Dresden Hbf
Architectural information
Opened	1851
Location	Dresden
State	Saxony
Country	Germany
Local authority	Dresden-Seevorstadt
Operations
DS100 code	DH
Type	Bf
Category	1
1851	Böhmischer Bahnhof
1892	Rebuilding to Hauptbahnhof
1897	Hauptbahnhof opened
1945	Damaged in Second World War
2000-2008	Reconstruction
Deutsche Bahn - Stations in Germany
BW BY BE BR HB HH HE MV NI NW RP SL SN ST SH TH

Dresden Hauptbahnhof (usually translated from German as Dresden Central Station, short form: Dresden Hbf) is one of two main inter-city transit hubs in the German city of Dresden. Designed by Ernst Giese and Paul Weidner, it was built between 1892 and 1897 at the southern border of the inner city and was important in the growth and development of the city.

[edit] Construction

Dresden Hauptbahnhof has 18 tracks. Eleven carry traffic through the station whilst the remaining seven, all from the west and located in the middle of the station, are terminal tracks. This layout makes Dresden Hbf unique among German central railway stations. The station is divided into three halls, the central one of which is the biggest and covers the terminating tracks.

The arrivals hall is situated in front of the terminating tracks giving the station the character of a terminal station. The new 30,000 m² roof, covered by a canopy made from Teflon-coated fibre glass, was designed by Foster and Partners with fabric roof design by Buro Happold and other structural design by Schmitt Stumpf Fruhauf and Partner. The reconstructed building was nominated for the 2006 Stirling Prize and won the 2006 IStructE Award for Heritage Buildings.

[edit] History

Exterior of Dresden Hauptbahnhof, December 2006

The reconstructed station hall, July 2007

Dresden Hauptbahnhof is part of the railway system that provides direct connections to Berlin, Prague and Nuremberg. Opening in 1897, it replaced three stations in the south of the city.

The station was damaged by the bombing of Dresden starting in February 1945. This was limited in extent until a specific attack in April 1945.

The station's reconstruction started after the war but is not yet complete. It became one of the important railway stations in East Germany.

Since 2000, the railway station has been undergoing a major reconstruction. The main train halls, the roof and other areas in the station are complete, with all work planned to finish in 2008.

During the floods in August 2002, the station hall was badly damaged by flooding from the river Weißeritz. The entrance hall and the lower platforms were flooded up to one metre by muddy water from the left tributary of the river Elbe coming from the Ore Mountains. Major damage to several tracks around Dresden closed the station for a month. Fortunately, the main reconstruction project was only temporarily interrupted.

In 2007, the station's reconstruction was a contender for the £20,000 Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture in Europe.

[edit] Operational usage

The Saxonia statue on the top of the portal

The station is operated and owned by the Deutsche Bahn Group subsidiary DB Station&Service.

Regional and long distance services call at the station. The station is part of the InterCity and ICE network. Night services are provided by DB NachtZug trains. EuroCity services also call, providing connections to Prague in the Czech Republic.

The daily passenger numbers of about 50,000 are relatively low compared to other German cities of the same size. (The central station of Bremen, a city of comparable size, handles around 100,000.) This is because Dresden has two stations at which long-distance trains call: Dresden Hauptbahnhof and Dresden-Neustadt.

[edit] External links

• Foster + Partners - project description

Coordinates: 51°02′25″N 13°43′54″E / 51.04028°N 13.73167°E / 51.04028; 13.73167

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dresden Hauptbahnhof

Preceding station		Dresden S-Bahn		Following station
Dresden Freiberger Straße toward Meißen Triebischtal		S1		Dresden-Strehlen toward Schöna
Dresden Freiberger Straße toward Dresden Flughafen		S2		Dresden-Strehlen toward Pirna
Dresden-Plauen toward Tharandt		S3		Terminus