Kassel Hauptbahnhof (Central station)
Hbf
Building of the station
General information
Location	Bahnhhofsplatz Mitte, Kassel, Hesse Germany
Coordinates	51°19′5″N 9°29′24″E / 51.31806°N 9.49000°E / 51.31806; 9.49000
Owned by	DB Netz
Operated by	DB Station&Service
Line(s)	Kassel–Eichenberg Kassel–Frankfurt Kassel–Waldkappel Kassel–Bebra Kassel–Warburg
Platforms	13
Other information
Station code	3124
DS100 code	FK
Category	2 [1]
Fare zone	NVV: 3000[2]
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	1856
Services
Preceding station Cantus Following station Terminus RE 5 Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe towards Bad Hersfeld RB 5 Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe towards Fulda RB 83 Vellmar-Niedervellmar towards Göttingen Preceding station DB Regio Mitte Following station Terminus RE 30 Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe towards Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Preceding station Hessische Landesbahn Following station Terminus RE 98 Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe towards Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Preceding station Kurhessenbahn Following station Terminus RB 39 Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe towards Bad Wildungen Preceding station Kassel RegioTram Following station Kassel-Kirchditmold towards Hofgeismar-Hümme 1 Scheidemannplatz towards Kassel Hollandische Straße Kassel-Kirchditmold towards Wolfhagen 4 Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe towards Melsungen 5 Scheidemannplatz towards Kassel Auestadion
Location
Kassel Hauptbahnhof (Central station) Location within Hesse

Kassel Hauptbahnhof is a Deutsche Bahn railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. Situated in the central borough of Mitte, it is the city's second important railway station after the opening of Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe in 1991; and so it is the only Hauptbahnhof that is not the main station of its city.

History

Early history

Construction of the station building, projected by Gottlob Engelhard, started in a period between 1851 and 1856.^[3] The style of the original building, bombed during World War II, was romantic neoclassical. The reconstruction, started in 1952, was completed in 1960 by the architect Friedrich Bätjer with the style of 1950s maintaining some original elements.

Recent history

When the Deutsche Bundesbahn began constructing the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway, Kassel originally was not supposed to have a station on the line at all. When it was decided to connect the city, Kassel posed a unique problem, Kassel was a terminal station. Options were discussed, among them the remodeling of Kassel's main station and the construction of an entirely new station. On 13 November 1981 construction of the high speed rail line started on Hesse territory, and it was decided to erect the new main station in the Kassel borough of Bad Wilhelmshöhe, opened on May 29, 1991.

In 1995 ^[4] the station was thoroughly renovated and conceived (so far uniquely) as a Kulturbahnhof^[5] (cultural station). Thus emerged – in addition to art galleries, an architecture center and restaurants – an exhibition space for comic arts, the Caricatura museum ^[6] and two repertory cinemas.

Train services

The following services currently call at the station:^[7]

• Regional service RE 5 Kassel - Melsungen - Bebra - Bad Hersfeld
• Regional service RE 30 Kassel - Wabern - Treysa - Marburg - Gießen - Frankfurt
• Regional service RE 98 Kassel - Wabern - Treysa - Marburg - Gießen - Frankfurt
• Local service RB 5 Kassel - Melsungen - Bebra - Fulda
• Local service RB 39 Kassel - Wabern - Bad Wildungen
• Local service RB 83 Kassel - Eichenberg - Göttingen
• Tram-train service RT1 Hofgeismar-Hümme - Kassel - City Centre - Hollandische Straße
• Tram-train service RT4 Wolfhagen - Zierenberg - Kassel - City Centre - Hollandische Straße
• Tram-train service RT5 Melsungen - Kassel - City Centre - Auestadion

Structure and transport

Kassel Hauptbahnhof is a terminal station with 8 tracks^[8] and other 3 in the tunnel station for the RegioTram^[9] (a sort of Stadtbahn). The station is served by several lines of the tramway network, RegioTram and buses.

Due to its central position in the city it is a busy station, terminal of several regional DB lines:

• Frederick William Northern Railway to Bebra and Frankfurt–Bebra line to Fulda,
• Halle–Kassel line to Eichenberg and Bebra–Göttingen line to Göttingen,
• Halle–Kassel line to Halle,
• Frederick William Northern Railway to Bebra and Thuringian Railway to Erfurt,
• Main-Weser line to Frankfurt,
• Kassel–Warburg railway to Warburg and Upper Ruhr Valley Railway to Hagen,
• Volkmarsen–Vellmar-Obervellmar line to Volkmarsen and Warburg–Sarnau line to Korbach and
• Edersee Railway to Bad Wildungen.

Gallery

• 
  Entrance to the station
• 
  Platforms for RegioTram
• 
  Himmelsstürmer (Man walking to the sky), realized for the Documenta in 1992 by Jonathan Borofsky, in the station square.
• 
  RegioTram tunnel at Hauptbahnhof. In background, the station building