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Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof
Encyclopedia
is the central station
for Frankfurt am Main. In terms of railway traffic, it is the busiest railway station in Germany. With about 350,000 passengers per day the station is the second most frequented railway station in Germany and one of the most frequented in Europe.
Those three stations were placed beside each other on the then Gallustor (today: Willy-Brandt-Platz).
was made chief engineer for the steel
-related works. The new station was placed about 1 km to the west of the first three stations. The platforms were covered by three iron-and-glass halls.
On August 18, 1888, after five years of construction, the Central-Bahnhof Frankfurt was finally opened. Right on the evening of the opening day, a train ran over the buffer stop and the locomotive was damaged. Over the course of the next few years, the area eastward of the new station, the Bahnhofsviertel was built up, finishing around 1900. Until the completion of Leipzig Hauptbahnhof
in 1915, Frankfurt station was the largest in Europe.
In 1924 two neoclassical
halls were added on each side of the main hall, increasing the number of platforms to 24. During World War II
, the building was partly damaged (most notably the windows in the halls covering the platforms). In 1956 the station was fully electrified. One year later, Europe's then-largest signal box
was commissioned, which, having been built in a contemporary style of the time has now become a listed building.
Starting with the construction of the B-Tunnel for the Frankfurt U-Bahn
facilities in 1971, a subterranean level was added in front of the main building, featuring the city's first public escalator
and including a large shopping mall
, one station each for the U-Bahn and S-Bahn
trains, an air raid shelter and a public car park. The subterranean stations were opened in 1978 and were built in the cut and cover method, which involved the demolition of the second northern hall and rebuilding it after the stations were completed.
Between 2002 and 2006, the roof construction, which is a listed building, was renovated. This involved the exchange of aged steel girder
s, reinstallation of windows that were replaced by panels after World War II and a general clean-up of the hall construction.
The operational part of the station is being remodeled as well; the old signal box has been recently replaced with an electronic signal box. This was vital to improve capacity of the station. The new signal box became operational in late 2005 and will allow faster speeds into the station (up to 60 km/h) after the remodelling of the tracks.
The 5th Infantry Division of Patton's
Third Army
entered Frankfurt on March 26th, 1945. It wasn't easy. "In the memory of Fifth Division men," comments the writer of its history. "There are many rivers and bridges but to anyone who was there in Frankfurt on the night of the 26th and the day and night of 27th March, the bridge over the Main River into Frankfurt will be remembered as being the most heavily defended by German artillery." The crossing was finally made in the night of 26-27 March; heavy fighting (snipers, tanks) continued as the division moved into Frankfurt proper.
A battalion moved toward the main railway station, reaching it after three blocks of intense sniper fire. Going in through the front door was too tough, so the troops entered the station through the "rear," presumably where the trains came and went. "Civilian observers directed self-propelled fire, 88-millimeter and heavy mortar fire on the station, also under fire from small arms and machine guns." The station was of course held. And "at the close of the 30th day of March all Frankfurt with its suburbs was clear of the enemy."
The city didn't work. "Neither trains nor streetcars were running; it took two months after the city was occupied before even two streetcar lines were back in service. Most electric lines and water and gas mains were so damaged that they would take months to repair....After twenty air raids; the business district was a wilderness of rubble. In the railroad yards, Germans and so-called DPs (Displaced Persons), those now-liberated forced laborers and Allied prisoners of war, raided stranded Wehrmacht supply trains; seventy Soviet DPs died as a result of drinking methyl alcohol taken in such raid.http://www.metzgerfamily.org/End.html
The appearance of the station is divided into perron (track hall) and vestibule (reception hall). Dominant in those parts built in 1888 are neorenaissance features, the outer two halls, added in 1924 follow the style of neoclassicism
. The eastern façade of the vestibule features a large clock
with two symbolic statues for day and night. Above the clock, the word Hauptbahnhof and the Deutsche Bahn logo are situated.
