page_title: Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof
section_title: New through station in 1955
hierarchical_section_title: Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof / History / New through station in 1955
caption_attribution_description: English: train station of Heidelberg, Germany
context_page_description: Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station for the city of Heidelberg. In 2005 it was used by around 42,000 passengers per day and is one of the largest passenger stations in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The station is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station.
  The first station was built in 1840 as a terminus near the old town of Heidelberg. Urban problems as a result of the extension of part of the station to form a through station in 1862 and a lack of expansion options resulted in a decision the early 20th century to relocate the station as a new through station a kilometre to the west. Interrupted by two world wars, the relocation of the Heidelberg railway facilities took over 50 years. Inaugurated in 1955, the station is now considered to be "the most beautiful and architecturally interesting buildings of Deutsche Bundesbahn", and since 1972 it has been listed as a "cultural monument of special importance" under the historical monuments register of Baden-Württemberg. The station is located in Willy-Brandt-Platz about two kilometres west of central Heidelberg. Diagonally opposite is the headquarters of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen.
context_section_description: On 5 May 1955, the new Hauptbahnhof was opened by Federal President Theodor Heuss. The President, who had lived for some years in Heidelberg, had arrived in Heidelberg on a special train from Bruchsal. The actual operations of the station commenced on the night of 7 and 8 May. This meant that two embankments, which temporarily connected to the old station, had to be removed. The tracks to the new station had already been built between the embankments. In the first days after the start of operation there were teething problems that were attributed to technical problems with the switches and the lack of experience of the personnel with the new facilities. 18 long-distance services stopped at Heidelberg in the new timetable; these had previously bypassed the city because of the congestion at the old station.
  The station building of the new station was designed by Deutsche Bundesbahn director Helmuth Conradi (1903–1973), who in the 1920s had studied architecture under Paul Schmitthenner and Paul Bonatz of the Stuttgart School of architecture (particularly associated with Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof). The ticket hall was built with glazed longitudinal walls at an angle of 50 degrees to the tracks, as designed by Hans Freese during the Nazi period. On the south wall, which is of 53 metres long, 16 metres wide and 12 metres high, there is a sgraffito by Karl Joseph Huber on the theme of motion ("Helios with the Sun Chariot", Helios mit dem Sonnenwagen). A second section of the building was laid parallel to the tracks with rooms for the reception of luggage and express freight, waiting rooms and the station restaurant on the ground floor and offices for the railway administration on the upper floors. Located in the angle between two sections of the building there is a spiral staircase connecting to both sections. Extending from the station building to the platforms is a 91 metre long and 20 metre wide hall. The roof of the hall was built with curved surfaces made of prestressed concrete and filled with glass.
  At its inauguration in 1955, the station building was criticised by some as a "glass case of inaccessibility." A later commentator commended the concourse hall for its "architectural and operational excellence”. The long glass facades have an “elegance and lightness" previously unknown in railway buildings and they were said to correspond to the "ideals of the architecture of the 1950s: transparency, lightness and spaciousness." Here, the modernity of the glass facade stands in contrast to the vertical structure of the reception hall façade with its relatively strong, neo-classical concrete roof supports, according to a publication of the State Historical Monuments Office (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege) of Baden-Württemberg in 2010.
  The central relay interlocking panel was housed in the entrance building. It replaced the old station's ten signal boxes. The number of signal boxes in the station area was reduced from 45 to seven. On the west side there was a separate area with another platform for the United States Army. Two baggage tunnels were built for the loading of baggage and mail trains. Instead of the, until then usual, lifts there were connecting ramps to the platforms. In order to park trains coming from the west and terminating in Heidelberg, a set of 12 carriage sidings, a carriage washing facility and a carriage workshop were established near the engine depot. Another set of carriage sidings were established east of the station with four sidings. 
  Since the new Heidelberg station was fully electrified in 1955, electric shunting locomotives are used. The first locomotives based in Heidelberg were class E69, which were replaced in 1964 by class E60 locomotives. Also stationed in Heidelberg depot from 1962 were the first express locomotives of class E 10.12 and regional electric multiple units of class ET 56. The operation of steam locomotives to Heidelberg ended in 1965 and the coal handling facilities were closed in 1968. As of 1970 only shunting locomotives and railcars were maintained in Heidelberg; in May 1989 the dep
caption: Sgraffito "Helios with the sun chariot" in the main hall.
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