From 1907, the Eberswalde-Finowfurt Railway (EFE) ran on a 9.6 kilometer long route between the city of Eberswalde and the municipality of Schöpfurth (today Finowfurt) as well as the 1.3 kilometer long Heegermühle (today Finow)-Messingwerk junction (1914–1970 ) and the 2.2 kilometer long section between Eberswalde and Spechthausen (1931–1945).
In 1924, the Eberswalde-Schöpfurth small railway was converted into a private railway called the Eberswalde-Schöpfurther Eisenbahn (ESE). The German Railway Company (DEG), based in Frankfurt am Main, remained the owner. In 1929, the AG für Verkehrswesen (AGV) in Frankfurt am Main took over ESE. After the merger of Schöpfurth and Steinfurt to form Finowfurt, the ESE was renamed the Eberswalde-Finowfurter Eisenbahn (EFE) in 1930.
In 1947 the railway went to the Brandenburg State Railways; In 1949 to the Deutsche Reichsbahn. In 1994, Deutsche Bahn AG took over the route. Passenger traffic on the railway stopped in 1961 and freight traffic in 1996.