Hamburg Hauptbahnhof

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
Hbf
Aerial view of Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
Location	Hachmannplatz 16, 20099 Hamburg Germany
Coordinates	53°33′10″N 10°00′23″E / 53.55278°N 10.00639°E / 53.55278; 10.00639Coordinates: 53°33′10″N 10°00′23″E / 53.55278°N 10.00639°E / 53.55278; 10.00639
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[1] IATA: ZMB[2]
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	1906
Electrified	29 January 1908 (1908-01-29), 6.3 kV AC system (overhead; turned off in 1955)[3] 10 April 1941 (1941-04-10), 1.2 kV DC system (3rd rail)[4] 6 April 1965 (1965-04-06), 15 kV AC system (overhead)[3]
Traffic
Passengers	480,000 (daily)[5]
Location
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof Location within Hamburg Show map of Hamburg Hamburg Hauptbahnhof Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (Germany) Show map of Germany

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (abbrev. Hamburg Hbf) is the main railway station of the city of Hamburg, Germany and is classed by Deutsche Bahn as a category 1 railway station.^[1] Opened in 1906 to replace 4 separate terminal stations, today Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is operated by DB Station&Service AG. With an average of 480,000 passengers a day, it is Germany's busiest railway station and the third-busiest in Europe after the Gare du Nord and Gare de Châtelet – Les Halles in Paris.^[6]

The station is a through station with island platforms and is one of Germany's major transportation hubs, connecting long-distance Intercity-Express routes to the city's U-Bahn and S-Bahn rapid transit networks. It is centrally located in Hamburg in the Hamburg-Mitte borough. The Wandelhalle shopping centre occupies the north side of the station building.

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 that the "great fire" (der große Brand) ruined most of the historic city centre. The stations were as follows (each of them only a few hundred metres away from the others):

• Berliner Bahnhof (1846), on the site of today's Deichtorhallen, 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 the river Elbe, in Harburg which splits into 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

Temporary railway lines connecting the stations were built partly on squares and streets. When it was decided to build a common station for all lines, a competition was arranged in 1900. Built between 1902-1906, the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof was designed by the architects Heinrich Reinhardt and Georg Süßenguth, modeled after the Galerie des machines of the World's Fair of 1889 in Paris, by Louis Béroud.^[7] The German emperor William II declared the first draft to be "simply horrible", but the second draft was eventually constructed. The emperor personally changed the Art Nouveau style elements to Neo-Renaissance, giving the station a fortification-like character.^[8] The station was opened for visitors on 4 December 1906, the first train arrived the next day, and scheduled trains started on 6 December 1906.^[7]

On 9 November 1941, during the Second World War, the station was badly damaged by Allied bombing. Several areas needed to be rebuilt completely, including the baggage check and the eastern ticket counters. One of the clock towers was destroyed in 1943.^[7]

Between 1985 and 1991 the station was renovated.^[7]

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-square-metre (88,000 sq ft) rentable area and 27,810 m² (299,300 sq ft) in total. The clock towers are 45 m (148 ft), and the clocks have a diameter of 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in). The track shed is constructed of iron and glass and spans the main line platforms and two S-Bahn tracks. The platforms are reached from two bridges at street level, one at each end of the track shed; from the northern bridge by stairs and by lifts, and 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) 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.^[7]

Since 2008, in an effort to disperse drug dealers and users from the area, Deutsche Bahn has been playing classical music (e.g. Vivaldi's Four Seasons). According to the German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt this is a success.^[9]

Since 2009 the station has switched all its toilets to water-saving 3.5-litre toilets. In 2012 they started producing Terra Preta in the basement by filtering the excrement and mixing it with charcoal and microbes. The fluids are cleaned and nutrients are extracted. Even pharmaceuticals can be filtered out.

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:^[10]

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 31	Hamburg Hbf – Lüneburg – Uelzen
RB 41	Bremen – Rotenburg – Buchholz – Hamburg Hbf
RB 61	Hamburg Hbf – Pinneberg – Glückstadt – Itzehoe
RB 81	Hamburg Hbf – Ahrensburg – Bad Oldesloe
IRE	Hamburg Hbf – Lüneburg – Berlin

Preceding station		Deutsche Bahn		Following station
Terminus		RE 1		Hamburg-Bergedorf toward Rostock Hbf
Dammtor toward Flensburg		RE		Terminus
Terminus		RE		Bad Oldesloe toward Lübeck Hbf
Dammtor toward Kiel Hbf		RE		Terminus
Ahrensburg toward		RE		Terminus
Terminus		RB		Hasselbrook toward Bad Oldesloe
Terminus		IRE		Hamburg-Harbung station toward Berlin 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 31		Hamburg-Harburg toward Lüneburg
Terminus		RB 41		Hamburg-Harburg toward Bremen Hbf
Preceding station		Hamburg S-Bahn		Following station
Jungfernstieg toward Wedel		S 1		Berliner Tor toward Poppenbüttel or Hamburg Airport (Flughafen)
Dammtor toward Blankenese		S 11		Berliner Tor toward Poppenbüttel
Jungfernstieg toward Altona		S 2		Berliner Tor toward Bergedorf
Dammtor toward Elbgaustraße		S 21		Berliner Tor toward Aumühle
Jungfernstieg toward Pinneberg		S 3		Hammerbrook toward Stade
Dammtor toward Altona		S 31		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)	U 1 U 3
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	15 February 1912 (1912-02-15)
Previous names	1912-1968 Hauptbahnhof

Hauptbahnhof Nord
Location	Hamburg, Germany
Operated by	Hamburger Hochbahn AG
Line(s)	U 2 U 4
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	29 September 1968 (1968-09-29)

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).^[13]

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 four stages between February and June 1912. Until 28 September 1968, this station was simply called Hauptbahnhof without any suffix. There were two lines: the original Ring (opened in 1912) and the southeastern branch line (opened on 27 July 1915) leading to Rothenburgsort, the tracks and stations of which have been destroyed in the Operation Gomorra on 28 July 1943 and never been rebuilt.

Preceding station		Hamburg U-Bahn		Following station
Steinstraße toward Norderstedt Mitte		U 1		Lohmühlenstraße toward Großhansdorf or Ohlstedt
Mönckebergstraße toward Barmbek		U 3		Berliner Tor toward Wandsbek-Gartenstadt

The station Hauptbahnhof Nord (north), opened on 29 September 1968, 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		U 2		Berliner Tor toward Mümmelmannsberg
Jungfernstieg toward HafenCity Universität		U 4		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,^[14] 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)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (category)

• "Current departure time in Hamburg Hbf". Deutsche Bahn. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
• Hamburg Central Station at Structurae
• (in German) DB station information
• (in German) Picture of the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
• (in German) shopping center Wandelhalle Hamburg Hauptbahnhof