Hamburg Hauptbahnhof

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
Hbf
Aerial view of Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
Location	Hachmannplatz 16, 20099 Hamburg Hamburg-Mitte, Hamburg Germany
Coordinates
Line(s)	Berlin–Hamburg Railway Hanover–Hamburg railway Wanne-Eickel–Hamburg railway Lower Elbe Railway Lübeck–Hamburg railway Hamburg-Altona link line
Platforms	8 main line 4 S-Bahn 8 U-Bahn (6 in usage)
Other information
Station code	2514
DS100 code	AH
Category	1
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	1906
Electrified	1907 (S-Bahn only) 1965 (long distance connections)
Traffic
Passengers	480,000 daily
Location
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof Location within Hamburg

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (abbrev. Hamburg Hbf or Hambg Hbf) is the main railway station for the German city of Hamburg and is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 1 railway station. It was opened in 1906 to replace 4 terminal stations. Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is operated by DB Station&Service AG. With an average of 480,000 passengers a day, the railway station is the busiest in Germany and after the Gare du Nord in Paris, the second busiest in Europe.

The station is a through station with island platforms and is a major transportation hub, connecting long distance trains, like some Intercity-Express lines, to the underground rail network of the Hamburg U-Bahn and S-Bahn. It is situated in the city centre, in the Hamburg-Mitte borough. A part of the building is a shopping centre.

History

Stations of Hamburg in 1880:
blue = Berlin Station
green = Klostert(h)or Station
pink = Lübeck Station
red = Venlo(-Hamburg) Station

Before today's central station was opened, Hamburg had several smaller stations located around the city centre. The first railway line (between Hamburg and Bergedorf) was opened on 5 May 1842, coincidentally the same day the "great fire" (in German Der große Brand) ruined most of the historic city centre. The stations were (each of them only a few hundred metres away from the others):

• Berliner Bahnhof (1846), located at the place where the Deichtorhallen can be found today, on the right bank of the Elbe river; terminus of the line to Berlin
• Lübecker Bahnhof (1865), terminus of the line to Lübeck
• Klosterthor Bahnhof (1866), eastern terminus of the Hamburg-Altona link line
• Venloer Bahnhof (1872), since 1892 named "Hannoverscher Bahnhof", on the line across river Elbe, in Harburg split in the lines to Venlo and to Hanover

1870s: passenger train on the communication line to Venloer Bahnhof in the street in front of Berliner Bahnhof

The communication lines between the stations partly were built in squares and streets, provisionally. After the decision to create a common station for all lines, a competition was arranged in 1900. Built from 1902 to 1906, the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof was designed by the architects Heinrich Reinhardt and Georg Süßenguth, modeled after the Galerie des machines by Louis Béroud of the World's Fair of 1889 in Paris. The German emperor William II declared the first draft as "simply horrible", but the second draft was eventually constructed. The emperor personally changed the Art Nouveau style elements into Neo-Renaissance, giving the station a fortification like character. The station was opened for visiting on 4 December 1906, the first train arrived the next day, and scheduled trains started on 6 December 1906.

During the Second World War on 9 November 1941, the station was hit seriously by Allied bombing. Several areas needed to be rebuilt completely, like the baggage check and the eastern ticket counters. One of the clock towers was destroyed in 1943.

From 1985 to 1991 the station was renovated.

Facilities

The Wandelhalle

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is 206 m (676 ft) long, 135 m (443 ft) wide, and 37 m (121 ft) high. It has 8,200 m² (88,000 sq ft) rentable area and 27,810 m² (299,300 sq ft) in total. The clock towers at the station building are 45 m (148 ft), and the clocks have a diameter of 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in). Adjoining the station building, the track hall is constructed of iron and glass and spans the main line platforms and two S-Bahn tracks. The platforms are reached from two bridges on street level, one at each end of the track hall, from the northern bridge on stairs and by lifts, from the southern bridge by escalators. Two other S-Bahn tracks and the subway tracks are in a connected tunnel system.

The Wandelhalle (Promenade Hall) in the station building is a small shopping centre with extended opening hours. It was built in 1991 during the renewal of the beam construction. It is located on the northern bridge and includes restaurants, flower shops, kiosks, a pharmacy, service centres and more. The upper floor also has a gallery surrounding the hall.

