| Kassel Hauptbahnhof (Central station) | |||||||||||
| Native Name Lang: | de | ||||||||||
| Symbol: | rail | ||||||||||
| Symbol Location: | de | ||||||||||
| Type: | Hbf | ||||||||||
| Address: | Bahnhhofsplatz | ||||||||||
| Borough: | Mitte, Kassel, Hesse | ||||||||||
| Country: | Germany | ||||||||||
| Coordinates: | 51.3181°N 9.49°W | ||||||||||
| Owned: | DB Netz | ||||||||||
| Operator: | DB Station&Service | ||||||||||
| Platforms: | 13 | ||||||||||
| Zone: | NVV 3000[1] | ||||||||||
| Opened: | 1856 | ||||||||||
| Website: | www.bahnhof.de | ||||||||||
| Map Type: | Hesse | ||||||||||
| Embedded: |
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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.
Construction of the station building, projected by Gottlob Engelhard, started in a period between 1851 and 1856.[2] 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.
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 [3] the station was thoroughly renovated and conceived (so far uniquely) as a Kulturbahnhof[4] (cultural station). Thus emerged – in addition to art galleries, an architecture center and restaurants – an exhibition space for comic arts, the Caricatura museum [5] and two repertory cinemas.
The following services currently call at the station:[6]
Kassel Hauptbahnhof is a terminal station with 8 tracks[7] and other 3 in the tunnel station for the RegioTram[8] (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: