Leipzig Hauptbahnhof

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (Leipzig main station, IATA: XIT) is the central railway terminus in Leipzig, Germany, in the district Mitte. At 83,460 square metres (898,400 sq ft), it is Europe's largest railway station measured by floor area. It has 19 overground platforms housed in six iron train sheds, a multi-level concourse with towering stone arches, and a 298-metre-long (978 ft) facade at the northeastern section of the Inner City Ring Road.[1][2] The two Leipzig City Tunnel platforms were inaugurated in December 2013.[6]

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof
Deutsche Bahn
Terminal station
View from City-Hochhaus
General information
LocationWilly-Brandt-Platz 5, Leipzig, Saxony
Germany
Coordinates51°20′43″N 12°22′56″E
Owned byDeutsche Bahn
Operated by
Line(s)
Platforms21 long distance platforms (19 + 2 City Tunnel)[1][2]
Construction
ArchitectWilliam Lossow
Max Hans Kühne
Other information
Station code3631
DS100 code
  • LL
  • LL T (City Tunnel)
Category1[3]
Fare zoneMDV: 110[4]
Websitewww.bahnhof.de
History
Opened4 December 1915 (1915-12-04)
Electrified1922-1946[5]
9 June 1958 (1958-06-09)
Services
Preceding station DB Fernverkehr Following station
Erfurt Hbf
towards München Hbf
ICE 11 Lutherstadt Wittenberg Hbf
ICE 28
Erfurt Hbf ICE 50 Riesa
towards Dresden Hbf
Halle (Saale) Hbf
towards Wien Hbf
IC 17 Bitterfeld
towards Warnemünde
Halle (Saale) Hbf
towards Köln Hbf
IC 55 Riesa
towards Dresden Hbf
Leipzig/Halle Airport IC 56 Terminus
Weißenfels IC 61
Preceding station Following station
Berlin Südkreuz
towards Hamburg Hbf
FLX 35 Terminus
Preceding station DB Regio Bayern Following station
Weißenfels RE 42 Terminus
Preceding station DB Regio Nordost Following station
Terminus RE 10 Taucha
Preceding station DB Regio Südost Following station
Delitzsch unt Bf RE 13 Terminus
Terminus RE 50 Engelsdorf
towards Dresden Hbf
RB 113 Leipzig-Paunsdorf
towards Geithain
Preceding station Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland Following station
Markranstädt
towards Erfurt Hbf
RE 17
RE 74520 only
Terminus
Leipzig-Möckern
towards Eisenach
RB 20
Preceding station Erfurter Bahn Following station
Leipzig-Plagwitz RE 12 Terminus
Leipzig-Möckern RB 22
Preceding station Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn Following station
Terminus RE 6 Bad Lausick
towards Chemnitz Hbf
RB 110 Leipzig-Sellerhausen
towards Döbeln Hbf
Preceding station S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland Following station
Leipzig-Gohlis S 1 Leipzig Markt
Leipzig Nord S 2
Leipzig-Gohlis
towards Halle-Nietleben
S 3 Leipzig Markt
towards Wurzen or Oschatz
Leipzig Nord
towards Hoyerswerda
S 4 Leipzig Markt
Leipzig Messe S 5 Leipzig Markt
towards Zwickau Hbf
S 5x
Leipzig Nord S 6 Leipzig Markt
towards Geithain
Location
Leipzig is located in Saxony
Leipzig
Leipzig
Location within Saxony
Leipzig is located in Germany
Leipzig
Leipzig
Location within Germany
Leipzig is located in Europe
Leipzig
Leipzig
Location within Europe

The station is operated by DB Station&Service, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, and is classified as a Category 1 station, one of twenty in Germany. It also functions as a large shopping centre.[7] Train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn, S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland, Erfurter Bahn and Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn. As of 2008, Leipzig Hauptbahnhof handled an average of 120,000 passengers per day.[8]

In 2021, Leipzig Hauptbahnhof was ranked the best railway station in Europe.[9]

History

Track plan of 1909, the world's largest railway station by number of tracks, 26. In 1909 Leipzig was located in the German Empire's centre, "between Memel and Metz".
Thuringian and Dresden stations in Leipzig, 1860 map

After the opening of the Leipzig–Dresden railway line in 1839, followed by the Magdeburg-Leipzig railway one year later, the Leipzig–Hof railway in 1842, and the Leipzig–Großkorbetha railway in 1856, Leipzig had become the most important railway junction in the Kingdom of Saxony. Initially trains departed from separate termini, such as Bayerischer Bahnhof, located southeast of the Leipzig city centre. While the city's population increased sharply, especially upon German unification in 1871, the spatial separation proved to be complicated and ineffective.

