The approximately 5,400

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

that are owned and operated by the

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 ...

subsidiary

DB Station&Service DB Station&Service AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, responsible for managing over 5,400 train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, ...

are divided into seven categories, denoting the service level available at the station. This categorisation influences the amount of money railway companies need to pay to DB Station&Service for using the facilities at the stations.

Categories

Category 1

The 21 stations in Category 1 are considered traffic hubs. They are permanently staffed and carry all sorts of railway-related facilities, as well as usually featuring a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

in the station. Most of these stations are the central (commonly referred to as main) stations (''

Hauptbahnhof Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

'' or ''Hbf'') of large cities with 500,000 inhabitants and above, though some in smaller cities, such as Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof, are regarded as important because they are at the junction of important railway lines.

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

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 ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, the four biggest cities in Germany, have more than one Category 1 station. Included in this category are the following stations: * Berlin-Gesundbrunnen station *

Berlin Hauptbahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...

Berlin Ostbahnhof Berlin Ostbahnhof (German for Berlin East railway station) is a main line railway station in Berlin, Germany. It is located in the Friedrichshain quarter, now part of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough, and has undergone several name changes in its ...

Berlin Südkreuz Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituen ...

Dortmund Hauptbahnhof Dortmund Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The station's origins lie in a joint station of the Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn and Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn which was built north of the city cen ...

Dresden Hauptbahnhof Dresden Hauptbahnhof ("main station", abbreviated Dresden Hbf) is the largest passenger station in the Saxon capital of Dresden. In 1898, it replaced the ''Böhmischen Bahnhof'' ("Bohemian station") of the former Saxon-Bohemian State Railway ('' ...

Duisburg Hauptbahnhof Duisburg Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the city of Duisburg in western Germany. It is situated at the meeting point of many important national and international railway lines in the Northwestern Ruhr valley. Lines The station is situat ...

Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station of Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History The station was opened on 1 October 1891. It replaced the three following stations: *the ''Bergisch-Märkische s ...

Essen Hauptbahnhof Essen Hauptbahnhof (German for "Essen main station") is a railway station in the city of Essen in western Germany. It is situated south of the old town centre, next to the A 40 motorway. It was opened in 1862 by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbah ...

Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof, also called Frankfurt Central Station and Frankfurt Main Station, is the busiest railway station in the German state of Hesse. Because of its location near the middle of Germany and usage as a transport hub for lo ...

Hamburg-Altona station Hamburg-Altona (or simply Altona) is a railway station in Hamburg, Germany, situated to the west of the city's main station, in the district which bears its name. A main line terminal station, most Intercity-Express (ICE) services to and fr ...

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (abbrev. ''Hamburg Hbf'') is the main railway station of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Opened in 1906 to replace four separate terminal stations, today Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is operated by DB Station&Service AG. With an avera ...

Hannover Hauptbahnhof Hannover Hauptbahnhof (German for ''Hanover main station'') is the main railway station for the city of Hanover in Lower Saxony, Germany. The railway junction is one of the 21 stations listed as a railway Category 1 station by DB Station&Servi ...

* Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof *

Köln Hauptbahnhof Köln Hauptbahnhof or Cologne Central Station is a railway station in Cologne, Germany. The station is an important local, national and international transport hub, with many ICE, Thalys and Intercity trains calling there, as well as regional Regi ...

Köln Messe/Deutz station Köln Messe/Deutz station (called ''Köln-Deutz'' until November 2004, Colognian: , ) is an important railway junction for long-distance rail and local services in the Cologne district of Deutz in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (Leipzig main station, ) is the central railway terminus in Leipzig, Germany, in the district Mitte. At , it is Europe's largest railway station measured by floor area. It has 19 overground platforms housed in six iron train ...

* München Hauptbahnhof * München Ost *

Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof (German for ''Nuremberg main station'') or Nuremberg Central Station

* Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof

Category 2

Most of the 87-odd stations in Category 2 are either important junctions for long-distance traffic or offer connections to large airports.

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

and

EuroCity EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteri ...

trains generally call at these stations. All railway-related services, like a ticket hall and a service desk, are present at the station and the station is staffed at most times trains are running. The service is similar to Category 1 stations. Category 2 stations, by state, are: * Baden-Württemberg (12):

Bietigheim-Bissingen Bietigheim-Bissingen (locally: ''Biedge-Bissenge'') is the second-largest town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany with 42,515 inhabitants in 2007. It is situated on the river Enz and the river Metter, close to its conflu ...

Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, ...

, Freiburg (Brsg) Hbf,

Heidelberg Hbf Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof (commonly known as Heidelberg HBF) is the main railway station for the city of Heidelberg. In 2005 it was used by around 42,000 passengers per day and is one of the largest passenger stations in the German state of Baden-W� ...

