page_title: Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
section_title: Building
hierarchical_section_title: Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof / Building
context_page_description: Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof is the primary railway station in the city of Stuttgart, the state capital of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. It is the largest regional and long-distance railway station in Stuttgart, the main node of the Stuttgart S-Bahn network, and, together with the station at Charlottenplatz, it is the main node of the Stuttgart Stadtbahn.
  Located at the northeastern end of the Königstraße, the main pedestrian zone of the city centre, the main line station is a terminus, whilst the subterranean S-Bahn and Stadtbahn stations are through-stations. The station is well known for its 12-storey tower with a large, rotating and illuminated Mercedes-Benz star insignia on top; the tower and station building are city landmarks.
  Plans for the controversial Stuttgart 21 project to convert the main line terminus station into an underground through station include the demolition of the side wings of the building, together with the elimination of the platforms, tracks, and apron of the terminus station. The planned underground through station is configured at a 90-degree angle to the present station. Construction is scheduled from 2010 to 2019.
context_section_description: The station building consists of cubes nested symmetrically and asymmetrically. It is characterised by cubes of different size, dimension and design. Concrete and steel were used during the construction of the station building and the rough-hewn Muschelkalk ("mussel chalk") blocks were laid as a facade over bricks. The Muschelkalk comes from the Trochitenkalk Formation of the Upper Muschelkalk from the Crailsheim area. Inside, sandstone, tuff and brick dominate the walls. These are partly designed as flat wooden ceilings and partly designed as reinforced concrete structures. The pillars in the terminal station hall are made of exposed concrete.
  The station is also integrated into the urban planning of the city of Stuttgart. The structure adapts to the sloping terrain (there is a difference in height of almost five metres between the tower and the north exit). The original plans called for a road leading directly to the building, but Bonatz eliminated this in favour of the Lautenschlagerstraße, as it is now known, which ends at the Kleine Schalterhalle (small ticket hall). The tracks for the local commuter traffic are behind this hall and the central exit is between the hall and the main building, which is useful for the control of passenger flow. Underneath the tracks area, three tunnels running at right angles to the tracks provide highly functional access points: the mail tunnel runs from the post office annex to the northwestern station area, a passenger tunnel eases the task of changing platforms and a third tunnel is meant for the transit of express freight.
  The construction has some highly regarded features. The façade is made of limestone, which was covered with bricks; on the inside, sandstone, tuff, and bricks form the walls. The roof structures consist partly of flat wood and partly of reinforced concrete panels. The use of exposed concrete on the pillars lends a modern flair to the main hall. The structure features conservative elements, shown in the monumentality and the reserved decorations, as well as progressive elements, as shown by the flat roof structures, for example. The design is considered an important example of the Stuttgart School.
  Christoph Ingenhoven, the architect of the new station, expressed the opinion that much of Bonatz's original visions, which tended towards "a knight's castle or Valhalla", can still be found in the current building. The Stuttgart Regional Court, in its decision to permit the demolition of the side wings, stated that only the terminal train shed, the tower, the ticket halls and the portico were decisive for the architectural recognition of the work, but not the side wings.
caption: Large ticket hall from Königstraße in 1927
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