Harald Baumann was a locomotive driver for 42 years.
Now he started his last train journey.
At the main train station, friends and his comrades from the Schleissheim Schlosspfeiffers received him.
Oberschleißheim – “Regensburg – Munich – Pension” is written in large letters on the sign they are holding up on platform 35 in Munich.
Friends, family and music buddies - they all came to receive engine driver Harald Baumann after his last train journey.
Baumann can already hear the Schleissheimer Schlosspfeiffer from his driver's cab as he pulls into the station.
He immediately recognizes the Coburg March played by his longtime comrades.
The billboard reads "Dear Harry, have a safe retirement, all the best for the future".
After 42 years in the locomotive, Baumann has now retired.
At 12.46 p.m. he started the RE 4859 in Regensburg.
Five double-deck cars with one locomotive.
On the way to Regensburg there was a system malfunction in Freising.
After a restart everything worked smoothly again.
“It happens,” says Baumann.
"Luckily, the whole thing only took a few minutes."
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Ticket to retirement: Harald Baumann was a train driver for Deutsche Bahn for 42 years.
© Private
On the other hand, his last trip before retirement went smoothly.
The "chilled return trip" went via Neufahrn and Landshut to Munich.
He has driven this route many times.
But his favorite tours are different: the trip to Eichstätt in the Altmühltal or along the Danube to Passau.
“The sunrises and sunsets as a train driver are something special.
Or to experience the seasons.”
His love story is even more romantic.
He met his partner Jenny Krahl (33) on the train about 13 years ago.
She is also a railroader.
They got closer with the shifts.
Now all that's missing is the wedding on the train.
"It's still coming," says Baumann and laughs.
Daughter Felicitas (9) was allowed to ride with her father.
"If the Schlosspfeiffers paid better..."
Family and career cannot always be reconciled as a train driver.
"I often had night shifts and we couldn't just drive away at the weekend." The hobby of music also had to suffer as a result.
Because he often worked during rehearsals, he slipped from the first accordion part to the fourth.
"If the Schlosspfeiffers paid better than Deutsche Bahn, I would have become a professional musician long ago," jokes Baumann.
The Baumann-Krahls are a real family of musicians.
They recently got involved with Tanzlmusi at the Menzinger Trachtenverein.
Krahl with the Styrian, Baumann with the accordion.
With the Schleißheimer Schlosspfeiffern, the engine driver plays the fanfare, trumpet and flugelhorn, his partner the baritone horn.
The two are even active in the Karlsfeld brass band.
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The man in the locomotive: Harald Baumann in his early years.
© Private
Baumann only discovered his passion for music through his partner.
Too late, otherwise he would probably have become a musician.
At 22, Baumann wanted to do something different.
The trained toolmaker began his training at Deutsche Bahn in Steinhausen in 1980 as a locomotive driver.
"Today that's called the train driver." In April 1981, Baumann was allowed to ride the S-Bahn alone from the Ostbahnhof to Steinhausen for the first time.
Except for a few years in Augsburg, Baumann was stationed with the Deutsche Regionalbahn in Munich.
“I always cycled to Pasing.
That was my sport.” Depending on the duty roster, he had to fetch his locomotive and railcar from the Hirschgarten.
A train only starts when all operating points have been ticked off.
That means: covering the train and coupling it, checking the lines, testing the brakes and booting up the technology.
As soon as the dispatcher, who sits in the large tower at Hackerbrücke, gives the okay, the start button in the driver's cab flashes green.
The journey can start.
“I tried to drive to all stops on time and at the same time to save energy,” says Baumann.
"I'll still take on one or the other train journey",
In 42 years there have not only been good moments.
Baumann witnessed three emergency operations.
"No one is left alone with it, everyone receives psychological support." Train accidents like the one in Garmisch are part of every train driver's nightmare.
He himself drove this route many times.
“My colleagues and I are aware of the responsibility.
But we have to distance ourselves a little, otherwise nobody would drive for fear.”
But what remains are the good memories.
That's why Harald Baumann can't quite let go of his life as a locomotive driver.
"I'll still take on one or the other train journey," he says.
If everything goes well, he will continue to work on a mini-job basis.
Many will perhaps be allowed to ride with him a few more times.
But only when he's not making music.
More news from Oberschleißheim and the district of Munich can be found here.