, Heilbronn Hbf,

Mannheim Hbf Mannheim Hauptbahnhof ( German for ''Mannheim central station'') is a railway station in Mannheim in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is the second largest traffic hub in southwestern Germany after Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, with 658 trai ...

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the ad ...

Plochingen Plochingen (Swabian: ''Blocheng'' or ''Blochenga'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It lies on the river Neckar, on which it has a river port. With about 14,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Stuttg ...

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...

Singen Singen (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Singe'') is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border. Location Singen is an industrial city situated in the very south ...

, Tübingen Hbf, Ulm Hbf * Bavaria (10): Aschaffenburg Hbf, Augsburg Hbf,

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

Fürth Hauptbahnhof Fürth (Bayern) Hauptbahnhof is a railway hub for the city of Fürth in Bavaria, Germany. The station is mainly frequented by regional services. It also has a connection to the Nuremberg U-Bahn (underground) system and the Nuremberg S-Bahn (commu ...

, Ingolstadt Hbf, Landshut (Bayern), München-Pasing, Regensburg Hbf,

Rosenheim Rosenheim is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is an independent city located in the centre of the district of Rosenheim (Upper Bavaria), and is also the seat of its administration. It is located on the west bank of the Inn at the confluence of the ...

, Würzburg Hbf * Berlin (6):

Friedrichstraße The Friedrichstraße () (lit. ''Frederick Street'') is a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, forming the core of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood and giving the name to Berlin Friedrichstraße station. It runs from the northern pa ...

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg () is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen. Overview The district contains the Tierpark Berlin in Friedrichsfelde, the larger of Berlin ...

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corne ...

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

Wannsee Wannsee () is a locality in the southwestern Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Germany. It is the westernmost locality of Berlin. In the quarter there are two lakes, the larger ''Großer Wannsee'' (Greater Wannsee, "See" means lake) and the ...

Zoologischer Garten A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

* Brandenburg (3): BER Airport – Terminal 1-2,

Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exten ...

, Potsdam Hbf * Bremen (1): Bremen Hbf * Hamburg (2): Hamburg Dammtor,

Hamburg-Harburg Harburg is a Boroughs and quarters of Hamburg#Boroughs, borough of the city of Hamburg, Germany. It is also the name of Harburg (quarter), Harburg quarter in the borough, which used to be the capital of the Harburg (district), Harburg district in ...

* Hesse (8):

Darmstadt Hbf Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in the German city Darmstadt. After Frankfurt Hbf and Wiesbaden Hbf, it is the third largest station in the state of Hesse with 35,000 passengers and 220 trains per day. Built in a late art nouv ...

, Frankfurt (Main) Süd,

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

Hanau Hbf Hanau Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in Hanau in the German state of Hesse, and is a major railway junction east of Frankfurt am Main. It was opened in 1867, but the current building was built in the late 1960s. It is located about south-eas ...

, Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, Kassel Hbf,

Wiesbaden Hbf Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof is a railway station for the city of Wiesbaden, the state capital of the German state of Hesse. It is a terminal station at the southern edge of the city centre and is used by more than 40,000 travelers each day, so it is t ...

* Lower Saxony (8): Braunschweig Hbf,

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, Hildesheim Hbf,

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

, Oldenburg (Oldb) Hbf, Osnabrück Hbf,

Uelzen Uelzen (; officially the ''Hanseatic Town of Uelzen'', German: ''Hansestadt Uelzen'', , Low German ''Ülz’n'') is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a ...

, Wolfsburg Hbf * Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (1): Rostock Hbf * North Rhine-Westphalia (17): Aachen Hauptbahnhof, Bielefeld Hbf,

Bochum Hbf Bochum Hauptbahnhof is a railway station for the city of Bochum in western Germany. In its current incarnation, it was built from 1955 to 1957 and is one of the most notable 1950s railway stations in Germany. The station underwent extensive remode ...

, Bonn Hbf, Düsseldorf Flughafen,

Gelsenkirchen Hbf Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. It connects the city to the regional and long-distance rail service of Deutsche Bahn and other railway companies in Germany. History The Gelsenkirchen railwa ...

, Hagen Hbf, Hamm (Westf),

Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford (district), Herford. Geography ...

Mönchengladbach Hbf Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...

, Münster (Westf) Hbf, Neuss Hbf, Oberhausen Hbf, Paderborn Hbf, Rheine,

Solingen Hbf Solingen Hauptbahnhof is the only railway station in Solingen, Germany, to be served by ICE and IC long distance trains. Solingen-Mitte station serves central Solingen, but only has Regionalbahn trains. History The first station in the area of ...