By 1895, the Saxon railway lines were nationalized under the umbrella of the Royal Saxon State Railways, while the lines of the former Magdeburg–Halberstadt, Berlin-Anhalt, and Halle-Sorau-Guben railway companies had been incorporated into the Prussian state railways. Already in 1875, plans for the establishment of a united German imperial railway organisation, as proposed by Albert von Maybach, had failed due to the antagonism of the Central German states, notably by the Saxon government. Therefore, two state railways rivalled to meet the demands of a steadily growing transport volume in the Leipzig area.

Concourse, 1916

Finally in 1898, the Leipzig city council decided on a joint terminal for Royal Saxon and Prussian state railways north of the city centre. A building contract with both organisations was signed in 1902 and an architectural competition with 76 participants was held in 1906. The winning design by the architects William Lossow (1852–1914) and Max Hans Kühne (1874–1942) featured two identical domed entrance halls facing the street, one for each company. The foundation stone was laid on 16 November 1909 and the platforms were gradually brought into operation station from 1912 onwards. When construction works finished on 4 December 1915, Leipzig Hauptbahnhof had become one of the world's largest railway stations with 26 platforms.

The separate administration of the Saxon and Prussian parts of the station continued even after World War I and the establishment of the nationwide Deutsche Reichsbahn railway organisation in 1920. Not until 1934 Leipzig Hauptbahnhof as a whole was assigned to the Reichsbahn directorate in Halle. By 1939, it had become one of Germany's busiest railway stations. The building was severely damaged by Allied bombing during World War II when during an air raid by the US Eighth Air Force on 7 July 1944 the roof over the concourse collapsed and the western entrance hall was destroyed. Numerous travellers and railway employees were killed. Rail traffic discontinued completely in April 1945.

Concourse, 1953

After the war, train service was quickly resumed. The hardly damaged eastern entrance hall was restored by 1949, and the western hall was rebuilt to its original appearance by the Deutsche Reichsbahn railway company of East Germany in the early 1950s. The concourse, however, remained without a roofing, until in 1954 the East German Council of Ministers resolved upon a complete reconstruction. The full restoration of Leipzig Hauptbahnhof was finished on 4 December 1965, 50 years after its inauguration.

After German reunification the station was renovated and modernized by the Deutsche Bahn AG. The concourse floor was removed and two basement levels were dug out to create a shopping mall. Other areas of the building were largely restored and modernized at the time. The Design and Planning were done by the architectural firm HPP based in Düsseldorf. The modified station building was inaugurated on 12 November 1997.

The Leipzig City Tunnel, an underground railway line between the south of Leipzig and Hauptbahnhof via the central Markt station, opened on 14 December 2013.[10][11] Further modifications of platforms and tracks are currently being carried out in the course of the construction of the Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle high-speed railway line, part of the European Berlin–Palermo railway axis.

Historic exhibits

On the site of closed track No. 24, several historical Deutsche Reichsbahn locomotives are on display:

  • Class 52 steam locomotive 52 5448-7
  • Class SVT 137 Diesel multiple unit 137 225
  • Class E04 AC electric locomotive E04 01
  • Class E44 AC electric locomotive E44 046
  • Class E94 AC electric locomotive E94 056

Movie set

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof served as a backdrop for several films, such as

Train services

Intercity train, 2009

The following services currently call at the station:[12]

Long distance

Line Route Interval (min) Operator
ICE 11 Hamburg Berlin Lutherstadt Wittenberg Leipzig Erfurt Frankfurt Stuttgart Augsburg Munich 120 DB Fernverkehr
ICE 28 Hamburg – Berlin – Lutherstadt Wittenberg Leipzig – Erfurt Bamberg Nuremberg – Munich 120
ICE 50 Dresden Riesa Leipzig – Erfurt Eisenach Fulda – Frankfurt Mainz Wiesbaden 120
IC 55 Dresden – Riesa Leipzig Halle Magdeburg Braunschweig Hannover Bielefeld – Dortmund Wuppertal Cologne 120
IC 56 Leipzig – Halle – Magdeburg – Braunschweig – Hannover Bremen Oldenburg Leer Emden Norddeich Mole 120
IC 61 Leipzig – Naumburg Jena Saalfeld Lichtenfels – Nuremberg Aalen Schorndorf – Stuttgart Pforzheim Karlsruhe One train pair
FLX 35 Leipzig Berlin Südkreuz Berlin Hbf Berlin-Spandau Hamburg Hbf 1 or 2 train pairs Flixtrain

