European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse An old View of fran Karl t to Antral train station completed in August ism thinks to Rar full rest Ohlon after work War ii it Loola much the same today. Frankfurt station turns 100 by Norm Zeigler travel writer if you be Over crisscrossed Europe with a eur Alpass Inri a Backpack or even if you be just taken a Long rip in West Germany chances Are you know its Deli noise bowed roofs and Stone exterior. Frankfurt s Cental train Lalion he Haupt Bohnhof the busiest passenger train station a Europe Lur cd kid years old on aug. 18. Located literally at he rail Crossroads of Europe it is a destination transit or departure Point for More than 250,000 travellers a . More than 70 million a year. The of building a train station in Frankfurt originated in Berlin in 1871 As one More step in Bismarck s plan of unifying the German Reich. At the Lime there were three train stations in Wesl and one in i in Eastern Section of the City As Well As a station in neighbouring Offenbach. To avoid a massive track relocation project a site fur thu new station was selected near i he three Western stations in an undeveloped farming area tolled Gallows Field. In former times she Gallows had been erected there in 1879,1 lie City of Frankfurt sold the properly to the prussian National Railroad and the Ludwig grand Duke of Hessen Railroad for 584,8 37.19 reichsmark. At that Lime thl area was literally Fields a fact that is difficult to imagine for anyone who has arrived in Frankfurt by train t or Oculi tin Miles of Urban sprawl thai today surround i i train italian. The project was several years in planning in 1bbq, the prussian Academy of architecture in Berlin announced a t impel Ilion to design the new Frankfurt station first prize a is Marks. In january 1881 he Winner was announced Hermann Eggerl master architect at the University of Strasbourg later that year Sile prep Rolion was begun arid on May 28,1hh3, thu Cornerstone was Laid work on the massive project continued for the next five years up to and including thu night of aug. 17-18,1888, when 1,200 men working by torchlight completed the final tracks and boarding platforms. When the no. 306 Hamburg express became the first train to enter the new station at 4 47 . Aug. 18, the population of Frankfurt was 59,000, a far cry from today s 617,000, other massive planning and construction projects among them the opera House the West Harbor and iwo new Bridges Over the main had already begun transforming the City from a Semi. Provincial Community into a Reichstadt. Some of the Money for the projects came from the massive War reparations extracted from the French the losers in the Franco prussian War. On the National scene. Kaiser Wilhelm i had died on March 9 of that same year at the age of 91. On its completion the Frankfurt station with a facade that measured 675 feet across immediately became the biggest train station on the continent. Ii retained that distinction until 1915, when it was surpassed by Leipzig s 977-foot-wide facility. The total Cost of the station building itself reached 6.8 million reichsmark. New tracks switches and other costs associated Wilh the creation of a new rail traffic cent or drove the total Cost of the project up Over 35 million reichsmark a a tremendous sum in Light of the fact that the total capital assets of the Deutsche Bank with Headquarters on Kirchner Strasse were then 60 million reichsmark. Twelve years after its completion 35b trains a Day were passing through the Frankfurt Central station. Today daily arrivals and departures top 1,700, excluding subway traffic. Over the years the Frankfurt station has been the site anniversary events on sept 17 and 18, the West German Railroad will sponsor a massive Celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the Frankfurt Central Irain station. Because of the summer vacation in the stale of Hesson this year the Celebration is taking place one month after the actual anniversary among events planned for the weekend Are a sept. 17 steam train Lour to Limburg. Departure time is 7 30 . Return time 10 30 . The Cost is 25 Marks about is 3.50 for second class and 35 Marks about $19 for first class. Aspel. 17 and 18 exhibit of Model trains in the area of platforms 19,20 and 21. Frankfurt Tours on sept. 17 and 18 aboard a historic electric Streetcar built in 1933. Cost is 5 Marks about $2.75 for adults and 2 Marks about 11,10 for children. Departures . And on the hour thereafter until 5 . Excursions to the Rhine in a luxury Salon car also on both Days of the Celebration. Departures Are of a number of historic events May 26,1b89, King Umberto i of Italy was feted at the facility. Dec. 6,1901, the Orient express crashed through the Irack Barrier ending up in the waiting room. March 31,193b, a visit by Adolf Hitler Drew a massive crowd to the Square in front of the station. July 23,1941, the station sustained its first air raid damage. Many More attacks from the air eventually left it severely damaged at the end of world War ii. After the War the severity of the damage prompted some Calls for the replacement of the distinctive bowed roofs on the boarding Halls Wilh simple Flat roofs. But Public opinion and the local historic preservation commission prevailed and by the Early 1960s the facility had been completely restored As designed. In the Lale 50s in
