Hagen Hauptbahnhof is a railway station serving the city of Hagen in western Germany. It is an important rail hub for the southeastern

Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

, offering regional and long distance connections. The station was opened in 1848 as part of 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 togeth ...

's Elberfeld–Dortmund line and is one of the few stations in the Ruhr valley to retain its original station hall, which dates back to 1910.

History

The original Elberfeld–Dortmund trunk line of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company was completed in 1848/49 linking Hagen to the rapidly expanding

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n railway network. This led to Hagen quickly becoming an industrial city based steel and metal production. After the opening of the

Ruhr–Sieg railway The Ruhr–Sieg railway is a 106 km long double-track, electrified main line from Hagen to Siegen via Iserlohn-Letmathe, Finnentrop and Kreuztal in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The line, which has many tunnels, runs primarily ...

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. The university town (nearly 20,000 students in the 2018–2019 winter semest ...

via Altena in 1861 the city also became an important railway junction. The

Baroque Revival The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptu ...

entrance building, opened on 14 September 1910, was built of brick and partly covered with sandstone. It survived bombing during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, although not completely, in contrast to other stations in the Ruhr area, so it can be admired today. A

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 ...

called ''The Artist as Teacher of Trade and Industry'' (german: Der Künstler als Lehrer für Handel und Gewerbe) by

Johan Thorn Prikker Johan Thorn Prikker (6 June 1868, The Hague - 5 March 1932, Cologne) was a Dutch artist who worked in Germany after 1904. His activities were very eclectic, including architecture, lithography, furniture, stained-glass windows, mosaics, tapestries ...

was installed above the entrance by

Karl Ernst Osthaus Karl Ernst Osthaus (15 April 1874, in Hagen – 25 March 1921, in Merano) was an important German patron of avant-garde art and architecture. Life Osthaus was born to a wealthy banking family, who also owned several businesses in the textile a ...

in 1911. Also preserved is a two-span

train shed A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train car ...

designed by Stephany from 1910. It was restored in the 1990s and is heritage-listed as an important example of a steel-constructed hall developed in the late 19th century. It is the only remaining station with a "traditional" platform area in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

and the Ruhr region and one of a few of its kind in Germany. The heavy Anglo-American bombing raids in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

on Hagen did not destroy it, unlike many other railway stations in the Ruhr. The station has points and overtaking tracks connecting to the two main platforms in the train shed. This allows up to four (short) trains to operate from each of these two-edged platforms. This has the disadvantage that passengers may sometimes be required to walk long distances. The interior of the station was painstakingly restored from the autumn of 2004 to May 2006. Thus, the barrel vault over the concourse has been reconstructed, restoring some of its old lustre and details, including Thorn Prikker's stained-glass window, are now illuminated by daylight and are again clearly visible. This work was carried out for the 2006 World Cup of football at a total cost of €1.2 million. The Hagen Hauptbahnhof is a listed building and is part of

The Industrial Heritage Trail The Industrial Heritage Trail (german: Route der Industriekultur) links tourist attractions related to the industrial heritage in the Ruhr area in Germany. It is a part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The series of routes were devel ...

(''Route Industriekultur'').

Rail services

The station serves as an important link between long distance services; the InterCityExpress lines linking

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

call at the station as well as various

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 ...

services.

Regional and S-Bahn trains

Hagen Hbf lies within the area of the

Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (), abbreviated VRR, is a public transport association (Verkehrsverbund) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It covers most of the Ruhr area, as well as neighbouring parts of the Lower Rhine region, includ ...

transport association and is served by several

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 lines as well as by three

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 ...

services of the

Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr) is a polycentric and electrically driven S-train network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr (and c ...

network. The following

Regional-Express 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 f ...

, Regionalbahn and

services call at the station:

References

{{Reflist Railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia Railway stations in Germany opened in 1848 Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn stations S5 (Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn) S8 (Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn) S9 (Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn) Buildings and structures in Hagen 1848 establishments in Prussia