Recklinghausen Hauptbahnhof is a railway station for the city of

Recklinghausen Recklinghausen (; Westphalian: ''Riäkelhusen'') is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and indus ...

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 ...

History

The original station opened in 1870 by the

Cologne-Minden Railway Company The Cologne-Minden Railway Company (German, old spelling: ''Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', ''CME'') was along with the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th ...

as part of the construction of the

Hamburg-Venlo railway The Cologne-Minden Railway Company (German, old spelling: ''Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', ''CME'') was along with the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th ...

. 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 opposin ...

, on April 1, 1945, a heavy bombing raid mostly destroyed the station and tracks. It is commemorated by the bunker built next to the station, in which the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen was established in 1950. An outstanding feature of the architecture of the station building with its glass front is now the clock tower. The new bus station was built in 1998. Up until the renovation of the building, a plaque commemorating the 5000th kilometer of electrified rail of 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 ...

, was located in the station. The plaque has been missing since the completion of the renovation.

References

Railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia

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 ...

S2 (Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn) Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn stations Buildings and structures in Recklinghausen (district) Railway stations in Germany opened in 1870 {{NorthRhineWestphalia-railstation-stub