Görlitz station is the central station of the city of Görlitz

Görlitz

Görlitz is a town in Germany. It is the easternmost town in the country, located on the Lusatian Neisse River in the Bundesland of Saxony. It is opposite the Polish town of Zgorzelec, which was a part of Görlitz until 1945. Historically, Görlitz was in the region of Upper Lusatia...

 in the German state of Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

. Of the original twelve station tracks only six are still in operation. Görlitz is also served by stations in Rauschwalde, Weinhübel and Hagenwerder.

History

In 1845, the city began, along with the Lower Silesian-Markish Railway , the construction of a station building, which opened in 1847 and began the development of modern Görlitz. Hotels, apartments and businesses were later built around the station. Previously, it had been surrounded only by fields. The station was built by the master mason, Gustav Kießler, who also built the Neisse Viaduct.

On 15 October 1846 Görlitz was connected to the railway network. The Lower Silesian-Markish Railway had begun to build its line from Berlin to Breslau in 1843. A branch of this line ran from Węgliniec

Wegliniec

Węgliniec is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Węgliniec...

 (Kohlfurt) to Görlitz. The South-North German Connecting Railway (Süd-Norddeutsche Verbindungsbahn) was already planning a connection between Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 via Görlitz and Zawidów

Zawidów

Zawidów is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, close to the Czech border. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany...

 (Seidenberg).

The station was jointly operated by the Lower Silesian-Markish Railway and the Saxon-Silesian Railway. The latter operated the line to Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

. The city created Bahnhofsstraße as a street access to the station. The station building was built on island platforms, so that the two railway companies could have separate entrances.

Two slender towers were built at the main entrance, which was protected from the weather by a veranda. From the entrance hall a passage connected to the ticket and luggage offices. This hall was connected by passages to the waiting rooms and trains. A similar building was built by Lower Silesian-Markish Railway in Kohlfurt.

Görlitz was one of the major cities of Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 and further extensions were built. A line was built to Berlin via Cottbus. Traffic grew rapidly and the station became congested. The existing building was built west of the island platforms and a new entrance building was built facing Bahnhofstrasse. A newly pedestrian tunnel was built leading directly from Bahnhofstrasse to the extension of the building on the island platforms. All other old railway buildings, including the two towers had to be demolished for the new development. The new building was larger and better equipped than the old station. During the World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 the new building and the adjacent railway post office (1915) were completed. The entrance hall was opened in Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

 style in 1917.

The station was not damaged in the Second World War. The overhead lines

Overhead lines

Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...

 were completed on the Silesian Mountain Railway

Silesian Mountain Railway

The Silesian Mountain Railway is a railway line in south-west Poland. It leads from Görlitz/Zgorzelec on the Lusatian Neisse via Jelenia Góra to Wałbrzych in Lower Silesia....

 in 1923; in 1946 they were dismantled and transported as reparations

War reparations

War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...

 to the Soviet Union.
In 1984, the station hall ceiling was completely restored. The building has since become a historical monument.

Services

Görlitz station has border facilities for Poland. Trains run three times a day to Legnica

Legnica

Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...

 and Wrocław.

Line	Route
RE 1	Dresden Hbf Dresden Hauptbahnhof is one of two main inter-city transit hubs in the German city of Dresden. Designed by Ernst Giese and Paul Weidner, it was built between 1892 and 1897 at the southern border of the inner city and was important in the growth and development of the city....  − Bischofswerda Bischofswerda Bischofswerda is a small town in Germany at the western edge of Upper Lusatia in Saxony.-Geography:The town is located 33 km to the east of Dresden at the edge of the Upper Lusatian mountain country. The town is known as the "Gateway to Upper Lusatia" - "Tor zur Oberlausitz" in German. It is...  − Bautzen − Löbau Lobau The Lobau is a Vienna floodplain on the northern side of the Danube and partly in Großenzersdorf, Lower Austria. It has been part of the Danube-Auen National Park since 1996 and has been a protected area since 1978. It is used as a recreational area and is known as a site of nudism. There is...  − Görlitz
RE 100	Dresden Hbf − Bautzen − Görlitz − Wrocław Wrocław Main Station Wrocław Main Station is the biggest and most important passenger rail station of the southwestern Polish city of Wrocław. Built in the mid-19th century near the center of the city, until 1945 it was known as Breslau Hauptbahnhof...
RB 60	Dresden Hbf − Bischofswerda − Bautzen − Löbau − Görlitz
OE 60V	Görlitz − Bischofswerda (additional trains during weekday peaks)
OE 64	Görlitz − Hoyerswerda Hoyerswerda Hoyerswerda is the largest city in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in Lusatia, a region where many people speak the Sorbian languages in addition to German.-Geography:...
OE 65	Cottbus Cottbus station Cottbus station is one of the main railway stations of the German state of Brandenburg. It is located just south of central Cottbus. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station.-History :...  − Görlitz − Zittau Zittau Zittau is a city in the south east of the Free State of Saxony, Germany, close to the border tripoint of Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. , there are 28,638 people in the city. It is part of the Görlitz district....