The roof of the front hall carries a monumental statue of Atlas supporting the World on his shoulder, in this case assisted by two allegorical figures representing Iron and Steam.
The station's terminal
layout has posed some unique problems ever since the late 20th century, since all trains have to change directions and reverse out of the station to continue on to their destination. This causes long turn-around times and places the passengers in the opposite direction of where they had been sitting. There have been several attempts to change this. The last project, called Frankfurt 21, was to put the whole station underground, connect it with tunnels also to the east, and so avoid the disadvantages of the terminal layout. This would be financed by selling the air rights over the area now used for tracks as building ground for skyscraper
, but this soon proved unrealistic, and the project was abandoned.
Frankfurt is the third-busiest railway station outside of Japan and the busiest in Germany.
and at Frankfurt (Main) Süd instead at the central station.
network, offering connections to Koblenz
, Limburg an der Lahn
, Kassel
, Nidda
, Stockheim
, Siegen
, Fulda
, Gießen
, Aschaffenburg
, Würzburg
, Mannheim
, Heidelberg
, Dieburg
, Eberbach
, Worms
and Saarbrücken
with fifteen regional lines calling at the main station.
is the most important station in the S-Bahn Rhein-Main
network, with all nine S-Bahn lines calling at the station.
stop.
Central station
A central station usually designates the principal passenger railway station of cities which have multiple stations. The central station functions as the main transport hub for rail transport, normally with interchange with other modes of public transport...
for Frankfurt am Main. In terms of railway traffic, it is the busiest railway station in Germany. With about 350,000 passengers per day the station is the second most frequented railway station in Germany and one of the most frequented in Europe.
Proto-history
In the late 19th century, three stations connected Frankfurt to the west, north and south, the- Taunus station for the Taunusbahn (opened 1839), connecting Frankfurt to WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
- Main-Neckar-station for the Main-Neckar-Eisenbahn to DarmstadtDarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, HeidelbergHeidelberg-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
and MannheimMannheimMannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
(1848)) - Main-Weser station for the Main-Weser-Bahn to KasselKasselKassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
(1852) and from 1860 on also used by the Frankfurt-Bad Homburger Eisenbahn.
Those three stations were placed beside each other on the then Gallustor (today: Willy-Brandt-Platz).
Building the new station
This situation was considered impracticable due to rising passenger figures in the 19th century, so plans were laid out as early as 1866. At first, a large scale station with up to 34 platforms was considered, then the number got reduced to 18. Post and baggage handlings had their own underground facilities, and the city council demanded the station to be moved further away from the city. In the end, in 1881, the German architect Hermann Eggert won the design contest for the station hall, his runner-up in the contest, Johann Wilhelm SchwedlerJohann Wilhelm Schwedler
Johann Wilhelm Schwedler was a German civil engineer and civil servant who designed many bridges and public buildings and invented the Schwedler truss and the Schwedler cupola.-Life and career:...
was made chief engineer for the steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
-related works. The new station was placed about 1 km to the west of the first three stations. The platforms were covered by three iron-and-glass halls.
The station opens
Leipzig Hauptbahnhof
is, at 83,460 m², Europe's largest railway station when measured by floor area. It has 24 platforms housed in six iron trainsheds; a multi-level concourse with towering stone arches; and a 293 metre-long facade...
in 1915, Frankfurt station was the largest in Europe.
Later extensions
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
halls were added on each side of the main hall, increasing the number of platforms to 24. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the building was partly damaged (most notably the windows in the halls covering the platforms). In 1956 the station was fully electrified. One year later, Europe's then-largest signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
was commissioned, which, having been built in a contemporary style of the time has now become a listed building.
Starting with the construction of the B-Tunnel for the Frankfurt U-Bahn
Frankfurt U-Bahn
The Frankfurt U-Bahn, together with the Frankfurt S-Bahn and the Frankfurt Straßenbahn, is the backbone of the public transport system of Frankfurt, Germany. Its name derives from the German term for underground, Untergrundbahn. The U-Bahn opened in 1968 and now consists of 87 stations on nine...
facilities in 1971, a subterranean level was added in front of the main building, featuring the city's first public escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
and including a large shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
, one station each for the U-Bahn and S-Bahn
S-Bahn
S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
trains, an air raid shelter and a public car park. The subterranean stations were opened in 1978 and were built in the cut and cover method, which involved the demolition of the second northern hall and rebuilding it after the stations were completed.
