Strasbourg-Ville is the main railway station in the city of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

, France. It is the eastern terminus of the

Paris-Est–Strasbourg-Ville railway The railway from Paris-Est to Strasbourg-Ville is a 493-kilometre-long railway line that connects Paris to Strasbourg via Châlons-en-Champagne and Nancy, France. Officially, the line does not start at the Gare de l'Est in Paris: the first 9 ...

. The current core building, an example of historicist architecture of the Wilhelminian period, replaced a previous station inaugurated in 1852, later turned into a covered market and ultimately demolished.
With over 20 million passengers in 2018, Strasbourg-Ville is one of the busiest railway stations in France, second only to Lyon-Part-Dieu outside of the

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

Previous history

Strasbourg's first railway station was inaugurated on 19 September 1841 with the opening of the Strasbourg–Basel railway. It was situated far from the city center, in the district of Koenigshoffen. On 11 July 1846, it was moved to the city center; a new building was designed (as a

terminus station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

) by the French architect Jean-André Weyer (1805–??) and inaugurated on 18 July 1852 by Président Bonaparte. After the German annexation of Alsace following the Franco-Prussian War and as part of the general rebuilding of the town after the

Siege of Strasbourg The siege of Strasbourg took place during the Franco-Prussian War, and resulted in the French surrender of the fortress on 28 September 1870. After the German victory at Wörth, troops from the Grand Duchy of Baden under Prussian General Aug ...

, the construction of a larger station (not a terminus station) in the '' Neustadt'' was decided and began in 1878. Weyer's station became Strasbourg's central

market hall A market hall is a covered space or a building where food and other articles are sold from stalls by independent vendors. A market hall is a type of indoor market and is especially common in many European countries. A food hall, the most usual ...

in 1884. It was demolished in 1974.

Building

The historical building of Strasbourg's current railway station was built between 1878 and 1883 by the German architect

Johann Eduard Jacobsthal Johann, typically a male given name, is the German language, German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin language, Latin form of the Greek language, Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew language, Hebrew name ''Johanan (name ...

(1839–1902). In 1900,

Hermann Eggert Georg Peter Hermann Eggert (3 January 1844 – 12 March 1920) was a German architect. He designed important public buildings such as the Frankfurt Main Station and the New Town Hall in Hannover, often in the style of Neo-Renaissance. Career Bo ...

, architect of the imperial palace

Palais du Rhin The Palais du Rhin ( en, Palace of the Rhine), the former ''Kaiserpalast'' (Imperial palace), is a building situated in the German (north-east) quarter of Strasbourg ( Neustadt) dominating the '' Place de la République'' (the former ''Kaiserplatz' ...

, added a special waiting section and staircase for the

German emperor The German Emperor (german: Deutscher Kaiser, ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the offi ...

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

, now known as the ''Salon de l'empereur'', with

stained glass window Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

s by the manufacturers

Ott Frères Ott, OTT or O.T.T. may refer to: Entertainment * OTT (group), a pop band from the late 1990s * Ott (record producer), British record producer and musician * "O.T.T" (song), a song by Fugative * ''O.T.T.'' (television series), a UK TV programme ...

. The historical building was classified as a

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

(type "inscrit") on 28 December 1984. Prior to the opening of the high speed train line

LGV Est The Ligne à Grande Vitesse Est européenne (East European High Speed Line), typically shortened to LGV Est, is a French high-speed rail line that connects Vaires-sur-Marne (near Paris) and Vendenheim (near Strasbourg). The line halved the trav ...

, the station was refurbished by architect

Jean-Marie Duthilleul Jean-Marie Duthilleul (born 1952) is a French architect and civil engineer. Education He studied architecture at the École de Paris La Seine, Paris and engineering at the École Polytechnique and the École des Ponts et Chaussées (now ). ...

(born 1952) in 2006–2007 and its size and capacity largely increased by the addition of a huge glass roof entirely covering the historical façade. The modernization of the station was bestowed a

Brunel Award The ''Brunel Awards'' are given to railway companies, to encourage outstanding visual design in railway architecture, graphics, industrial design and art, technical infrastructure and environmental integration, and rolling stock. The name is ass ...

in 2008. The main hall is adorned by two larger than life

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s of female

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

figures representing

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

and

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. They are the work of

Otto Geyer Karl Ludwig Otto Geyer (8 January 1843, Charlottenburg - March 1914, Charlottenburg) was a German sculptor. His brother was the architect, . Life and work His father, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Geyer, was an Archdeacon in the Evangelical Church. ...

. Geyer also sculpted the figured

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s adorning the historical façade, both of which bear his signature. The main hall also used to display two

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s by

Hermann Knackfuss Hermann Knackfuss (german: Hermann Knackfuß) (August 11, 1848, Wissen, Rhenish Prussia – May 17, 1915) was a German painter and writer on art. He is known for his historical paintings, but his most-recognized work is his illustration on beha ...

