page_title: Ludwigslust station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Ludwigslust station / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Bahnhof in Ludwigslust im Landkreis Ludwigslust-Parchim, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Deutschland English: Train station in Ludwigslust, district Ludwigslust-Parchim, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
context_page_description: Ludwigslust is a railway station in the town of Ludwigslust in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The station was opened in 1846 and lies on the Berlin–Hamburg Railway, the Ludwigslust–Wismar railway, the Parchim–Ludwigslust railway and the Ludwigslust–Dömitz railway. The station building, platform, engine shed and water tower are heritage-listed.
context_section_description: On 27 July 1843, the inaugural meeting of the Berlin-Hamburg Railway Company (Berlin-Hamburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) took place in Ludwiglust. Work started on the construction of the line between Berlin and Hamburg at the town less than a year later on 6 May 1844. The station was built in the town of Kleinow/Klenow, which with the spread of the urban area later became part of Ludwiglust. The line between Berlin and Boizenburg was opened on 15 October 1846. Exactly two months later, the remaining section was opened to Hamburg. Initially only one train per day operated in each direction. In May 1847, there were two pairs of passenger trains and a pair of freight trains. 
  The city of Schwerin was connected to the Berlin-Hamburg line at first only via Hagenow Land station over the Hagenow Land–Schwerin railway, which opened in 1847. Although Ludwigslust was still the summer residence of the dukes of Mecklenburg, the direct connection to Schwerin via Holthusen did not open until 1 October 1889. The Parchim-Ludwigslust railway opened on 15 June 1880. The Ludwigslust–Malliß railway opened on 20 May 1890 and it was extended from Malliß to Dömitz in 1889.
  Until 1920, when the state railways in the German Empire were united within Deutsche Reichsbahn, Ludwigslust station was a joint station of the Prussian state railways and the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz Railway, leading to conflicts in the distribution of the costs of extensions to the station. As early as 1898, the railway administration in Schwerin wanted an additional island platform for ensuring connections to Hamburg and Berlin. The need for extensions was also significant in 1899, when some freight trains had to be left on the open line due to lack of space. Extensive upgrading took place between 1909 and 1913. Thus, earth was taken from between Ludwigslust and Eldena and heaped on the station premises and laid under the railway tracks. A goods shed that had been converted in 1890 was demolished in 1911 to make room for new tracks and replaced by a new building in 1912. The water tower and a new engine shed was also built in 1912. The new sets of points were protected by new signal boxes called "Lw" (northwest side) and "Lo" (southeast side). The tracks to the west of platform 2, which replaced the existing A to E parking tracks, were controlled by signal box "Lb".
  On 1 October 1913, a connecting curve was put into operation southeast of the station between the lines to Dömitz and Parchim, under the control of signal boxes "Lvn" and "Lvs", enabling freight trains to bypass the station and to avoid Prussian state railways charges for the use of the line. Under Deutsche Reichsbahn there was no reason for this connection and it was dismantled in 1925. It was reconstructed in 1943 for military reasons. After the war, however, the track and the mechanisms  in the two signal boxes were removed.
  The railway junction was destroyed in an air raid on 22 February 1945. This failed, however, to damage the station area, except for an apartment in the station building, the "Lm" signal box and the building of the track master (Bahnmeisterei); these were later rebuilt. However, houses were hit near the station. The air raid killed about 150 people in Ludwigslust.  
  The station’s central signal box "B 1" was opened  in 1957. Deutsche Post opened a packet handling facility at the station on 27 May 1962 and, from 31 May 1964, all parcels between the three northern districts of German Democratic Republic, Neubrandenburg, Rostock and Schwerin and the Federal Republic of Germany were handled here. The facility, which had its own railway sidings, operated until 1993. The station post office, established in 1913, was later closed. The second mainline track between Wittenberg and Schwerin was rebuilt after 1980.
  The line between Magdeburg and Schwerin through Ludwigslust station was electrified in 1986/87. From German reunification until 1996/1997, the line between Berlin and Hamburg was upgraded and has been operated with Intercity-Express services since 1997. During this recons
caption: View of the entrance building from the city-side with bus stop
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