page_title: Wien Nordwestbahnhof
section_title: Construction of the railway station
hierarchical_section_title: Wien Nordwestbahnhof / Construction of the railway station
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Nordwestbahnhof in der Brigittenau, dem XX. Gemeindebezirk von Wien / Österreich / Europäische Union. Nordwestbahnhof, Fassade. Aufnahme etwa am Eck Nordwestbahnstraße, Am Tabor. Ansicht um 1873. Frühes Foto, Gebäude und Vorplatz sind noch nicht fertiggestellt. English: The Northwest Railway Station in Brigittenau, the XX. district of Vienna / Austria / EU. Facade. Picture taken at the corner of Nordwestbahnstraße, Am Tabor. View around 1873. Early photo, building and forecourt are not finished yet.
context_page_description: Wien Nordwestbahnhof is a goods station in transformation to a city development area in Brigittenau district of Vienna, Austria / EU. Passenger transport already ended in 1959. It serves as the southern terminus of the Austrian Northwestern Railway. The northwestern terminus of the line was Prague Těšnov station till 1972. Freight transport is in the phase of termination. By 2025, a new district will be built on the site. An interim use phase will begin in 2018.
context_section_description: The fact that such a large infrastructure project as the construction of the Northwest Railway was financed privately must be seen against the background of the public finances of Austria-Hungary. Due to the heavily strained state budget in the years around the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the boycott of tax increases by the Imperial Council, which was dominated by the nobility, the state sold existing railway lines to private investors and promoted the expansion and new construction with guaranteed interest for shares.
  Subsequently, the railways were intensively expanded, including the Northwest Railway, but also through share speculation by competing railway companies. Not only the regulation of the Danube river, but also the forthcoming Vienna World's Fair in 1873 led to a violent building speculation at the time of the station construction. The financing model ultimately did not bring any relief for the state budget, but rather enormously increased the costs. Nationalization was the only way out. The Nordwestbahn was built by the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways from October 15, 1909.
  In the first planning phase around 1869, the project was the subject of numerous political and technical discussions. The focus was on the location between the regulated Danube river and Danube Canal, the elevation of the terrain and crossings for the local residents. Discussion points were how far the groundwater has to be taken into account, as the level of construction work has a significant impact on construction costs. Another point was the number and dimensions of the passageways underneath the station. The structure was initially intended for the western (back) part of the Augarten, but this location would have hindered the connection between the Danube main stream and the city more than the finally selected location. In mid-June 1869, a solution could be found next to the Taborstrasse, after complete reworking of the project.
caption: Main facade shortly after completion in 1873
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