Hamburg Hauptbahnhof

Hbf intro|Hamburg is the Hauptbahnhof for the German city of Hamburg [ [http://www.db.de/site/shared/de/dateianhaenge/infomaterial/sonstige/bahnhofskategorieliste__2008.pdf Liste Bahnhofskategorie 2008 (pdf)] , DB Station&Service AG, Köthener Straße 2, 10963 Berlin (2008) de icon] . It was opened on 6 December 1906. The station is a through station, situated in the city centre.

History

Before today's central station was opened in 1906, 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 meters 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 railway line to Berlin
* "Lübecker Bahnhof" (1865, connection to Lübeck)
* "Klosterthor" (1866, eastern terminus of the "Hamburg-Altonaer Verbindungsbahn")
* "Hannöverscher Bahnhof" (1872, originally named "Venloer Bahnhof")

After the decision to close the gap between the lines and the terminus stations as well, a competition was arranged in 1900. The German emperor William II declared the first draft as "simply horrible", but the second draft was eventually constructed and opened in 1906.

The Hauptbahnhof Altona already existed at that time, but Hamburg and Altona were separate cities until the Greater Hamburg Act from 1937. Since 1938, Altona is a district of the City of Hamburg.

tation services

Trains

Long distance

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 Stuttgart and Munich) and Bremen (continuing to the Ruhr Area and Cologne). To the North ICE trains are connecting Hamburg with Aarhus and Copenhagen in Denmark and Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein. [ICE Netz 2008, DB Netz AG, Zentrale, Frankfurt am Main]

There are also several InterCity- and EuroCity- passenger train connections. [IC Netz 2008, DB Netz AG, Zentrale, Frankfurt am Main]

Regional trains

There are numerous RegionalExpress and RegionalBahn services to Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony.

Rapid transit

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 or city train) and the Hamburg U-Bahn (subway). [ [http://www.hvv.de/pdf/fahrplaene/usar/hvv_usar_regio.pdf Network plan HVV] (pdf) 560 KiB ]

The S-Bahn platforms are located inside the Hauptbahnhof itself (platforms 3 and 4, going eastwards to Barmbek, Harburg and Bergedorf) and in 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 has been included in the 1900 plannings for the new station (the construction for the subway started in 1906, the "ring" has been 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.

The station "Hauptbahnhof Nord" (north) is serving the line U2, but only using the two middle tunnels (out of four). The two outer tunnels have been build in advance for a future line U4 (which has never been released) and are currently used for a visual arts installation.

Facilities at the station

One of the highlights of the station is the "Wandelhalle" (promenading hall), which is a small shopping center (with additional business hours, compromising to shops located outside the station). 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 drugstore, service centers and more. The upper floor also has a gallery surrounding the hall.

As of 2008 to banish the drug dealers and users from the area, the Deutsche Bahn is playing classical music like Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons". According to German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt it is a success. [Citation |title=Hamburg Journal; 'Judge Merciless' Thinks All Germany Needs Him |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E3DF103BF930A15752C0A9649C8B63 |date=2002-01-23 |accessdate=2008-09-21 |last=Erlanger |first=Steven |publisher=New York Times]

In 2011 the Hamburg U-Bahn is planning to open the line U4:

ee also

*Hamburger Verkehrsverbund Public transport association in Hamburg
*Hamburger Hochbahn Operator of the Hamburg U-Bahn

References

External links

*de icon [http://www.db.de/site/bahn/de/reisen/service/bfssuche__deutschland/bahnhofssuche/bahnhofsdaten__filter,variant=details,recordId=2514.html?c252936=hamburg DB station information]
*de icon [http://www.wandelhalle-hamburg.de shopping center Wandelhalle Hamburg Hauptbahnhof]
*de icon [http://www.bahnhof-hamburg.de/hauptbahnhof.html private website] (including pictures)