Born: 14.12.1819 in Limburg
died: 16.10.1894 in Wiesbaden

Alongside Edmund Heusinger von Waldegg, Moritz Hilf was the most important railroad engineer and builder in the Nassau region. Born in Limburg as the son of a master baker, he was associated with Wiesbaden from 1855 until his death. After leaving school, he devoted himself entirely to railroad construction. Reliable information is rare, as his estate was destroyed during the bombing of Krefeld.

Prof. Karl Friedrich Walbrach was able to establish that Hilf worked on the construction of the Taunusbahn Frankfurt am Main - Wiesbaden as a young technician and surveyor under an excellent "teacher", the railroad builder Paul von Denis, who had planned and built the first German railroad in 1835. In 1842/44, Moritz Hilf studied at the Polytechnic in Karlsruhe. In 1845, von Denis appointed him to Neustadt a. d. Weinstraße as a so-called "section engineer".

In the meantime, Hilf's skills had also been recognized at home. Duke Adolf von Nassau therefore "borrowed" Hilf from Paul von Denis. It turned out that the companies that wanted to build the railroad on the right bank of the Rhine and the Lahnbahn were not up to the task, neither technically, economically nor in terms of personnel. The Duchy was therefore forced to take over the construction and operation of the railroad itself. Moritz Hilf was appointed chief engineer and completed the two railroad projects in record time.

And while the two Rheinbahn tunnels were given magnificent portals to outdo the competition on the left bank of the Rhine, Hilf and his architect Heinrich Velde (Diez) chose decidedly simple forms for the station buildings, which, according to state curator Prof. Gottfried Kiesow, were appropriate for the modest circumstances of the Nassau region. After all, the Lahnbahn included 18 tunnels and 9 lattice bridges over the Lahn. Hilf was therefore held in high esteem by his professional colleagues at home and abroad. One contemporary noted that the Lahnbahn was a work of art "that was unparalleled for many miles around."

After the annexation of Nassau by Prussia in 1866, Hilf retained his management role as operations director of the Royal Prussian Railway Directorate in Wiesbaden until 1880. He was then put in charge of the Wiesbaden railroad operations office.

The construction of the Aartalbahn (Langenschwalbacher Bahn) is regarded as his late work. This so-called Bäderbahn was opened on November 15, 1889. The gap between Zollhaus and Langenschwalbach was closed on June 1, 1894. Hilf, who had also drawn up plans for this construction section, retired on April 1, 1892 at the age of 72.

When he died after a long illness, the mourning for his person was genuine. Walbrach impressively describes the hospitality of Haus Hilf. On duty, he was extremely prudent, correct, eager and always had an open ear for his employees. He was extremely sociable and enjoyed evening discussions over a glass of "Erbacher". When he was once asked how the cooperation with his competitors on the left bank of the Rhine was going, he grinned and rhymed "we're still driving here - and the beese Hesse are still driving".

The following anecdote is also significant: he had warned Duke Adolf not to stop the Prussian advance by blowing up the Loreley Tunnel, as the Nassau military had demanded, because then he, Moritz Hilf, would be out of the country. The tunnel was not blown up.

Moritz Hilf was buried in the Old Cemetery in Wiesbaden. His grave and gravestone have not been preserved. The state capital of Wiesbaden honored him by renaming Industriestrasse in Dotzheim Moritz-Hilf-Straße. The station forecourt had already been given the name Moritz-Hilf-Platz to mark the centenary of the "Langenschwalbacher Bahn". The Dotzheim local history society commemorates Hilfs's work on a plaque at the station.