Dessau Hauptbahnhof is the main passenger station in the city of

Dessau-Roßlau Dessau-Roßlau () is a ''kreisfreie Stadt'' (urban district) in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Elbe and Mulde. The town was formed by merger of the towns of Dessau and Roßlau in the course of th ...

in the German state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

Location

The station is located to the south of the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

and to the west of central

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

. It is a through station, orientated from the north-east to the south-west. Located on its south-eastern frontage is a stop for Dessau trams and buses operated by ''Dessauer Verkehrsgesellschaft'', the city’s public transport operator.

History

Dessau had an important role in rail transport from the early days of railways in Germany because of the crossing over the

to its north. The first railway was opened on 1 September 1840 by the

Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company The Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company ( German: ''Berlin-Anhaltische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', BAE) was a railway company in Prussia. The railway connection between Berlin and Köthen, built by the BAE, was one of the first long-distance railways in G ...

. As early as 1911 the line to Bitterfeld was electrified experimentally. Because of the location of several industrial enterprises in the region, such as the

Junkers Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...

aircraft factory, the railway was very important for rail freight. In World War II, the station building was destroyed in an air raid on 7 March 1945 and was rebuilt up to 1952. While the station was formerly a stop for InterRegio and

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 ...

trains, it is now almost exclusively served by regional transport as Dessau is not located on the busy Berlin–Halle and Magdeburg–Halle–Leipzig lines. Between 2008 and 2011 a comprehensive renovation was carried out in the Roßlau/Dessau railway transport hub, including a major renovation of the track and overhead line equipment. The track plan of the station has been simplified, so that a speed of 160 km/h is now possible. On 5 December 2010, an electronic interlocking was brought into operation in Dessau. On 13 December 2015, Dessau became a station on the network of the

S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland represents an enlargement of the previous Leipzig-Halle S-Bahn. It is an electric rail public transit system operating in the metropolitan area of Leipzig-Halle, Germany. This S-Bahn (German abbreviation for ''Stadtschnel ...

, which connects it with Leipzig. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-10176-0003, Dessau, Hauptbahnhof.jpg, 1951 File:Dessau,Hauptbahnhof 2009.jpg, 2009 File:Dessau,Sanierung des Hauptbahnhofs (2010).jpg, 2010, rebuild of the station File:Dessau.HBF.2010.jpg, 2010, after rebuild

Connections

The station is used only by regional traffic. There have been no regular long-distance services since the opening of

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, ...

in 2006. The Dessau-Wörlitz Railway is now a tourist railway and only operates during the summer season. The following services served the station in 2019, including IC services temporarily diverted from the Magdeburg–Halle line. In public transport the station is served by three tram and six bus routes. In addition all night bus routes start here.

Notes

References

* {{Portal bar, Transport, Germany

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 ...

Buildings and structures in Dessau-Roßlau Railway stations in Germany opened in 1840 1840 establishments in Prussia