Wuppertal Hbf Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof (German for Wuppertal main rail station) is a railway station in the city of Wuppertal, just south of the Ruhr Area, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is on the line between Düsseldorf/Cologne and Dortmund. ...

* Rhineland-Palatinate (7):

Kaiserslautern Hbf Kaiserslautern Hauptbahnhof is a through- station in the German city of Kaiserslautern and one of seven stations in the city. It is a stop on the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn and Deutsche Bahn’s Intercity-Express network and a hub for all the regional ...

Koblenz Hbf Koblenz Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the city of Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the focal point of rail transport in the Rhine-Moselle-Lahn area. It is a through station in southern Koblenz built below Fort G ...

, Ludwigshafen Hbf,

Mainz Hbf Mainz Hauptbahnhof ("Mainz main station", formerly known as ''Centralbahnhof Mainz''von Meyer, Arthur (1891). ''Geschichte und Geographie der deutschen Eisenbahnen von ihrer Entstehung bis auf die Gegenwart'', W. Baensch, p. 1131) is a railway st ...

, Neustadt (Weinstraße) Hbf, Trier Hbf, Worms Hbf * Saarland (1):

Saarbrücken Hbf Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

* Saxony (2): Chemnitz Hbf, Dresden-Neustadt * Saxony-Anhalt (2): Halle (Saale) Hbf, Magdeburg Hbf * Schleswig-Holstein (4):

Bad Oldesloe Bad Oldesloe () is a town located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is the capital of the district of Stormarn. The area has been inhabited since Mesolithic times. The flint tools found here from that era (6000–4500 BC) a ...

, Kiel Hbf, Lübeck Hbf,

Neumünster Neumünster () is a city in the middle of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. With more than 79,000 registered inhabitants, it is the fourth-largest municipality in Schleswig-Holstein (behind Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg). History The city was fi ...

* Thuringia (2): Erfurt Hbf,

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

Category 3

Category 3 stations number 239. These stations usually feature a hall where travellers can buy tickets and groceries, but they are not permanently staffed. Often they serve as main stations of towns with about 50,000 inhabitants. Examples include

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

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...

, Lichtenfels, Passau Hbf and Mülheim (Ruhr) Hbf.

Category 4

Category 4 includes around 630 stations. Most of these stations have frequent connections with

RegionalExpress In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at ...

and RegionalBahn trains. Their service level is comparable to a

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is l ...

and they offer services to commuters. This category also includes stations situated in major cities that see a high usage of

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 ...

or RE/RB services. Examples include

Balingen Balingen (; Swabian: ''Balenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located near the Swabian Jura, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35 km northeast of Villingen-Schwenn ...

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...

Montabaur Montabaur () is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to w ...

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

and Munich's S-Bahn stop

Isartor The Isartor at the Isartorplatz in Munich is one of four main gates of the medieval city wall. It served as a fortification for the defence and is the most easterly of Munich's three remaining gothic town gates (''Isartor'', '' Sendlinger Tor'' a ...

Category 5

Category 5 stations (1070) either belong to smaller, rural towns or to outlying

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

areas of major cities. Their inventory is frequently "

vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

-proofed" due to their lower passenger numbers. Normally, only local trains call at these stations. Examples include

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen ( Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowned for its castle, Schloss Sigmaringen ...

, Köln-Holweide and Bremerhaven-Lehe.

Category 6

Category 6 includes over 2500 stations, with low passenger numbers. Only the most basic equipment needed is present at the station. Examples of stations in this category include

Bad Wimpfen Bad Wimpfen () is a historic spa town in the district of Heilbronn in the Baden-Württemberg region of southern Germany. It lies north of the city of Heilbronn, on the river Neckar. Geography Bad Wimpfen is located on the west bank of the River ...

Loxstedt Loxstedt (in High German, in Low Saxon: Lox) is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated south of Bremerhaven. History Lacstidi (literally in ''lake stead''), first mentioned in 1059, belonged to the ...

and Hagen-Vorhalle.

Category 7

Most of the 870 stations in Category 7, the lowest category, are in rural areas. These stops, which usually have no more than one platform, are served by certain local trains only. Examples of stations belonging to this category include

Eggesin Eggesin (; csb, Chëczëno) is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Uecker, 7 km southeast of Ueckermünde, and 42 km northwest of Szczecin. Tran ...

and

Beuron Beuron (Swabian: ''Beira'') is a municipality in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Beuron is known for the Beuron Archabbey and the Beuron Art School for religious art. Geography Beuron is divided into subdistricts ( ...

References

External links

* {{German railway stations Railway stations in Germany