, painted in 1885, one depicting William I's visit of the fortress ''Fort Kronprinz'' in Hausbergen (now ''Fort Foch'',

Niederhausbergen Niederhausbergen is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Niederhausbergen is a small residential area on the outskirts of Strasbourg, located 6 km northwest of the latter. It adjoins the hill Hausbe ...

), belonging to the fortified belt around Strasbourg, on 3 May 1877 and the other one, as a historical parallel, depicting in Frederick I's arrival in

Haguenau Haguenau (; Alsatian: or ; and historically in English: ''Hagenaw'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of France, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg, some to the south. To the ...

in 1164. The two works of art, called ''Im alten Reich'' and ''Im neuen Reich'' ("In the old Empire" and "In the new Empire") were removed at some point in the 20th century and are lost. Strasbourg Railway Station at Night, Alsace, France - Diliff

Strasbourg Railway Station at Night, Alsace, France - Diliff

File:Gare de Strasbourg vers 1910 (carte postale).jpg, Gare de Strasbourg around 1910 File:Strasbourg gare centrale hall des départs août 2013.jpg, Historical main hall File:091028 Strasbourg IMG 6238.JPG, A

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

(right) and a

TER Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno ob ...

(left) in Gare de Strasbourg in 2009

Services

The station is the main station in Strasbourg and one of the main stations in France with over 19.4 million passengers in 2017. TGV service is being assured by the

, since 2007, and the

LGV Rhin-Rhône The LGV Rhin-Rhône (French: ''Ligne à Grande Vitesse''; English: high-speed line) is a French high-speed rail line, the first in France to be presented as an inter-regional route rather than a link from the provinces to Paris, though it actuall ...

, since 2011.

TGV

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

- Strasbourg - Marseille *

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

- Strasbourg -

Paris-Est The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris-Est, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Gare ...

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...

- Strasbourg - Paris-Est * Freiburg - Emmendingen - Lahr - Offenburg - Strasbourg - Paris-Est * Strasbourg - Paris CDG Airport -

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

* Strasbourg -

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

* Strasbourg -

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

* Strasbourg -

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

* Strasbourg -

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

* Strasbourg -

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

Other Main Line services

* Strasbourg - Paris

TER

* Strasbourg - Sélestat - Colmar - Mulhouse - Saint Louis - BaselLe réseau TER Fluo
TER Grand Est, accessed 28 April 2022. * Strasbourg - Haguenau * Strasbourg - Metz * Strasbourg - Nancy * Strasbourg - Saint-Dié-des-Vosges - Épinal * Strasbourg - Sarreguemines - Saarbrücken(D) * Strasbourg - Kehl - Offenburg (''Métro-Rhin'' and ''

Ortenau The Ortenau, originally called Mortenau, is a historic region in the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the right bank of the river Rhine, stretching from the Upper Rhine Plain to the foothill zone of the Black Fore ...

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...

'')

Local transport connections

The station also serves lines A, C and D of the

Strasbourg tramway The Strasbourg tramway (french: Tramway de Strasbourg, german: Straßenbahn Straßburg; gsw-FR, D'Strossabàhn Strossburi(g)), run by the CTS, is a network of six tramlines, A, B, C, D, E and F that operate in the cities of Strasbourg in Alsace, ...

. The lines A and D stop in the underground station beneath the actual building, that was inaugurated on 25 November 1994 together with the line A. Line C (opened in 2010) stops overground, on ''Place de la gare''. The following buses of the

CTS Cts or CTS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * Chinese Television System, a Taiwanese broadcast television station, including: ** CTS Main Channel () ** CTS Education and Culture () ** CTS Recreation () ** CTS News and Info () ...

stop at the railway station: Line 2, Line 10 and Bus à haut niveau de service G (from 30 November 2013)

Other stations

* Gare de Strasbourg-Cronenbourg:

goods station A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are lo ...

* Gare de Hausbergen:

Classification yard A classification yard (American and Canadian English ( Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English ( Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ...

* Gare de Krimmeri-Meinau: halt * Gare de Strasbourg-Neudorf: goods station * Gare de Strasbourg-Port-du-Rhin: goods station * Gare de Strasbourg-Roethig: halt

References

External links

* *
gare-strasbourg.fr/
official website
Gare de Strasbourg on Structurae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strasbourg

Gare de Strasbourg Strasbourg-Ville is the main railway station in the city of Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France. It is the eastern terminus of the Paris-Est–Strasbourg-Ville railway. The current core building, an example of historicist architecture of the Wilhelmi ...

Railway stations in Bas-Rhin Railway stations in France opened in 1846 Gare