Regional and S-Bahn

Line Route Interval (min) Operator
RE 6 Leipzig – Belgershain Bad Lausick – Geithain – Burgstädt Chemnitz 060 Transdev
RE 10 Leipzig Eilenburg – Torgau Falkenberg – Doberlug-Kirchhain – Calau Cottbus 120 DB Regio Nordost
RE 12 Leipzig – Pegau Zeitz Bad Köstritz – Gera – Weida – Pößneck Saalfeld 120 Erfurter Bahn
RE 13 Leipzig Delitzsch Bitterfeld Dessau – Zerbst – Biederitz – Magdeburg 060 DB Regio Südost
RE 42 Leipzig Weißenfels – Naumburg Jena – Saalfeld – Bamberg Erlangen – Nuremberg 120 DB Regio Bayern
RE 50 Leipzig – Wurzen – Oschatz – Riesa Priestewitz Radebeul Ost Dresden 060 DB Regio Südost
RB 20 Leipzig Bad Dürrenberg – Weißenfels – Naumburg Apolda – Weimar – Erfurt Gotha – Eisenach 060 Abellio
RB 22 Leipzig – Pegau – Zeitz Bad Köstritz – Gera – Weida – Pößneck – Könitz – Saalfeld 120 Erfurter Bahn
RB 110 Leipzig – Borsdorf – Grimma – Leisnig Döbeln 060 Transdev
RB 113 Leipzig – Belgershain Bad Lausick – Geithain 060 DB Regio Südost
S 1 Leipzig Miltitzer Allee – Leipzig-Plagwitz Leipzig Leipzig Markt – Leipzig-Stötteritz 030
S 2 (Jüterbog –) Wittenberg / Dessau – Bitterfeld – Delitzsch Leipzig Leipzig Markt – Leipzig-Stötteritz 030
S 3 Halle-Trotha – Halle – Schkeuditz Leipzig Leipzig Markt – Leipzig-Connewitz (– Markkleeberg-Gaschwitz) 030
S 4 Hoyerswerda – Falkenberg – Eilenburg Leipzig Leipzig Markt – Leipzig-Stötteritz – Wurzen (– Oschatz) 030
S 5 Halle Flughafen Leipzig/Halle Leipzig Leipzig Markt – Markkleeberg Altenburg Gößnitz Zwickau 060
S 5X Halle Flughafen Leipzig/Halle – Leipzig Leipzig Markt – Markkleeberg – Altenburg – Gößnitz – Zwickau 060
S 6 Leipzig Messe Leipzig Leipzig Markt – Leipzig-Connewitz – Markkleeberg – Borna – Geithain 030 (Mon–Fri)

References

  1. "OpenRailwayMap" (Map). Map of Leipzig Hauptbahnhof. Cartography by OpenStreetMap. OpenRailwayMap. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-19.
  2. "Lageplan Hauptbahnhof Leipzig" (PDF) (orientation map) (in German). Deutsche Bahn AG. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-10-19.
  3. "Stationspreisliste 2023" [Station price list 2023] (PDF) (in German). DB Station&Service. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  4. "Tarifzonenplan" (PDF). Mitteldeutscher Verkehrsverbund. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  5. Since 1946 catenaries and overhead line masts were dismantled as Soviet war reparations.
  6. Pressestelle. "Startseite - sachsen.de". www.citytunnelleipzig.de. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  7. "PHL". www.promenaden-hauptbahnhof-leipzig.de. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  8. Shopping und Service – 140 Geschäfte laden zum Bummeln und Verweilen ein. Accessed 13 December 2008 Archived April 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Das ist Europas bester Bahnhof". www.t-online.de.
  10. Große Pläne, große Probleme, Freizeitpark Nürburgring, Hamburger Elbphilharmonie, Leipziger City-Tunnel, Leipziger Volkszeitung, August 17. 2012 (in German)
  11. "City-Tunnel Leipzig startet mit Volksfest – heute kostenlose Pendelfahrten für alle - Leipzigs Citytunnel - Aktuell Themen - LVZ-Online". Archived from the original on 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
  12. "Kursbuch der Deutschen Bahn". kursbuch.bahn.de. Retrieved Jul 24, 2020.
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