Löhne (Westfalen) station is in the city of

Löhne Löhne (; , ) is a town in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Löhne is situated on the river Werre, approx. 8 km north of Herford and 20 km south-west of Minden Minden () is a middle-sized to ...

in the northeast of the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. It lies on the Hamm–Minden railway, which is part of the

Cologne-Minden trunk line {{unreferenced, date=January 2014 The Cologne-Minden trunk line is a railway built by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (''Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', CME). The line is the westernmost part of the railway line from Berlin to the Rh ...

that was originally proposed by Friedrich Harkort as part of a line from

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

via

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. In Löhne, line branch off to Rheine via Osnabrück (part of the Hanoverian Western Railway to

Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...

) and to Elze via Hamelin (continuing to

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

) and, as a result, the station was long an important junction in northwestern Germany as an interchange station with its own marshalling yard.

History

Until the mid-20th century, Löhne station was a major hub for passenger and especially freight traffic in north-western Germany. The lines of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (opened in 1847), the Royal Hanoverian State Railways (1855) and the Hanover-Altenbeken Railway Company (Löhne–

–

Vienenburg Vienenburg is a borough of Goslar, capital of the Goslar district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The former independent municipality was incorporated in Goslar on 1 January 2014. Geography It is situated in the north of the Harz mountain range and eas ...

, 1875) met with each other here. For many years, long-distance trains crossed here on their way from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

via Hanover and Cologne and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

to central Germany via

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

and Hildesheim. The extensive rail facilities were built with many tunnels and flyovers so that a grade-separated crossing of the two main lines was possible. Even today, independent paths on the Hamm–Minden Railway and the Elze–Löhne and the Löhne–Rheine lines are possible. The former significance of the station is lost today and it is only classified by

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

as a category 4 station.

Rail services

Regional services as of 2025: The station is covered by ''Der Sechser'' (“the six”) fares of the ''Zweckverband Verkehrsverbund OWL'' (Ostwestfalen-Lippe transport association) and the statewide ''NRW-tariff'' fares. The ''Niedersachsen-Ticket'' can also be used on the regional services to

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

. The former marshalling yard has been demolished, but no use for the abandoned site has yet been found, so that it presents passengers with a large landscape of gravel. The site is difficult to access as it lies between the lines to Bielefeld and Osnabrück.

Service facilities in the station

The station has a private ticket agency. A new parking area was opened at the back of the station in 2011.

Erich Maria Remarque

The station acquired literary significance in

Erich Maria Remarque Erich Maria Remarque (; ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German novelist. His landmark novel '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during World War ...

's novel, ''

All Quiet on the Western Front ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' () is a semi-autobiographical novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma during the war as well as the detachme ...

'': during the movement of troops in the First World War, soldiers were always told by their superiors to change at Löhne. The station forecourt, which contains the central bus station, has since its redesign in the 1990s therefore been called ''Erich-Maria-Remarque-Platz''.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lohne Station Railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia Railway stations in Germany opened in 1855 1855 establishments in Prussia Buildings and structures in Herford (district)