Johannes Brahms and the Train: Musings on Musicians and Steam 391 Brahms 1-1867 25.7.1867 Brahms 2-1867 25.7.1867 Brahms 3-2011 44 28.7.2011 Hamburg depart 2230 hrs Hamburg depart 0730 hrs Hamburg depart 1629 hrs Berlin arrive 0520 hrs; depart 0645 hrs Berlin arrive 1557 hrs; depart 1900 hrs Berlin depart 1841 hrs Dresden arrive 1140 hrs; depart 1245 hrs Dresden arrive 2330 hrs; depart 0103 hrs Dresden arrive 2051 hrs;depart 2108 hrs Bodenbach (present-day Děčín) – arrive 1420 hrs; depart 1510 hrs Bodenbach (present-day Děčín) – arrive 0230 hrs; depart 0305 hrs Děčín depart 2154 hrs Praha arrive 1900 hrs;depart 1924 hrs Praha arrive 0550 hrs;depart 0609 hrs Praha depart 0004 hrs Wien arrive 0756 hrs Wien arrive 1512 hrs Wien arrive 0622 hrs Time taken is 33:26 hrs Time taken is 31:42 hrs Time taken is 13:53 hrs Table 1. Jakob Brahms’s Train Trip Hamburg – Wien – on 25 July 1867, the day that Jakob left, there were only two departures/day Hamburg to Wien; now there are 13 departures/day.45 Of the 13 departures in the current schedule, only two of those are non-stop; the other eleven trains require one single change in Germany, either in Würzburg (daytime) or in München (evening). – in 1867 we can see from the chart that one would have had to make multiple train changes on the route; using the same route now, the best connection time-wise would mean only having to change train once (in Dresden).44 From Deutsche Bahn website schedule planner (www.bahn.de).45 In comparing train schedules, I used the same day of the week (Thursday) in relatively the same part of the month (late July) as when Jakob Brahms travelled.