- Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe railway station
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe is a
railway station in the city ofKassel , in the German state ofHesse . It is the city's most important railway station, as it is connected to theHanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line , withInterCityExpress services calling at the station.History
When the
Deutsche Bundesbahn began constructing theHanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line , Kassel originally was not supposed to have a station on the line at all. However, out of political consideration, it was decided thatGöttingen ,Fulda and Kassel should get stations on the line. The first two were rather easy to connect, but Kassel posed a unique problem, namely its main station,Kassel Hauptbahnhof , being aterminal station .Options were discussed, among them the remodeling of Kassel's main station and the construction of an entirely new station, eventually deciding for the latter. OnNovember 13 ,1981 construction of the high speed rail line started onHesse territory, and it was decided to erect the station in the Kassel borough ofBad Wilhelmshöhe , construction starting later that year.On
May 29 ,1991 the rail line was opened, and the station was opened the same day. Due toGerman reunification , outlook for the station was good.Trivia
*It is said that then-federal president
Richard von Weizsäcker was unable to find a toilet on the inauguration day in 1991 and had to relieve himself on a wall, shielded from view by hisbodyguard s.
*Due to its open construction and the stilted roof spanning the tram stop, the station is colloquially known as "Palast der tausend Winde" (German for "Palace of the Thousand Winds").Operational usage
All northbound and southbound
InterCityExpress services call at the station, with the exception of "ICE Sprinter" trains. An ICE connection also exists on the line toErfurt andAltenbeken /Dortmund . Regional services are offered to Frankfurt Hbf, Hagen,Erfurt ,Bad Hersfeld ,Korbach andKassel Hbf where regional trains depart for Göttingen and Halle among others.
The station is also served by two lines of the newRegioTram system, the new light rail system of Kassel. These two lines terminate atTreysa orMelsungen respectively.
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