The Arnsberg (Westphalia) station is a station on the

Upper Ruhr Valley Railway The Upper Ruhr Valley Railway (german: Obere Ruhrtalbahn) is a 138-kilometre-long, non-electrified line from Schwerte (Ruhr) station) through the Hochsauerland (high Sauerland) to Warburg in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the mos ...

(german: Obere Ruhrtalbahn) in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

. It was opened in

Arnsberg Arnsberg (; wep, Arensperg) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hochs ...

with the construction of the line in 1870/71. The station building was built in 1869 in the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style. The station building is still used for passenger traffic. Some of the space in the building is used by various social groups and institutions. In addition to the existing passenger facilities at Arnsberg station there used to be a major workshop, a depot, a railway telegraph office and a customs office.

History

The construction of the station was preceded by considerable debate between the city and the

Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company The Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company (german: Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME), also referred to as the Berg-Mark Railway Company or, more rarely, as the Bergisch-Markische Railway Company, was a German railway company that togethe ...

about its location. Some called for the construction at today's Jäger bridge near the old town. This was rejected by the Company for cost reasons. The station was erected at the exit of the Schlossberg tunnel and below the Lüsenberg (hill). Arnsberg station was at that time far outside the built up area. On 1 May 1908, the station was renamed ''Arnsberg (Westphalia)''.

Passengers

The station consists of a central main building and an attached annex building with two floors and an annex with one floor. The main building was built in the Renaissance Revival style to a design by the architect Rauh of

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a docu ...

. Hardly anything of the original facade has been preserved. The original plaster surfaces were designed to look like

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

and the corners were vividly highlighted. On 12 March 1945, the station badly damaged in an air raid, but then rebuilt.

Freight

The handling of freight at the station is not subject to restrictions. A crane, a terminal ramp and side ramps and a 40 tonne weighbridge were formerly available for freight traffic. Freight traffic was discontinued in 1976. A few years later, however, a container terminal was built.

Main workshop

In 1870, the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company established a main workshop for locomotives and wagons, which became a major employer in the city. In the course of centralisation and rationalisation after the line was taken over by

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

, the main workshop was closed in 1926 or 1927. The maintenance tasks were transferred to

Schwerte Schwerte ( Westphalian: ''Schweierte'') is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area. South of Schwerte begins the mountainous ...

and Wedau (in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

Depot

The Arnsberg depot was only of regional importance and had a few locomotives, which were composed of Prussian locomotives of classes T 12, G 10 and P 8. In 1941 the depot employed 130 people. In 1953 the depot was disbanded as an independent operation. The works operated for some time as a branch of the

Bestwig Bestwig is a municipality in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Bestwig is situated on the river Ruhr, approx. 10 km east of Meschede. It lies on the German Autobahn A 46. Bestwig has a railway station ...

depot.

State and development

The station building is now listed as a historical monument. It is currently only partially accessible by the disabled. In recent years, the station has been owned by the city of Arnsberg. Various social institutions are located in its wings. The station and station area was fundamentally reconstructed up to August 2011. The station's former joinery workshop has been converted into a new firefighting museum. The railway engineering facilities are still owned by Deutsche Bahn and were renovated as part of NRW's modernisation initiative 2. The platforms have had barrier-free access since 6 November 2015 and a lift has been installed.

Services

Arnsberg station is served by passenger services on the following lines: The RLG and BRS operate the following bus services: * C 1: Arnsberg, Bahnhof – Neumarkt – Niedereimer – Bruchhausen – Hüsten – Neheim, Busbahnhof * R 21: Arnsberg, Bahnhof – Neumarkt – Waldfriedhof – Ochsenkopf –

Sundern Sundern is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name Sundern is common in Westphalia, as it means "ground given away for private usage" in the Westphalian dialect. Geography Sundern is situated approximate ...

– Sundern-Hagen * R 22: Arnsberg, Bahnhof – Neumarkt – Wennigloh – Hachen – Langscheid * R 71: Arnsberg, Bahnhof – Neumarkt – Rumbeck – Oeventrop – Glösingen – Freienohl – Wennemen – Meschede, Busbahnhof

Notes

References

External links

* *{{cite web, url= http://www.deutschebahn.com/site/bahn/de/geschaefte/infrastruktur__schiene/netz/netzzugang/dokumente/Bahnhof/SNB/E/EARB__NBS.pdf , title=Arnsberg station track plan, publisher=

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

, format=PDF, 142.02 kB , language=German , accessdate=7 March 2012 Railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia Railway stations in Germany opened in 1870 Buildings and structures in Hochsauerlandkreis