It was founded in 1868, with the Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company (Leipzig-Dresdner Eisenbahn-Compagnie) holding a third of the capital, as it had hoped for additional traffic as a result of the construction of the new line.
The first Director of the CGE until 1876 was Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal.
[1] The 71 km long extension of the main line to the northeast of Cottbus via Grunow to Frankfurt (Oder) was opened to traffic on 31 December 1876.
From 1 June 1874. the CGE decided—at the request of the Prussian government—to operate its own line, as well as the newly opened Upper Lusatian Railway Company (Oberlausitzer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaf).
Since the traffic of the CGE was well developed, the Prussian government decided to acquire the company.