The earliest public transportation Dessau had was its Hauptbahnhof, the main train station. The line from Berlin opened in 1841, and the Dessau-Bitterfeld line opened around 20 years later [3]. The Dessau-Bitterfeld line was the first fully electric long-distance railway in Germany [4]. In 1849, the railway built a line to the Worlitzer garden on the outer edge of town, which is pictured below.[2]
The rail network that encouraged industrial growth in Dessau helped establish Dessau as a competitive, thriving, industrial city fit to host the Bauhaus School. During the Bauhaus era, Dessau maintained its status as an industrial powerhouse, and this was clearly reflected in the industrial elements of no only the Bauhaus buildings' architecture but the student work. At this time, rail was not the only thriving transportation; the Dessau Airfield was at its peak, and was quite modern compared to the rest of Germany[5]. In addition to this transportation growth, Dessau started to build its bicycle network in the 1930s[6].
Text: [3]. Herapath’s Railway and Commercial Journal. Quarto Series: Volume VIII No. 369. Published July 4th 1846. Pg. 1261. Accessed 26 July 2018. https://books.google.de/books?id=VE5CAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA1261&lpg=PA1261&dq=first+railway+in+dessau+1841&source=bl&ots=W1-KYT1azC&sig=JsR1PHxx9j7Cinhw1ilFchfAQB4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMy4fX473cAhXB31QKHXJAAwoQ6AEwEnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=first%20railway%20in%20dessau%201841&f=false [4]. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas), 2009-2010. [5]. “Dessau.”April 2017. http://www.forgottenairfields.com/germany/saxony-anhalt/dessau-rosslau/dessau-s385.html [6]. Stadt Dessau-Rossleau (2016). “Cycling Concept for Dessau-Rosseau.” Retreived by http://verwaltung.dessau-rosslau.de/fileadmin/Verwaltungsportal_Dessau-Rosslau/Stadtentwicklung_Umwelt/Mobilitaet_Verkehr/Radverkehr/Alltagsradverkehr/Radverkehrskonzept/drr_radverkehrskonzept_2016-01-27.pdf