The Upper Hessian Railway Company (Oberhessische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) was a private concern whose aim was to build and run railway lines in the province of Upper Hesse in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, a state within the German Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Not until 1868/69 was the Upper Hessian Railway Company founded with assistance from the Frankfurt banking house, Erlanger & Söhne, and with the financial support of the state of Hesse.
The 106 km long link from Giessen to Fulda ran through the northern foothills of the Vogelsberg, the first section of which was opened to traffic as far as Grünberg on 29 December 1869.
But further construction on the railway was delayed by the Franco-Prussian War so that Alsfeld was not reached until 29 July 1870, Lauterbach until 30 October 1870 and Bad Salzschlirf by the end of the same year.
As a result, the company reached an agreement with the Grand Duchy of Hesse whereby the state became the owner of the railway from 1 January 1876.