Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof

Entrance hall
Operations
Category	2
Type	Through station
Platforms in use	10
Daily entry/exit	40,000
DS100 code	LM
Construction and location
Opened	15 May 1873
Architect	Ludwig Heim
Location	Magdeburg
State	Saxony-Anhalt
Country	Germany
Home page	bahnhof.de
52°7′50″N 11°37′40″E / 52.13056°N 11.62778°E / 52.13056; 11.62778
Route information
Berlin–Magdeburg (km 141.8) Magdeburg–Wittenberge (km 0.0) Magdeburg–Leipzig (km 0.0) Braunschweig–Magdeburg (km 141.8) Magdeburg–Thale / Blankenburg (Harz) (km 0.0)
List of railway stations in Saxony-Anhalt

Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof (usually translated from German as Magdeburg Central Station, short form: Magdeburg Hbf) is the main railway station in the city of Magdeburg in the northern part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Importance

The station is the main station of Magdeburg and along with Halle Hauptbahnhof the centre of long-distance rail transport in Saxony-Anhalt. It is also connected with the Magdeburg S-Bahn network and the HarzElbeExpress regional rail network.

History

The current main station is built on the site the Magdeburg Fortress. Several railway companies built lines to Magdeburg between 1839 and 1849, each with their own stations. They were built on the west bank of the Elbe, on reclaimed land. With the increasing industrialisation and growing importance of Magdeburg, the need for space at stations grew. A central station, however, was not feasible at first.

As the existing railway facilities in Magdeburg became more inadequate the construction of a central station became more urgent. Both the city of Magdeburg and various railway companies conducted lengthy negotiations with the military in regard to buying the grounds of the disused fortress. 1870, the three railway companies, the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway, the Magdeburg-Halberstädt Railway, Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway finally reached an agreement to buy the 33 hectares of the fortifications.^[1]

Construction from 1870

Former western station building and concourse (January 1925) - now Kölner Platz

The foundation stone for the new Magdeburg central station was laid in 1870. The companies involved were the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway and the Magdeburg-Halberstädt Railway, which had been strongly affected by the confined spaces of the stations on the banks of the Elbe. The Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway Company showed no great interest in the new development, however, since its existing situation led to few problems.

Each of the two companies built their own entrance building. The Magdeburg-Leipzig built between 1872 and 1882 the eastern entrance building in the style of a Tuscan palace. Its cladding consisted of sandstone obtained from Königslutter. The western entrance building was built by the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway and was shared with the Magdeburg-Halberstädt Railway. In contrast to the eastern building, Nebra sandstone was used for the north facade of the western building: its walls were made of bricks faced with stone. Both buildings were of equal length and connected by a passenger and a baggage tunnel.

On 15 May 1873 the first train ran between the new station and the town of Burg. The official opening took place in 18 August 1873. Construction works continued until 1893. In addition to the passenger station there were also extensive freight facilities.

On 1 July 1923 the first electric train ran from Zerbst to Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof. Electrification had begun in 1910, but had been interrupted by World War I. From 7 October 1934 electric trains also ran to Halle.

Destruction in 1945

On 16 January 1945 the station was hit in a severe air raid on the town. The central station building was completely destroyed and never rebuilt. The eastern entrance building was heavily damaged and the platform halls were partially collapsed. The tracks were littered with bomb craters and the signal boxes were partially destroyed by the bomb.

Reconstruction after 1945

Entrance hall

At the end of March 1946, the restoration of the electrification was completed on the rail networks in the Soviet occupation zone. The Soviet military authorities then demanded the removal of the overhead line equipment and the transfer of the electrical rolling stock as reparations to the Soviet Union, which was partly returned in the early 1950s in need of repair. The rail network was then electrified for the third time, and electric train operation resumed in 1956. Reconstructed of the main station started in 1946, but without the roof of the historical station was omitted.

In 1974 was the Magdeburg S-Bahn was established. More extensive alterations were made in 1984. In 1992, platforms were altered to allow Intercity-Express operation. In 2003, the pedestrian tunnel was extended to connect the various platforms to an entrance on the western side of the station. The station is being modernised again between 2008 and 2015 at a cost of about €300 million.

References

1. ^ Asmus, Helmut (2005) (in German). 1200 Jahre Magdeburg (1200 years of Magdeburg). 3. Magdeburg: Scriptum. pp. 222–223.