Between 2002 and 2006, the roof construction, which is a listed building, was renovated. This involved the exchange of aged steel girder
Girder
A girder is a support beam used in construction. Girders often have an I-beam cross section for strength, but may also have a box shape, Z shape or other forms. Girder is the term used to denote the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams...
s, reinstallation of windows that were replaced by panels after World War II and a general clean-up of the hall construction.
The operational part of the station is being remodeled as well; the old signal box has been recently replaced with an electronic signal box. This was vital to improve capacity of the station. The new signal box became operational in late 2005 and will allow faster speeds into the station (up to 60 km/h) after the remodelling of the tracks.
Wartime Damage
Young Norman Metzger, in describing ground combat in Frankfurt near the end of World War II, wrote:The 5th Infantry Division of Patton's
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
Third Army
United States Army Central
United States Army Central is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army and is also dual-hatted as the "United States Third Army". It is the Army Component of U.S...
entered Frankfurt on March 26th, 1945. It wasn't easy. "In the memory of Fifth Division men," comments the writer of its history. "There are many rivers and bridges but to anyone who was there in Frankfurt on the night of the 26th and the day and night of 27th March, the bridge over the Main River into Frankfurt will be remembered as being the most heavily defended by German artillery." The crossing was finally made in the night of 26-27 March; heavy fighting (snipers, tanks) continued as the division moved into Frankfurt proper.
A battalion moved toward the main railway station, reaching it after three blocks of intense sniper fire. Going in through the front door was too tough, so the troops entered the station through the "rear," presumably where the trains came and went. "Civilian observers directed self-propelled fire, 88-millimeter and heavy mortar fire on the station, also under fire from small arms and machine guns." The station was of course held. And "at the close of the 30th day of March all Frankfurt with its suburbs was clear of the enemy."
Wilderness of Rubble
The city didn't work. "Neither trains nor streetcars were running; it took two months after the city was occupied before even two streetcar lines were back in service. Most electric lines and water and gas mains were so damaged that they would take months to repair....After twenty air raids; the business district was a wilderness of rubble. In the railroad yards, Germans and so-called DPs (Displaced Persons), those now-liberated forced laborers and Allied prisoners of war, raided stranded Wehrmacht supply trains; seventy Soviet DPs died as a result of drinking methyl alcohol taken in such raid.http://www.metzgerfamily.org/End.html
Architecture
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
. The eastern façade of the vestibule features a large clock
Clock
A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...
with two symbolic statues for day and night. Above the clock, the word Hauptbahnhof and the Deutsche Bahn logo are situated.
The roof of the front hall carries a monumental statue of Atlas supporting the World on his shoulder, in this case assisted by two allegorical figures representing Iron and Steam.
Operational usage
| In brief | |
|---|---|
| Total number of tracks: | 120 |
| Number of passenger tracks above ground: |
24 main line Main line (railway) The Mainline or Main line of a railway is a track that is used for through trains or is the principal artery of the system from which branch lines, yards, sidings and spurs are connected.... , 1 branch, 3 tram Tram A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities... way stations, 2 tracks each |
| below ground: | 4 S-Bahn S-Bahn S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark... tracks, 4 Stadtbahn Stadtbahn A ' is a tramway or light railway that includes segments built to rapid transit standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway, mainly by the building of tunnels in the central city area.... tracks (3 in usage) |
| Trains (daily): |
342 long-distance 290 regional (excluding Stadtbahn and tramway) |
| Passengers (daily): |
350,000 |
The station's terminal
Terminal Station
Terminal Station is a 1953 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Production:...
layout has posed some unique problems ever since the late 20th century, since all trains have to change directions and reverse out of the station to continue on to their destination. This causes long turn-around times and places the passengers in the opposite direction of where they had been sitting. There have been several attempts to change this. The last project, called Frankfurt 21, was to put the whole station underground, connect it with tunnels also to the east, and so avoid the disadvantages of the terminal layout. This would be financed by selling the air rights over the area now used for tracks as building ground for skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
, but this soon proved unrealistic, and the project was abandoned.
