▁building ▁and ▁an ▁open ▁tim ber ▁hall ▁with ▁four ▁tracks . ▁ ▁The ▁first ▁man aging ▁director ▁from ▁ 1 8 5 0 ▁was ▁Ernst ▁Georg ▁Friedrich ▁Neu haus , ▁who ▁filled ▁this ▁office ▁with ▁great ▁dedic ation ▁until ▁his ▁death ▁on ▁ 4 ▁December ▁ 1 8 7 6 . ▁ ▁Open ing ▁ ▁The ▁first ▁trip ▁from ▁Berlin ▁to ▁Hamburg ▁took ▁over ▁nine ▁hours . ▁The ▁locomot ives ▁Hans a , ▁Con cord ia , ▁Vor wär ts , ▁Germania ▁and ▁Ama zone ▁ha u led ▁carri ages ▁and ▁fre ight ▁w ag ons , ▁including ▁a ▁total ▁of ▁ 3 3 ▁combined ▁first - ▁and ▁second - class ▁carri ages ▁and ▁ 4 3 ▁third - class ▁carri ages , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁a ▁carriage ▁for ▁the ▁" high est ▁people ". ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁first ▁year , ▁about ▁half ▁a ▁million ▁people ▁used ▁the ▁new ▁line . ▁The ▁shorter ▁sections ▁were ▁most ▁frequ ented — for ▁example , ▁between ▁Berlin ▁Sp and au ▁and ▁Nau en , ▁between ▁W itten ber ge ▁and ▁Bü chen ▁and ▁between ▁Hamburg ▁and ▁Ber ged orf . ▁Within ▁ 2 0 ▁years , ▁annual ▁re venue ▁had ▁double d ▁to ▁ 8 9 0 , 0 0 0 ▁th al ers . ▁Fre ight ▁re venue ▁rose ▁even ▁faster ▁over ▁the ▁years , ▁due ▁to ▁increasing ▁industrial isation ▁and ▁the ▁growing ▁population ▁of ▁Berlin ▁and ▁Hamburg . ▁ ▁Integr ation ▁with ▁other ▁rail ▁lines ▁and ▁national isation ▁ ▁In ▁Hamburg ▁the ▁Lü beck