Kassel Hauptbahnhof is a

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 ...

railway station in the city of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

, in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

state of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. Situated in the central borough of

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzb ...

, it is the city's second important

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 ...

after the opening of Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe in 1991; and so it is the only ''

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 ...

'' that is not the main station of its city.

History

Early history

Construction of the station building, projected by

Gottlob Engelhard Gottlob is a family name, which may refer to: * Georg Gottlob, Austrian computer scientist Gottlob is a given name, which may refer to: * Gottlob Berger (1896–1975), senior German Nazi official * Gottlob Burmann (1737–1805), German Romantic ...

, started in a period between 1851 and 1856. The style of the original building, bombed during

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 opposin ...

, was romantic neoclassical. The reconstruction, started in 1952, was completed in 1960 by the architect Friedrich Bätjer with the style of 1950s maintaining some original elements.

Recent history

When the

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...

began constructing the

Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway The Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway was the first of several high-speed railway lines for InterCityExpress traffic that were built in Germany. While technically starting in the village of Rethen and ending at Würzburg Hauptbahnhof, it i ...

, Kassel originally was not supposed to have a station on the line at all. When it was decided to connect the city, Kassel posed a unique problem, Kassel was a

terminal 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 ...

. Options were discussed, among them the remodeling of Kassel's main station and the construction of an entirely new station. On 13 November 1981 construction of the high speed rail line started on

territory, and it was decided to erect the new main station in the Kassel borough of

Bad Wilhelmshöhe Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

, opened on May 29, 1991. In 1995 the station was thoroughly renovated and conceived (so far uniquely) as a ''Kulturbahnhof'' (cultural station). Thus emerged – in addition to art galleries, an architecture center and restaurants – an exhibition space for comic arts, the

Caricatura A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

museum and two repertory cinemas.

Train services

The following services currently call at the station: *Regional services Kassel - Wabern - Treysa - Marburg - Gießen - Frankfurt *Local services Fuldatalbahn Kassel - Melsungen - Bebra - Fulda *Local services Göttingen - Eichenberg - Kassel *Tram-train services Hofgeismar-Hümme - Kassel - City Centre - Hollandische Straße *Tram-train services Wolfhagen - Zierenberg - Kassel - City Centre - Hollandische Straße *Tram-train services Melsungen - Kassel - City Centre - Auestadion

Structure and transport

Kassel Hauptbahnhof is a terminal station with 8 tracks and other 3 in the tunnel station for the

RegioTram The Bogotá suburban rail (''Spanish: Tren de cercanías de Bogotá''), also known as RegioTram, is a transportation project to create a mass and rapid transport system to connect Bogotá with surrounding cities. The railways of the former Bogotá ...

Official site of RegioTram
/ref> (a sort of

Stadtbahn ' (; German for "city railway"; plural ') is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that co ...

). The station is served by several lines of the tramway network, RegioTram and buses. Due to its central position in the city it is a busy station, terminal of several regional DB lines: *

Frederick William Northern Railway Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederic ...

Bebra Bebra () is a small town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Bebra lies some south of Kassel on the Fulda. The town is easy to find on most maps thanks to its prominent location on the ''Fuldaknie'' ...

and Frankfurt–Bebra line to

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 ...

, * Halle–Kassel line to Eichenberg and Bebra–Göttingen line to

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 ...

, * Halle–Kassel line to Halle, *

and

Thuringian Railway Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon sp ...

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

, * Main-Weser line to

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 ...

, *

Kassel–Warburg railway The Kassel–Warburg Railway is a line that connects Kassel in the north of the German state of Hesse with Warburg in eastern Westphalia. The line was opened in 1848 and is one of the oldest railways in Germany. It forms part of the Mid-Germany R ...

Warburg Warburg (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Warberich'' or ''Warborg'') is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany on the river Diemel near the three-state point shared by Hessen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. It ...

and

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 ...

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

, * Volkmarsen–Vellmar-Obervellmar line to

Volkmarsen Volkmarsen is a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in northern Hesse, Germany. It is home to 6840 residents. Geography Location Volkmarsen lies on the northern edge of the ''Waldecker Tafel'' (Waldecker Shield (geology)) where it flatten ...

and Warburg–Sarnau line to

Korbach Korbach (pronunciation: ˈkoːɐˌbax), officially the Hanseatic City of Korbach (German language, German: Hansestadt Korbach), is the district seat of Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany. It is over a thousand years old and is located o ...

and * Edersee Railway to

Bad Wildungen Bad Wildungen is a state-run spa and a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. Geography Location Bad Wildungen lies in the eastern foothills of the Kellerwald range in the so ...

Gallery

File:Kassel Hauptbahnhof.jpg, Entrance to the station File:KS-Hbf-Regiotrambahnhof.jpg, Platforms for RegioTram File:Kassel Himmelsstürmer.jpg, Himmelsstürmer (Man walking to the sky), realized for the

Documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...

in 1992 by

Jonathan Borofsky Jonathan Borofsky (born December 24, 1942) is an American sculptor and printmaker who lives and works in Ogunquit, Maine. Early life and education Borofsky was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mel ...

, in the station square. File:Kassel-Hbf-Rampe-Kurfuerstenstrasse.jpg, RegioTram tunnel at Hauptbahnhof. In background, the station building

References

External links

Kulturbahnhof Kassel official site
{{Authority control Railway stations in North Hesse Buildings and structures in Kassel Railway stations in Germany opened in 1856