Since 2008, in an effort to disperse drug dealers and users from the area, Deutsche Bahn has been playing classical music (i.e. Vivaldi's Four Seasons). According to the German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt it is a success.

Since 2009 the station switched all its toilets to water-saving 3.5l toilets. 2012 they started producing Terra Preta in the basement by filtering the excrements and mixing them with charcoal and microbes. The fluids are cleaned and nutrients are extracted. Even medical ingredients can be filtered out. [1]

Train services

In 2008, 720 regional and long distance trains, and 982 S-Bahn trains served the station per day. There were 6 platforms for the main lines.

The station is served by the following services:

Long distance trains

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is one of the largest stations in northern Germany and connects Denmark with central Europe. There are permanent InterCityExpress lines to Berlin, Frankfurt (Main), continuing to Stuttgart and Munich, and Bremen, continuing to the Ruhr Area and Cologne. To the north ICE trains connect Hamburg with Aarhus and Copenhagen in Denmark and Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein. There are also several InterCity- and EuroCity- passenger train connections. The station is a hub for international travel, and most passengers to or from Scandinavia must change in Hamburg.

The following lines connect to the station:

• Berlin–Hamburg railway
• Hanover–Hamburg railway
• Wanne-Eickel–Hamburg railway (to Bremen and the Ruhr)
• Lower Elbe Railway
• Lübeck–Hamburg railway
• Hamburg-Altona link line (connecting to Hamburg-Altona–Kiel railway)
• Intercity Express services (ICE 28) Hamburg - Berlin – Leipzig - Jena - Nürnberg - Munich (- Innsbruck)
• Intercity Express services (ICE 75) Copenhagen - Lübeck - Hamburg - Berlin
• Intercity Express services (ICE 76) Aarhus - Padborg - Flensburg - Hamburg - Berlin
• EuroCity services (EC 7) Hamburg - Bremen - Münster - Dortmund - Düsseldorf - Köln - Bonn - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel - Zürich - Chur
• EuroCity services (EC 27) Hamburg - Berlin - Dresden - Prague - Brno - Bratislava - Budapest
• Intercity services (IC 30) Hamburg - Bremen - Münster - Essen - Düsseldorf - Köln - Bonn - Stuttgart
• Intercity services (IC 31) Hamburg - Bremen - Münster - Dortmund - Wuppertal - Köln - Bonn - Frankfurt

Preceding station		Deutsche Bahn		Following station
Hamburg Dammtor towards Hamburg-Altona		ICE 20		Hannover Hbf towards Basel SBB
		ICE 22		Hannover Hbf towards Stuttgart Hbf
		ICE 25		Hamburg-Harburg towards Munich Hbf
		ICE 28		Ludwigslust towards Munich Hbf
Terminus		ICE 31		Hamburg-Harburg towards Munich Hbf/Regensburg Hbf or Basel SBB
Lübeck Hbf towards Copenhagen Central		ICE 75		Berlin Hbf towards Berlin Ost
Hamburg Dammtor towards Århus Central		ICE 76
Terminus		ICE 91		Hamburg-Harburg towards Wien Hbf
Schwerin Hbf towards Ostseebad Binz		IC 26 Stralsund-Karlsruhe		Hamburg-Harburg towards Karlsruhe Hbf
Hamburg Dammtor toward Hamburg-Altona		EuroCity		Büchen toward Budapest
Hamburg-Bergedorf towards Ostseebad Binz or Greifswald		IC/EC 30		Hamburg-Harburg towards Stuttgart Hbf
Preceding station		Hamburg-Köln-Express		Following station
Hamburg-Altona Terminus		Hamburg-Köln-Express		Hamburg-Harburg towards Köln Hbf

Regional trains

There are numerous RegionalExpress and RegionalBahn services to Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bremen.

