Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof

A view on a postcard mailed in 1915

the main concourse

 

the vestibule as it was originally

the platform hall as it looked originally

steam trains leave the station, probably 1900s

a 1910s view

a 1930s aerial view looking at the Hinderburgplatz, now Am Hauptbahnhof

a post-WW2 aerial view, from above the roof into the city

probably late 1920s

a 1930s view

a night scene, 1960s

trams and buses in Am Hauptbahnhof, 1950s

another 1950s scene

a late 1950s view with a VW Transporter in the foreground

lots of Frankfurt trams, 1960s

more trams and some buses, late 1950s

probably 1960s

by the 1970s the beginning of the high rise era was apparent

Many of those who attend the book fair arrive by train at the Hauptbahnhof or main station of Frankfurt am Main (Main is pronounced like 'mine'), a grand Kopfbahnhof (station with a terminal style track plan).

The station with today 24 mainline platforms plus 4 U-Bahn (underground railway) and 4 S-Bahn (city railway) platforms, and one of only a small percentage of buildings in the city which date from before WW2 (not all the replacements were the result of war damage), was built in 'Renaissance Revival' style and opened on 18 August 1888 after five years of construction. Until the completion of the Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (see earlier post) in 1915, Frankfurt station was the largest in Europe. Frankfurt today is the busiest in Germany in terms of trains arriving and departing.

In 1924 two neoclassical halls were added on each side of the main hall, increasing the number of platforms to the present 24. During WW2, the building was partly damaged (most notably the windows in the halls covering the platforms). In 1956 the station was fully electrified. One year later, Europe's then-largest switch tower or signal box was commissioned, which having been built in a contemporary style of the time, has now itself become a listed building.

Starting with the construction of the B-Tunnel for the Frankfurt U-Bahn facilities in 1971, a subterranean level was added in front of the main building, featuring the city's first public escalator and included a large shopping mall, one station each for the U-Bahn and S-Bahn trains, an air raid shelter (!) and a public parking lot. The subterranean stations, opened in 1978, were built in the cut and cover method, which involved the demolition of the second northern hall and rebuilding it after the stations were completed.

Between 2002 and 2006 the roof was renovated with new steel and some new windows.