Stolberg (Rheinland) Hauptbahnhof is a railway station on the line between Cologne and Aachen. It is the largest station for passengers and freight in the town of

Stolberg (Rhineland) Stolberg (, Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has a long history as an industrial town and belongs to the district Aachen (district), Aachen and the lower district court of Eschweiler. Geography ...

in the urban region of

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. It houses the

Vennbahn The (, "Fen Railway") is a former railway line that was built partly across what was then German territory by the Prussian state railways. It is now entirely in Belgium, because the trackbed of the line, as well as the stations and other insta ...

Museum and is situated at a junction.

Routes

Stolberger Hauptbahnhof is at the junction of four lines. The high-speed line between Cologne and Aachen runs from the east, first through the freight yard and then through the passenger station, and continues to the west. The Mönchengladbach–Stolberg line, called locally the Eschweiler Valley Railway () also runs into the station from the east. The Stolberg–Herzogenrath line runs from the north, first crossing the line between Cologne and Aachen and running to south of the main line to the west end of the station. The former Stolberg–Kohlscheid line also branched off this line at Quinx junction between Stolberg and Würselen-Merzbrück. The fourth line is the Stolberg–Eupen line, which leaves the station and runs to the south.

History

The then single-track railway line between Cologne and Aachen was opened by the

Rhenish Railway Company The Rhenish Railway Company (German language, German: ''Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', RhE) was along with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (CME) and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (BME) one of the railway companies that in the m ...

(, RHE) to Stolberg in 1841 with Stolberg station built in Eilendorf about one kilometre from the northern border of the town of Stolberg and therefore poorly located for the Stolberg valley. In 1870 the

Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company The Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company (, BME), also referred to as the Berg-Mark Railway Company or, more rarely, as the Bergisch-Markische Railway Company, was a German railway company that together with the Cologne-Minden Railway (''Cöln-Min ...

(''Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', BME) opened the first part of the Hochneukirch–Stolberg line (known as the ''Eschweiler Talbahn'', “Eschweiler Valley Railway”)—from

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

, reaching Stolberg in 1875, where Stolberg BME station was built a few hundred metres south of Stolberg RHE station. Another short line was opened mainly for freight to Münsterbusch to the southwest of Stolberg in 1887 with its station near the other Stolberg stations. The present station was built between 1886 and 1888 by the

Prussian state railways The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...

. It replaced the previous three stations on the four different lines. In 1935 the station became part of the area of the city of Stolberg and since then it has been called ''Stolberg (Rheinland) Hauptbahnhof''.

Current operations

The Stolberg Hauptbahnhof is served by following passenger services:

Thalys Thalys (French: ) was a brand name used for high-speed rail, high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord and both Amsterdam Centraal and German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Cologne, Düsseldorf Hauptba ...

services between

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and Cologne and

Intercity-Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this Train categories in Europe, category) is a high-speed rail in Germany, high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland an ...

services 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 ...

and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

pass through without stopping.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Authority control Railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia Stolberg (Rhineland) Railway stations in Germany opened in 1888 Buildings and structures in Aachen (district)