Mainz Hauptbahnhof ("Mainz main station", formerly known as ''Centralbahnhof Mainz''
[von Meyer, Arthur (1891). ''Geschichte und Geographie der deutschen Eisenbahnen von ihrer Entstehung bis auf die Gegenwart'', W. Baensch, p. 1131]) is a railway station for the city of
Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
in the German state of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
. It is used by about 60,000 travelers and visitors each day and is therefore by far the busiest station in Rhineland-Palatinate. The station was a trial area for a
CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...
scheme using automated
face recognition
A facial recognition system is a technology potentially capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a Film frame, video frame against a database of faces. Such a system is typically employed to authenticate users through ID verif ...
.
History
The current station was built as a central station from 1882 to 1884 according to the plans of Philipp Johann Berdellé (1838–1903) as part of the expansion of the city after the
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
.
Origins
Under the ''Rheinschifffahrtsakte'' (
Rhine
The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
navigation treaty) of 1831, Mainz lost its right to impose a ''stapelrecht'' (pile right, a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
right apparently first granted by
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
to some cities, including Mainz, to require river traders to unload goods in its marketplace for a specified number of days and offer them for sale or make payment in lieu) and thus its trading port and its high tariffs could be avoided. On 13 April 1840 the
Taunus Railway
The Taunus Railway (German: ''Taunus-Eisenbahn'') is a double-track rail electrification, electrified railway line, which connects Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof, Frankfurt and Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof, Wiesbaden, Germany. It is 41.2 km long ...
between
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
,
Mainz-Kastel
Mainz-Kastel () is a district of the city Wiesbaden, which is the capital of the German state Hesse in western Germany.
Kastel is the historical bridgehead of Mainz, the capital of the German state Rhineland-Palatinate and is located on the right ...
and
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...
was opened and took transit traffic and tourism away from Mainz. On the other hand, Mainz was the largest city of the
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...
and was thus an attractive destination for the developing railway network. In Mainz, the local
Hessian Ludwig Railway Company (''Hessische Ludwigsbahn'') obtained concessions to build railway lines from Mainz, beginning in 1845 with the
Mainz–Ludwigshafen railway, on which construction began in 1847. The completion of the line was delayed due to the
Revolutions of 1848
The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...
to 23 March 1853. The original Mainz station was built on land next to the Rhine outside the city wall between the
Wood Tower, Fort Malakoff and today's
Museum of Ancient Seafaring, and opened in August 1853.
In December 1858 the Hessian Ludwig Railway opened a line to
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
via the then state capital of
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
, but it ended on the right Rhine bank above the
Main delta as no bridge had been built over the Rhine. Travelers had to cross the Rhine with their luggage on a
train ferry
A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...
. Therefore, in 1860 the building of a permanent railway bridge began, which went into service on 20 December 1862 as the first permanent bridge over the Rhine at Mainz since
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
times.
On 17 October 1859 the
Mainz-Bingen line opened from its own terminal station in Mainz, which was outside the
Mainz fortress in the Gartenfeld ("garden field") (now
Neustadt) between the Frauenlobstraße and Feldbergplatz, near where today's
Grüne Brücke crosses Rheinallee.
In 1871 the
Alzey–Mainz line of the Hessian Ludwig Railway opened to
Alzey
Alzey () is a ''Verband''-free town – one belonging to no ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fifth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, Germany, Worms, Ingelheim am Rhei ...
via
Gonsenheim.
Planning
In the course of the 19th Century the number of passengers steadily increased, as Mainz developed as the junction of lines to
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
,
Ludwigshafen
Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig's Port upon the Rhine"; Palatine German dialects, Palatine German: ''Ludwichshafe''), is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the German state of Rh ...
,
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
,
Bingen and Frankfurt. However, the terminal stations lay between the walls and the fortress and the Rhine bank, and this limited area did not permit an expansion of the railway facilities. Already in 1858 the ''Mainzer Zeitung'' newspaper reported plans for a relocation of the stations.
The development of the town, extension and organization of the riverbank and railway development required a high measure of co-ordination in order to produce an acceptable outcome. In 1873, Chief architect Eduard Kreyßig, who had replaced the former chief architect Laske in 1866, suggested shifting the station to the west side of the city. The approach lines had to be built in a large curve to the west of the city to reach the proposed station site. In addition a
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
under the
citadel
A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
...
was necessary.
Construction
The Mainz architect Philipp Johann Berdellé (1838–1903) created the station's entrance building in bright
Flonheim sandstone in Italian
neo-Renaissance
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...
with
baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
and
neoclassical elements. A jutting central section is framed by two lower side wings with arcades, which end in
risalits. The building was opened ceremoniously on 15 October 1884.
Art in the building
Berdellé set the emphasis of the graphic decorations on the entrances of the central building.
Allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...
representations refer to the function of the building. On both sides of the entrance reliefs (produced by the Mainz sculptors Valentin Barth and Anton Scholl) display
putti
A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...
at play to indicate the way for arrivals and departures:
*The ''departure'' sculpture is in the left section of the main building: in the left upper corner the word "billet" (ticket) can be recognized. It shows scenes on the topic of departure and parting at the station and includes a heavy suitcase.
*The ''arrival'' sculpture is in the right section of the main building: here the ''putti'' disembark from the train and joyful arrival is portrayed. The heavy suitcase is carried away.
Station forecourt
Originally the forecourt surrounded a rondel and was planted with trees, lawns and flowers. It included a rail loop for
horse trams and numerous carriages and hotel buses also served the station.
Station hall
The station hall was the longest in Europe when opened. It was built, along with railway bridge over the Rhine, by the Süddeutschen Brückenbau-Actien-Gesellschaft, now
MAN AG. It was three hundred meters long
and 47 meters wide and constructed from cast and wrought iron, glass and corrugated iron with a surface area of approximately 14,000 square meters. The roof structure was supported by sixty wrought-iron columns. The faces were locked with glass aprons up to the entry height of the courses.
First alteration
Part of the tunnel between the Hauptbahnhof and Mainz Süd was opened to the surface in the thirties in a make-work scheme, creating two tunnels. A fire in the station's roof on 23 December 1934 caused limited damage, but it was decided to replace the whole roof.
The station was bombed on many occasions during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
by the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
and the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
, but continued to operate.
Second alteration
In the course of the
bombing of Mainz in World War II the Hauptbahnhof as important infrastructure was subject to several air raids.
With the permission of the American and French military authorities trains began to operate on individual lines again and reconstruction began before the end of 1945. The re-building of the station building and forecourt began in 1947. The outside walls and the basic concept were maintained, but the groundplan was improved.
The Hauptbahnhof was enlarged, modernized and adapted for technical progress. The Mainz locomotive shed became one of the first to be "steam-free", when the last steam locomotive left it in 1959. The station had previously been
electrified.
Third alteration
The largest recent change to the station is the building of a second double-track tunnel on the line to
Römisches Theater station (formerly Mainz Süd) under the Kästrich. The reorganization of the lines in the old tunnel has not been finished yet.
At a cost of about € 114 million over a five-year construction period to the end of 2003, the reception building and the station hall were reconditioned and partly rebuilt.
The platform entrance now leads across a high ramp, which gives step-free access via escalators and elevators from the reception hall to the platforms. It spans four platforms and seven tracks. Three further terminal tracks are accessible from platform 1. The area for businesses and restaurants was expanded by 3.800 m².
Services
The station is used by about 55,000 travelers each day. It is the terminus of Line S8:
Wiesbaden Hbf–Mainz Hbf–
Rüsselsheim–
Frankfurt Hbf–
Hanau Hbf; of the
Rhine-Main S-Bahn
The Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter rail, commuter train system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt. The ...
and it is the start of the
Mainbahn to
Frankfurt Hbf. It is served by 440 daily local and regional trains (
StadtExpress,
RE and
RB) and 78 long-distance trains (
IC,
EC and
ICE
Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...
).
The station is an interchange point for the
Mainz tramway network, and an important bus junction for the city and region (
RNN,
ORN and
MVG).
Long distance
The following long-distance rail passenger services operate from Mainz Hauptbahnhof:
Regional
The following local passenger services operate from Mainz Hauptbahnhof:
See also
*
Rail transport in Germany
Rail transport in Germany is provided predominantly by ''Deutsche Bahn'' (DB, ). , the railway network in Germany (DB only) had a length of , of which were electrified and were double track. About are high-speed railway lines. Germany has th ...
*
Railway stations in Germany
This article shows a List of railway stations, list of railway stations in Germany. The list is subdivided per States of Germany, federal state. Due to the number of railway stations it shows a selection of the principal stations an ...
References
Sources
* Eisenbahn in Hessen. Kulturdenkmäler in Hessen. Denkmaltopographie Bundesrepublik Deutschland, ed. vom Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Theiss Verlag Stuttgart, 2005, 3 volumes at Schuber, 1.448 S., , Bd. 2.1, S. 232f (Strecke 014).
*
Franz Dumont,
Ferdinand Scherf,
Friedrich Schütz (ed.): ''Mainz – Die Geschichte der Stadt''. 2nd edition. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1999,
* Stadt Mainz (ed.): ''
Vierteljahreshefte für Kultur, Politik, Wirtschaft, Geschichte''. Verlag Krach, 1981, ISSN 0720-5945
* Heinrich Wohte (ed.): ''Mainz – Ein Heimatbuch''. Verlag Johann Falk Söhne, Mainz 1928
{{Authority control
Rhine-Main S-Bahn stations
Hauptbahnhof
Renaissance Revival architecture in Germany
Railway stations in Germany opened in 1884