Train stations in Germany

Germany has a long tradition of train travel and the entire country is criss-crossed by many train connections. The national railway service Deutsche Bahn transports a whopping 2.2 billion passengers per year – that is more than the population of China and India combined.

The country is densely populated, favoring a dense network of trains, among these the very comfortable and fast ICE bullet train which can achieve maximum speeds of up to 300 km/h. As far as domestic travel is concerned, many times taking a train from one city to another is faster than traveling by air. Why? No check-in times are required, and in contrast to airports that are usually far away from the city center, as a rule German train stations are located in the very heart of the city, close to where much of the commercial activity is.

Germany: High Speed Train ICE vs. Cars on Autobahn – 300 km/h

Let´s have a look at some examples of German train stations, all very different in character:

Leipzig

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof is one of the most beautiful train stations in all of Germany, featuring some magnificent architecture, and it is also the biggest head train station in all of Europe. It houses a sizeable shopping arcade called Promenaden Hauptbahnhof Leipzig that allows you to spend a few pleasant hours, especially if the climate is not playing along during your visit.  But if it is – and fortunately, Leipzig receives less rainfall than most other German cities – then the city´s pedestrian center is just a few steps away. However, it speaks for itself that many people visit the shopping center even if they are not booked on any train. Nested within the train station, it provides a unique ambiance and shopping experience.  Leipzig is internationally known as a city of well-established trade fairs, and its emblematic train station provides a sympathetic welcome in consonance with that, to its many visitors from Germany and abroad.

Berlin

Berlin has a modern structure that is located at the site of the former Lehrter Stadtbahnhof. The former train station had its fair share of up and downs throughout history, reflecting the turbulent history of Berlin itself, and suffered damages during World War II.  But for many years it was just one more stop on the Berlin metro system, or S-Bahn, as Germans would refer to it. That changed with German reunification when it was determined that the reunited Berlin, once again capital of Germany, would need a completely new north-south axis for train travel. All of a sudden the nondescript Lehrter Stadtbahnhof came into sight as the future location for what is now one of Germany´s newest and most representative train stations.

The actual train station is a far cry from its predecessor and is considered to be the biggest in Europe. It has a modern, open, spacious, steel and glass structure towering across a total of five levels, some of which are underground. Its curved see-through glass roof has a photovoltaic system built into it. When it opened, German news magazine Der Spiegel aptly nicknamed it a “Glass Armadillo”.  Chancellor Angela Merkel officially inaugurated the new station in May of 2006, now a central hub of train travel offering many connections with German cities and neighboring countries (especially Eastern Europe, due to geographic proximity). There are lots of shopping opportunities, gastronomic offerings and other conveniences for the traveler, so if you have connecting time between two trains, you will find a plethora of options to choose from.

The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is at the heart of a transportation system that has four secondary train stations located around it, in the North, South, East and West of the German capital. They are called Gesundbrunnen (North), Südkreuz (South), Ostkreuz (East) and Westkreuz (West). The architecture of Südkreuz (literally Southern Cross), although different in its concept, has some resemblance of Berlin Hauptbahnhof, with a similarly open and glassy structure.

Hamburg

The train station in the center of Hamburg is steeped in tradition and was inaugurated in 1906, replacing four smaller train stations previously scattered throughout the center of the city. The building is known for its two iconic clock towers, each standing 45 mts tall. During World War II, the train station was seriously damaged by Allied bombing and different parts needed to be rebuilt, including one of the clock towers. With some 480,000 passengers per day, nowadays the station is the busiest in Germany. As a central transportation hub for the northern part of the country, Hamburg has excellent domestic connections and most of the train traffic from and to Scandinavia passes through here.  Of course, shops could not be missing and are mostly located in the so called Wandelhalle, or Promenade Hall, at the northern bridge.

Deutsche Bahn classifies Hamburg train station as a category 1 station which means that it is an important hub that is fully equipped with all facilities and permanently staffed. There are currently 21 such train stations in Germany, naturally including  the already mentioned main train stations of Berlin and Leipzig.

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