Balduinstein station

Balduinstein
Through station
Former entrance building
Location	Bahnhofstr. 19, Balduinstein, Rhineland-Palatinate Germany
Coordinates	50°20′49″N 7°58′05″E / 50.346917°N 7.967936°E / 50.346917; 7.967936Coordinates: 50°20′49″N 7°58′05″E / 50.346917°N 7.967936°E / 50.346917; 7.967936
Line(s)	Lahn Valley Railway (km 61.4) (625)
Platforms	2
Construction
Architect	Heinrich Velde
Architectural style	Neo-classical
Other information
Station code	383
DS100 code	FBAD
IBNR	8000786
Category	6
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	5 July 1862
Services
Preceding station   Deutsche Bahn   Following station Laurenburg (Lahn) toward Mayen Ost RB 23 Lahn-Eifel-Bahn Fachingen (Lahn) toward Limburg (Lahn)

Balduinstein is a station in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate on the Lahn Valley Railway. It lies to the north of the municipality of Balduinstein on the bank of the Lahn.

The Bonn construction company Spuhn, which won the contract for the construction of the Lahn Valley Railway between Balduinstein and Runkel, started work in Balduinstein in the autumn of 1857. Since August of the same year, the Georg Mayer company from Alzey had been working on the Cramberg tunnel, the east portal of which lies south of Balduinstein. The resulting material was used as fill for the railway line, which required the demolition of many houses by the summer of 1860. The inhabitants' access to the Lahn was ensured by a number of underpasses and overpasses.

The neoclassical station building was designed by the Diez architects Heinrich Velde, who also designed numerous other buildings along the railway line. The two-storey building was built with three-storey corner buildings and a very large covered porch. Archduke Stephen, Palatine of Hungary, who had moved back to his County of Holzappel in 1850, sought a stately entrance building for his guests staying at the newly redesigned Schaumburg Castle, although this matter was at discretion of the ruler, Adolphe, Duke of Nassau.

The Fürstenzimmer ("princes’ room"), which had a separate entrance from the station forecourt as well as platform access and had 15 square metres of floor space, proved to be too small at the latest by the summer of 1863. Archduke Stephen requested permission to use the corner room of the first floor as a waiting room for his guests. The Fürstenzimmer was used until recently for normal platform access for all passengers.

On 9 September 1991, the station building was added to Rhineland-Palatinate’s list of cultural monuments. The district administration of the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis said that Balduinstein station was "a testimony of artistic creativity and technical activity [...] in the Lahn valley" ("ein Zeugnis des künstlerischen Schaffens und des technischen Wirkens […] im Lahntal"). Moreover, the building was a "characteristic feature" ("kennzeichnendes Merkmal") of the place and the preservation and care of the town's buildings were in the public interest for both urban and artistic reasons.