Line	Route
RE 1	Hamburg Hbf - Schwerin - Rostock
RE 3	Hamburg Hbf - Lüneburg - Uelzen
RE 4	Bremen - Rotenburg - Buchholz - Hamburg Hbf
RE 5	Cuxhaven - Stade - Buxtehude - Hamburg Hbf
RE 7	Hamburg Hbf – Neumünster – Flensburg
RE 8	Hamburg Hbf - Bad Oldesloe - Lübeck - Travemünde
RE 70	Hamburg Hbf - Pinneberg – Neumünster – Kiel
RE 80	Hamburg Hbf – Ahrensburg – Lübeck
RB 41	Bremen - Rotenburg - Buchholz - Hamburg Hbf
RB 61	Hamburg Hbf – Pinneberg – Glückstadt – Itzehoe
RB 81	Hamburg Hbf – Ahrensburg – Bad Oldesloe

Preceding station		Deutsche Bahn		Following station
Terminus		RE 1		Hamburg-Bergedorf toward Rostock Hbf
Preceding station		Metronom		Following station
Terminus		RE 3		Hamburg-Harburg toward Uelzen
Terminus		RE 4		Hamburg-Harburg toward Bremen Hbf
Terminus		RE 5		Hamburg-Harburg toward Cuxhaven
Terminus		RB 41		Hamburg-Harburg toward Bremen Hbf
Preceding station		Hamburg S-Bahn		Following station
Jungfernstieg toward Wedel		S1		Berliner Tor toward Poppenbüttel or Hamburg Airport (Flughafen)
Dammtor toward Blankenese		S11		Berliner Tor toward Poppenbüttel
Jungfernstieg toward Altona		S2		Berliner Tor toward Bergedorf
Dammtor toward Elbgaustraße		S21		Berliner Tor toward Aumühle
Jungfernstieg toward Pinneberg		S3		Hammerbrook toward Stade
Dammtor toward Altona		S31		Hammerbrook toward Neugraben
Preceding station		AKN Eisenbahn		Following station
Dammtor toward Neumünster		A1		Terminus

Rapid transit

Hauptbahnhof Süd
Location	Hamburg, Germany
Operated by	Hamburger Hochbahn AG
Line(s)	U1 U3
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	1912

Hauptbahnhof Nord
Location	Hamburg, Germany
Operated by	Hamburger Hochbahn AG
Line(s)	U2 U4
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	1968

Beside the inter-urban rail services, the Hauptbahnhof is also the central intersection for two of the three rapid transport systems in the city: the Hamburg S-Bahn (suburban railway) and the Hamburg U-Bahn (underground network).

The S-Bahn platforms are located inside the station itself (platforms 3 and 4, going eastwards to Barmbek, Harburg and Bergedorf) and in a separate tunnel, adjacent to the station building (platforms 1 and 2, going westwards to Altona, Wedel and Eidelstedt).

The U-Bahn is split in two stations: Hauptbahnhof Süd (south) and serving the lines U1 and U3. This part of the station had been included in the 1900 planning for the new station (the construction for the subway started in 1906, the "ring" was opened in 1911). Until 1960, this station was simply called Hauptbahnhof without any suffix. From the beginning until the end of 1943, there were two lines: the original Ring and the southeastern branch line leading to Rothenburgsort which tracks has been destroyed due to World War II and never been rebuilt.

Preceding station		Hamburg U-Bahn		Following station
Steinstraße toward Norderstedt Mitte		U1		Lohmühlenstraße toward Großhansdorf or Ohlstedt
Mönckebergstraße toward Barmbek		U3		Berliner Tor toward Wandsbek-Gartenstadt

The station Hauptbahnhof Nord (north) serves the line U2, but only using the two middle tunnels (out of four). The two outer tunnels were built in advance for a future line U4 (which has never been constructed) and are currently used for a visual arts installation.

Preceding station		Hamburg U-Bahn		Following station
Jungfernstieg toward Niendorf Nord		U2		Berliner Tor toward Mümmelmannsberg
Jungfernstieg toward HafenCity Universität		U4		Berliner Tor toward Billstedt

Neighbourhood

The station is located on the Wallring in Hamburg's city centre, between the districts Altstadt and St. Georg. Directly nearby are the Deutsches Schauspielhaus theatre in the St. Georg quarter, one of Hamburg's a state theatres, the Kunsthalle, an art gallery, and the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, a museum for applied arts. The Hamburg Rathaus is down Mönckebergstraße, centre of a busy shopping district.

See also

• Hamburger Verkehrsverbund Public transport association in Hamburg
• Hamburger Hochbahn Operator of the Hamburg U-Bahn (Underground)
• S-Bahn Hamburg Operator of the Hamburg S-Bahn (Suburban Train)

External links

• Hamburg Central Station at Structurae
• (German) DB station information
• (German) Picture of the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
• (German) shopping center Wandelhalle Hamburg Hauptbahnhof