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Leipzig Hauptbahnhof

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (Leipzig main station) is the central railway terminus in Leipzig, Germany, in the district Mitte. At 83.460 square metres  it is Europe's largest railway station measured by floor area. After the opening of the Leipzig–Dresden railway line in 1839, followed by the Magdeburg-Leipzig railway one year later, the Leipzig–Hof railway in 1842, and the Leipzig–Großkorbetha railway in 1856, Leipzig had become the most important railway junction in the Kingdom of Saxony. Initially trains departed from separate termini. Especially upon German unification in 1871, the spatial separation proved to be complicated and ineffective. By 1895, the Saxon railway lines were nationalized under the umbrella of the Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen (Royal Saxon State Railways), while other major lines had been incorporated into the Preußische Staatseisenbahnen (Prussian state railways). The wo state railways rivalled to meet the demands of a steadily growing transport volume in the Leipzig area. Finally in 1898, the Leipzig city council decided on a joint terminal  and when construction works finished in 1915, Leipzig Hauptbahnhof had become one of the world's largest railway stations with 26 platforms. The separate administration of the Saxon and Prussian parts of the station continued until 1934, when the Leipzig Hauptbahnhof as a whole was assigned to the Reichsbahn directorate in Halle. The building was severely damaged in 1944 by Allied bombing during World War II. After the war, the train service was quickly resumed. The hardly damaged eastern entrance hall was restored by 1949, and the western hall  in the early 1950s. The concourse, however, remained without a roofing, until in 1954 the East German Council of Ministers resolved upon a complete reconstruction. The full restoration of Leipzig Hauptbahnhof was finished in 1965, 50 years after its inauguration. After German reunification the station was renovated and modernized by the Deutsche Bahn AG. The Leipzig City Tunnel, an underground railway line between the south of Leipzig and Hauptbahnhof via the central Markt station, opened in 2013. Further modifications of platforms and tracks have later been carried out in the course of the construction of the Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle high-speed railway line, part of the European Berlin–Palermo railway axis.
 
February 2nd,  2025

 

 
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