Tour of the City

The new main station was built in the years 1871 to 1876 as a replacement for the passenger train station which had been located near the Tattersall.

In the year 1907 extension plans for the station building were already under discussion and the large stream of visitors which was expected for the jubilee exhibition gave a further impetus. Besides, the increasing volume of traffic as a result of the development in commerce and industry made an extension of the main station inevitable.

In the first half of the twenties, together with the redesigning of the forecourt, the reception hall was also extended, with its functionality in mind in order to improve the throughput of arriving and departing traffic: the columns in front of the entrance portal were removed, the façades of both the two wings were extended ten metres into the court area. On top of this, the domed roof of the main building vanished. All in all the façade had been simplified.

Bombing raids during the years 1943 to 1945 damaged the main station repeatedly. The Bundesbahn (Federal Railway) administration in Stuttgart, which was responsible for the reconstruction, decided on a restoration of the building using the outer walls which had not been destroyed.

In the seventies renovation started on the main station.

By 1985 a modern travel centre in one of the wings and a gallery of shops in the other was included.