Description
Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, often abbreviated as Frankfurt Hbf and sometimes translated as Frankfurt central station, is the busiest railway station in Frankfurt, Germany. The name affix "Main" comes from the city's full name, Frankfurt am Main. In terms of railway traffic, Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof is the busiest railway station in Germany. With about 450,000 passengers per day the station is the second most frequented railway station in Germany and among the five most frequented in Europe.History19th centuryIn the late 19th century, three stations connected Frankfurt to the west, north and south, the Taunus station for the Taunusbahn (opened 1839), connecting Frankfurt to WiesbadenMain-Neckar-station for the Main-Neckar-Eisenbahn to Darmstadt, Heidelberg and Mannheim (1848))Main-Weser station for the Main-Weser-Bahn to Kassel (1852) and from 1860 on also used by the Frankfurt-Bad Homburger Eisenbahn. Those three stations were placed beside each other on the then Gallustor'' (today: Willy-Brandt-Platz).Building the new stationThis situation was considered impracticable due to rising passenger figures in the 19th century, so plans were laid out as early as 1866. At first, a large scale station with up to 34 platforms was considered, then the number got reduced to 18. Post and baggage handlings had their own underground facilities, and the city council demanded the station to be moved further away from the city. In the end, in 1881, the German architect Hermann Eggert won the design contest for the station hall, his runner-up in the contest, Johann Wilhelm Schwedler was made chief engineer for the steel-related works. The new station was placed about 1 km to the west of the first three stations. The platforms were covered by three iron-and-glass halls.
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