Frankfurt is the third-busiest railway station outside of Japan and the busiest in Germany.
Long distance trains
As for long-distance traffic, the station profits greatly from its location in the heart of Europe; 13 of the 24 ICE lines call at the station, as well as 2 of the 3 ICE Sprinter lines. To ease the strain on the central station, some ICE lines now call at Frankfurt Airport stationFrankfurt (Main) Flughafen Fernbahnhof
Frankfurt Airport long distance railway station is a railway station at Frankfurt Airport in Germany that is served by long-distance trains, mostly ICE services running on the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line. It is the largest airport railway station in Germany with about 23,000 passengers...
and at Frankfurt (Main) Süd instead at the central station.
Regional trains
With regard to regional traffic, Frankfurt Hbf is the main hub in the RMVRhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund
The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund is an organised transport network in the German state of Hesse, centred around the city of Frankfurt am Main. Its head office is located in Hofheim im Taunus...
network, offering connections to Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
, Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
, Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, Nidda
Nidda
Nidda could refer to:*Niddah, a concept in Judaism*Niddah , a tractate in the Mishna and Talmud*Nidda, Hesse, a town in Germany*Nidda , a river in Germany...
, Stockheim
Stockheim
Stockheim is a municipality in the district of Kronach in Bavaria in Germany....
, Siegen
Siegen
Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region...
, Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
, Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
, Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
, Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
, Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Dieburg
Dieburg
Dieburg is a town in southern Hessen, Germany. It was formerly the seat of the district of Dieburg, but is now part of the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg.-History:...
, Eberbach
Eberbach (Baden)
Eberbach is a town in Germany, in northern Baden-Württemberg, located 33 km east of Heidelberg. It belongs to the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis. Its sister city is Ephrata, United States.- Location :...
, Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
and Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
with fifteen regional lines calling at the main station.
S-Bahn
The subterranean S-Bahn stationFrankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof underground
The Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof underground station is a four-track S-Bahn station under Frankfurt central station and together with Hauptwache and Konstablerwache one of the key nodes in the network of the Rhine-Main S-Bahn, a rail network that serves the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region...
is the most important station in the S-Bahn Rhein-Main
Rhine-Main S-Bahn
The Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter transport system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt...
network, with all nine S-Bahn lines calling at the station.
Local services
Tram connections are offered by TraffiQ, with tram lines 11 and 12 (station Hauptbahnhof/Münchner Straße), 16, 17, 20, 21 and the Ebbelwei-Expreß. The lines U4 and U5 call at the subterranean StadtbahnStadtbahn
A ' is a tramway or light railway that includes segments built to rapid transit standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway, mainly by the building of tunnels in the central city area....
stop.
Sources
- Bundesbahndirektion Frankfurt am Main: Abfahrt 1888, Ankunft 1988: 100 Jahre Hauptbahnhof Frankfurt am Main, HESTRA-Verlag, Darmstadt 1988, ISBN 3-7771-0215-6
- Volker Rödel, Der Hauptbahnhof zu Frankfurt am Main. Aufstieg, Fall und Wiedergeburt eines Großstadtbahnhofs = Arbeitshefte des Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege Hessen 8, Stuttgart 2006.
- Wolf-Christian Setzepfandt: Architekturführer Frankfurt am Main. 3. Auflage. Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin August 2002, ISBN 3-496-01236-6, S. 33.
- Heinz Schomann: Der Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof. Ein Beitrag zur Architektur- und Eisenbahngeschichte der Gründerzeit, 1983, ISBN 3-421-02801-X