Is it possible to check luggage on European railroads?

No, you cannot check luggage the way you are referring to - at least not on Deutsche Bahn. What i would suggest is if you think your transfer time is too short, then just book a later train. When you run a query on DB, look at each transfer and it gives you an option of adjusting the transfer time to make it longer or shorter. Just add some time if you think it might be too short.

FWIW, I'm an older woman (late 60's) and I was fine with my luggage and I traveled all over Germany by train this year. In the few cases where I had some problems, someone was always willing to help. Most of the larger airports like Frankfurt will have elevators or escalators for getting to a different track, which makes it relatively easy.

I forgot to tell you that if you use the "best price search" option when searching, the "change transfer time" option will not show up. You don't really need the "best price" option anyway, since it's basically the same info you get with a regular search, just arranged differently.

There are luggage forwarding services or even DHL that will just ship a bag from the U.S. to Europe. This is one example (I have not used them myself): Luggage Forward . That gets rid of all the hassle, for a price that doesn't seem too outrageous.

The Rick Steves philosophy of course is to pack lighter and leave the checked bag at home, but if you have your reasons for the extra bag, this could be a solution.

Took me a minute to decipher what "Bawlmer Merlin" meant.......

It looks like it would cost over $200 to forward a bag from Frankfurt to Prague using the service mentioned. For that price, it might be worth it to just fly to Prague. Have you considered flying instead of taking the train?

No luggage checking with the trains. This is not a good site to suggest that you have a carry-on size bag, a personal item, and a large suitcase. Everyone will tell you to dump the large suitcase. You may reasons to need that much luggage -- and it is fine -- but it does complicate traveling. And reading between the lines with regard to the train question I assume this may be you first Europe trip or certainly first experience with European trains. Everyone is expect to handle their own luggage and quickly. Good luck.

Thanks to all for the feedback.

My first trip to Europe was in 1980 and I have returned something over 40 times since, traveling independently and mostly solo, getting around mostly by rail (with a few ferries, buses and planes tossed in). I learned fairly early that Rick was right, pack light, but these circumstances are peculiar for two reasons. First, I will be visiting friends in Prague, where I have a standing offer of a room in the suburbs. To give them a break, I generally go off on my own for a week or more, leaving the large bag (and all the presents it held!) with them and living out of the carry-on a la Rick. Normally I'd fly straight in, but the desire to minimize exposure to COVID and the craziness of airfares and "nickle&dime you to death" pricing policies led me to the plane/train plan.

The second factor: Trying to find a window that would work around my friends' schedules, I intended to embark less than a week after scheduled cataract surgery - and lifting >10 lbs on the way over would be verboten. I could probably persuade friendly hands to help get the checked luggage onto the plane and off the baggage carousel; I could roll it to the long-distance rail station at FRA, and organize help getting it on there and off again at Prague. But. The bottleneck was one (or two) very tight rail transfers en route. I doubt I could enlist help fast enough to navigate (e.g) the 22-platform Hauptbahnhof at Nuremberg in the 10 minutes available. Checking the large bag through on the rail leg, with DB doing the heavy lifting, would have been the ideal solution - even if it was delayed a day or two I'd be able to live out of the carry-on a la Rick.

I do appreciate the DHL suggestion, as I'm thinking of bringing some tableware and glass (MORE presents!) home from Czechia , and I'll bang that option against whatever the vendors would charge to ship, or what a second checked bag would cost; I should have time in-country to investigate the options (since I've seen nearly everything worth seeing in the region, and one can only drink so much beer, however excellent...)

Let me offer a couple of suggestions for bringing stuff home from Prague: (1) The best deals I've found on Bohemia glassware (not as spiffy as Moser, but visit the Moser store in the Black Rose shopping center on Na prikope, enjoy the beautiful items [I call it the "glass museum"], & check the prices - if I can't afford their wares, your probably can't either) were at the Kotva department store (late-Communist-futuristic building about 150 km north of Namesti republiky, same side as Obecni dum). Fourth floor IIRC. Same items as in the Bohemia store near Narodni trida and Wenceslas square (look there first if you wish), but discounts of 20-40%. Kotva, however, didn't ship stuff when last I looked. (2) Trying to get the VAT refunded for items you're taking/shipping home is a pain; I tried it once and after hassling the process on the morning of departure got something like $5 back, If you're tricking out an entire house it might be worth it, but... (3) Dark-red Czech garnets are lovely (I've seen them processed and mounted in a visit to Turnovo) but my friends (who are/were geologists) warn that a lot of what's on offer is actually lower-quality stones from India. How to tell them apart? Beats the hell out of me, I was a mathematician in a previous life... But hey, if you like their look and the price is fair, why quibble?

Happy trails to all. Slava Ukraini!

I intended to embark less than a week after scheduled cataract surgery

I pretty much stopped reading after this. I'm surprised your ophthalmologist is OK with this. Do you have insurance that would cover medical care if anything should go awry with your eye while away? Are you aware of the possible complications to your eye (glaucoma, dislocation of the lens, retinal detatchment) from lifting excessive weights in the several weeks after surgery? Why would you risk that just to save a bit of money by taking trains instead of just flying all the way? Even this assumes you would have someone who could carry your large case out of your home and then into the airport terminal.

You are an adult, and thus free to make your own decisions, but I can't NOT point out the risks you are carrying by going forward with this idea so soon after surgery.

While you may not be able to check luggage, you may be able to get get porter service on many trains and at larger stations. Easier if you are booking upper classes and taking the premium trains.

