Frankfurt (Main) Hbf railway station
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Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof
 
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| Terminal station | |
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| Location |
Frankfurt, Hesse Germany |
| Coordinates | 50°6′25″N 8°39′45″E / 50.10694°N 8.66250°E |
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| Platforms |
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| Construction | |
| Architect | Hermann Eggert and Johann Wilhelm Schwedler |
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| Other information | |
| Station code | 1866 |
| DS100 code | FF |
| Category | 1 |
| Website | www.bahnhof.de |
| History | |
| Opened | 18 August 1888 |
| Traffic | |
| Passengers | 450,000 daily |
Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof (German for Frankfurt (Main) main station), often abbreviated as Frankfurt (Main) Hbf and sometimes translated as Frankfurt central station, is the busiest railway station in Frankfurt, Germany. The name affix "Main" comes from the city's full name, Frankfurt am Main. In terms of railway traffic, Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof is the busiest railway station in Germany. With about 450,000 passengers per day, the station is the second busiest railway station in Germany (together with Munich Hauptbahnhof and behind Hamburg Hauptbahnhof), and is among the five busiest stations in Europe. Because of its location in the middle of Germany and usage as a hub for long and short distance travelling Deutsche Bahn refers to it as the most important train station in germany.
In the late 19th century, three stations connected Frankfurt to the west, north and south, the
Those three stations were placed beside each other on the then Gallustor (today: Willy-Brandt-Platz).
This situation was considered impracticable due to rising passenger figures in the 19th century, so plans were laid out as early as 1866. At first, a large scale station with up to 34 platforms was considered, then the number got reduced to 18. Post and baggage handlings had their own underground facilities, and the city council demanded the station to be moved further away from the city. In the end, in 1881, the German architect Hermann Eggert won the design contest for the station hall, his runner-up in the contest, Johann Wilhelm Schwedler was made chief engineer for the steel-related works. The new station was placed about 1 km to the west of the first three stations. The platforms were covered by three iron-and-glass halls.
The station was built by the contractor Philipp Holzmann with construction starting in 1883. The Central-Bahnhof Frankfurt was finally opened on 18 August 1888. Right on the evening of the opening day, a train ran over the buffer stop and the locomotive was damaged. Over the course of the next few years, the area to the east of the new station, the Bahnhofsviertel, was built; it was completed around 1900. Until the completion of Leipzig Hauptbahnhof in 1915, Frankfurt station was the largest in Europe. As of today (2014), the 24 platforms with 26 tracks on one level probably make it the world's largest one-level railway hall.
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Wikipedia