displays a large collection of tools and materials used in track maintenance over the decades.

The centrepiece is the fully operational Lehrstellwerk Leipzig-Leutzsch, a training signal box built in the 1970s and 1980s. Its model layout, controlled by real interlocking gear, lets visitors see how railway staff learned to handle faults and timetable changes. The association rebuilt the installation inside the station after it had been stored for years, and it now runs again exactly as it did in training sessions.