Let me add to the suggestion you check with your opthalmologist before embarking on this trip.

Ship your larger bag to your friends house in Prague. Send My Bag is very reliable.

“ you may be able to get get porter service on many trains and at larger stations.”
This may be true for trains in the USA, but porter service is a very rare thing in Europe. It’s definitely not available on many trains or at many large stations. And it’s definitely not available in Germany where the OP will need to make several changes. Passengers are expected to carry their own luggage and while it’s certainly possible that a fellow passenger will help you getting your luggage on the train, you can’t count on it. And you most certainly shouldn’t expect a fellow passenger or train staff to carry your luggage from one platform to the next.

Maybe I’m missing something here, but why not just fly to Prague? It will save a lot of time and energy.

CJean: Thank you for your concern. My surgeon in fact was aware of my intentions and in fact juggled his schedule to permit me maximum flexibility in planning. (He probably would not have approved of the checked bag - but that's why I was asking about checking it through on the train, as I wasn't about to violate the no-lift order, and a fast train transfer is where I was least likely to organize some timely assistance.) As it happens the next workable window starts in mid-September, after my next eye checkup and well after the lifting restrictions expire.

COVID, in case you haven't noticed ;-) has bollixed travel right nicely. Having dodged Miz 'Rona to this point, I was hoping to minimize exposure en route. Most options I found involved public transport and/or multiple layovers in multiple airports. (My Before-COVID low-cost go-to was Greyhound from Baltimore to NYC, visit friends for a couple of days, then subway and AirTrain to JFK, etc. Who knows when or if that'll be viable again.) The Condor BWI-FRA flight was nonstop, and I thought social distancing would be easier on a train (and apparently DB requires masking on at least some routes) than another plane. (FTR the next most reasonable itinerary was BWI-KEF-PRG by air, but it involved 10+-hr layovers in Iceland both ways and carry-on size limitations my lightweight bag wouldn't meet.)

I will be looking into Send A Bag as well as DHL (and the airline) for terms, conditions and prices - if for nothing else, to see if a general Czech update of my table- and glassware is feasible.

Diky moc to all.

Most of the trains I've been on in Europe since mid-June have been pretty full for at least part of the trip. Ventilation on trains isn't as good as it is on planes, so I'm not sure trains are safer, though you have to factor in the time spent hanging around airports, which don't have airplane-quality ventilation.

Hotel breakfast rooms are another risky environment.

In Germany no porter service at all. DB has no such luggage service. Regardless of age, it is expected you carry your own luggage. I am in the same age group as you. In the 1980s you'll recall that in German train stations, ie the major ones, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, etc there was a luggage service or assistance called " Koffer Kuli"...long since gone.

True, at times the rail connections are tight , all the more so in the summer and early autumn to make the train connections with heavy luggage in tow.. The worst of these stations is Hamburg Hbf, say having to change from track 5 to 9 in about 7-8 mins. In that case I just allow the train to be missed and take the next one since it's only a regional train.

Most of the trains I've been on in Europe since mid-June have been pretty full for at least part of the trip. Ventilation on trains isn't as good as it is on planes, so I'm not sure trains are safer, though you have to factor in the time spent hanging around airports, which don't have airplane-quality ventilation.

I totally second that. I'd much rather spend 90 minutes on a plane, a timeframe during which I can keep an FFP2/N95 mask on without even a drink, than 6-7 hours on trains with usually poorly masked passengers (where masks are mandatory) or no masks at all (where they are not).
Unfortunately, I'm spending a lot of time in situation #2 for work...

@fred: I remember Hamburg Hbf from my first trip over (1980) - arriving from Copenhagen in the wee hours, had to transfer there to reach Munich next morning. Unlike nearly every other large station, one climbed an overpass (not underpass) to go between platforms. (Still that way??) The friend I'd been visiting in Denmark counseled me on this detail and bet me a beer that I'd miss the connection anyway. (He lost. Good beer!)

I recognize the trains may be crowded; I just prefer the ability to stretch out and wander around (and keep my distance from sneezers and coughers) to being shoehorned into an airline seat.

FWIW I will of course be revisiting all the possible itineraries before booking; perhaps something more attractive than the plane/train combo will pop up. Thanks to all.

@ Uncle cosmos....Yes, Hamburg Hbf is still like that basically, ie, unlike any other Hbf. I've seen in all of Germany, Munich, Frankfurt, Leipzig, are simple to navigate compared with Hamburg. The closest one I can think of is Rostock Hbf. Most likely you were transferring the night train to Munich from Hamburg Hbf. Nowadays, that night train starts in Hamburg-Altona. I've taken that night train Hamburg Hbf or Munich or to Wien Hbf.

If the departure to Munich was late at night, you most likely didn't have to contend with, ie, dodge the crowds going up the escalator or stairs or doing likewise going down the stairs or escalator on to your connecting platform plus the crowds in between. The worse time in crowd-dodging is in the afternoon and rush hour, almost wall to wall people.

I can well imagine what you went through at Hamburg Hbf in 1980, I was there in Sept 1977 one evening during rush hour making a connection with luggage in tow going to Kiel. to get to the hostel.

My eye surgeon was quite adamant in his pre/post surgery instructions.
Not picking up more than 10 pounds in the first week after surgery.
This kind of activity can create pressure in your optical veins and inhibit healing.
He knows me well in that I would be tempted to get back to this activity his question to me is the risk is worth it.