Bad Cannstatt station is the second largest station of the German city of
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
after
Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (; ) is the primary railway station in the city of Stuttgart, the state capital of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. It is the largest regional and long-distance railway station in Stuttgart, the main node of the ...
and has eight platform tracks. Together with
Untertürkheim station, it is the oldest station in
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...
.
History
During the planning of the original railway in Württemberg, the
Württemberg Central Railway (), it was proposed to provide a station for the city of Cannstatt with its 5,500 inhabitants. The original proposal for the line consisted of a connection between the proposed Stuttgart Central Station to Cannstatt, where it would branch towards
Esslingen and
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a Cities of Germany, city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg (district), Lu ...
. Because of Stuttgart's geographical location, the route via Cannstatt was the only feasible route for a railway with the technology of the time.
On 5 October 1845, the first railway in Württemberg was opened from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim. Following the completion of the
Rosenstein Tunnel on 4 July 1846, the first train ran into Stuttgart station on 26 September 1846.
With increasing traffic, Cannstatt needed a new station. The old district town and spa of Cannstatt and Stuttgart had grown together. The current station building was built during the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
Originally there were magnificent hotels for the many guests of the spa. A plastic sculpture, called ''Schienenhaufen'' (rail piles) by Karl-Heinz Franke, was installed in the forecourt in 1985, commemorating the opening of the first railway in Württemberg 140 years earlier.
A comprehensive modernisation of the station was completed for the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
in May 2006, after 20 months of work. Lifts were installed to provide barrier-free access to the platforms and the platform paving was renewed, while the listed platform canopies were preserved. The underpass running under the station was rebuilt with granite and the forecourt to the south facing the
Cannstatter Wasen
The Cannstatter Wasen is a 35 hectare festival area on the banks of the Neckar river in the part of Stuttgart known as Bad Cannstatt.
The Cannstatter Wasen form part of the Neckar Park Fairground.
Each year the Wasen hosts the Cannstatter Vol ...
was refurbished. The costs were around €6 million to Deutsche Bahn, with additional funds from the state's Municipal Transport Financing Act (''Gemeindeverkehrsfinanzierungsgesetz''), the City of Stuttgart and the
Stuttgart Region
Stuttgart Region (Baden-Württemberg, Germany) is an urban agglomeration at the heart of the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. It consists of the city of Stuttgart and the surrounding Districts of Germany, districts of Ludwigsburg (district), Ludwig ...
.
Prospects
In the course of the
Stuttgart 21
Stuttgart 21 is a railway and urban development project in Stuttgart, Germany. It is a part of the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded railway and the Main Line for Europe (Paris—Vienna) within the framework of the Trans-European Networks ...
rail project, various modifications to the station are planned. The tracks at the western end of the station will be replaced by new lines being built as part of the project. Platforms 2 (tracks 2 and 3) and 3 (tracks 4 and 5) will be shortened, and according to DB information will no longer be used.
Entrance building
The first station building in Cannstatt was probably designed by Michael Knoll, who developed
Karl Etzel
Karl von Etzel (old spelling Carl von Etzel; 6 January 1812 – 2 May 1865) was a German railway engineer and architect. He created many famous railway lines, bridges and viaducts, including the Bietigheim Enz Valley Viaduct.
Life
Karl Etzel w ...
's plans for the
First Stuttgart Central Station (''Stuttgarter Centralbahnhof''). The construction of the two-story, small building commenced in 1844 parallel with the Stuttgart station. The extremely simple, narrow building in Cannstatt had ten parallel axes and a side
projection
Projection or projections may refer to:
Physics
* Projection (physics), the action/process of light, heat, or sound reflecting from a surface to another in a different direction
* The display of images by a projector
Optics, graphics, and carto ...
.
In it, on the ground floor, were the office of the station manager, two waiting rooms, the cash room and a luggage room. On the first floor were living rooms and a conference room. Close to the station building there was a turntable. A carriage and an engine shed were arranged to the left and the right symmetrically. There was also the beginning of a freight shed.
The obligation to save money and the resulting small size of the buildings soon led to problems. The crowded station buildings in Cannstatt and
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a Cities of Germany, city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg (district), Lu ...
were noted by the director of the
Württemberg railway in 1849.
In 1860 two stories added to the city side of the station building and by 1886 an arcaded porch was added.
[Feitenhansl (2003), p. 180]
Martin Meyer designed a new station that was completed in 1915, including an entrance building with three wings. The raised middle section is covered with a hipped roof. The main facade is divided symmetrically. Three tall windows brighten the lobby. A two-storey wing extends to the left and a one-storey wing extends to the right of the central building. The station administration is housed at the higher level of the left wing with its round windows. Also care was taken to build functionally and not in the
neoclassical or
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
styles. The main entrance is decorated with the figures of
Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus.
Zeus is the child ...
,
Hermes
Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...
and
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
.
[Feitenhansl (2003), p. 41]
Current operations
Bad Cannstatt station is a railway junction, where traffic from Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof on the
Fils Valley Railway
The Fils Valley Railway (, historically ''Filsbahn'' or ''Württembergische Ostbahn''—Württemberg Eastern Railway) designates the Württemberg line from Stuttgart via Göppingen to Ulm. It runs from Plochingen to Geislingen an der Steige thr ...
separates from the
Rems and the
Murr Railways. Here tracks 1 to 4 are used for regional traffic and tracks 5-8 are used for long-distance traffic. The tracks to and from
Waiblingen
Waiblingen (; Swabian: ''Woeblinge'') is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart region, directly neighboring Stuttgart. It is the capital and largest city of the Rems-Murr district. , Waiblin ...
run in each case between the tracks to and from
Esslingen, the tracks are disentangled east of the station. Nowadays tracks 2 and 3 are used only by the S-Bahn, the other tracks are used by regional services.
Bad Cannstatt station is classified by
Deutsche Bahn
(, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG).
DB was fou ...
as a
category 3 station.
Regional services
S-Bahn
Stadtbahn
The station has no direct links to the
Stuttgart Stadtbahn
The Stuttgart Stadtbahn is a semi-metro system in Stuttgart, Germany. The Stadtbahn began service on 28 September 1985. It is operated by the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB), which also operates the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG#Bus system ...
. However, it is only 200 metres from the station on Wilhelmsplatz station on the following lines:
Notes
References
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External links
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{{Authority control
Bad Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt (), also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer Stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart' ...
Bad Cannstatt
Bad Cannstatt (), also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer Stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart' ...
Romanesque Revival railway stations in Germany
Railway stations in Germany opened in 1845
19th-century establishments in Württemberg