Offenburg station

Offenburg
Offenburg station, 2005
Operations
Category	2
Type	Through station
Station tracks	7
Abbreviation	RO
Construction and location
Opened	1844
City/town	Offenburg
Federal state	Baden-Württemberg
Country	Germany
Route information
Appenweier–Strasbourg railway Rhine Valley Railway Black Forest Railway
List of railway stations in Baden-Württemberg

Offenburg station is in Baden-Wurttemberg and has seven tracks on four platforms. Offenburg used to be railway town and the station was of major economic importance to it. In recent years the maintenance facilities and much of the rail freight yards have been closed. The station is very centrally located within the city and is easily accessible by 18 different bus routes from the central bus station, 50 metres from the railway station.

Rail services

InterCityExpress services operate through the station every two hours between Berlin, Frankfurt and Basel and less frequently between Cologne, Frankfurt Airport and Basel. InterCity trains operate from a variety of destinations in Germany and Switzerland. Regional-Express trains operate to and from Karlsruhe, Basel Bad and Konstanz. Regional rail services are operated as the Ortenau-S-Bahn, by Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft, a company owned by Baden-Württemberg.

History

The station was designed by the architect, Friedrich Eisenlohr (1805–1855), as a smaller version of the old railway station in Karlsruhe, opened in 1843 and closed in 1913.^[1] During World War I several attacks were carried out on the station. The most serious of these took place on 22 July 1918 with four direct hits leading to the collapse of the entire central part of the station entrance building.^[2] During the Occupation of the Ruhr in February 1923, Offenburg and Appenweier were also occupied, disrupting the Rhine Valley Railway. Therefore until 12 December 1923 trains on the Baden Mainline had to be diverted on the route through the Black Forest towns of Donaueschingen, Hausach, Freudenstadt, Hochdorf towards Pforzheim.^[2]

Since June 2007 TGV Trains run from Paris Est to Strasbourg, Stuttgart and Munich. Therefore, since 10 June 2007 the Ortenau-S-Bahn has operated railcars every hour (and sometimes every half hour) between Offenburg and Strasbourg. This change extended previous services to Strasbourg including services formerly ending in Kehl.

References

1. ^ Pretsch, Peter. "Friedrich Eisenlohr - Architekt der badischen Eisenbahn(Friedrich Eisenlohr - Architect of the Baden railway)" (in German). Karlsruhe City. http://www.karlsruhe.de/kultur/stadtgeschichte/blick_geschichte/blick67/eisenlohr. Retrieved 28 February 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Kuntzemüller, Albert (1940,) (in German). Die badischen Eisenbahnen 1840−1940 (The Baden mainline 1840−1940). Freiburg im Breisgau: Selbstverlag der Geographischen Institute der Universitäten Freiburg i. Br. und Heidelberg. p. 129 ff.. 

External links

• "Offenburg" (in German). Deutsche Bahn. http://www.deutschebahn.com/site/bahn/de/reisen/service/bfssuche__deutschland/bahnhofssuche/bahnhofsdaten__filter,variant=details,recordId=4745.html?c252936=Offenburg. Retrieved 28 February 2010. ^{[dead link]}

Coordinates: 48°28′33.65″N 7°56′44.61″E / 48.4760139°N 7.945725°E / 48.4760139; 7.945725