Lübeck Hauptbahnhof
Encyclopedia
is the Hauptbahnhof for the Hanseatic
city of Lübeck
, in the German
state of Schleswig-Holstein
. It is a through station at the western edge of the city centre.
With approximately 31,000 travelers and visitors each day, Lübeck Hbf is the busiest of all the railway stations in Schleswig-Holstein. It is classified by the Deutsche Bahn
as a Category 3 station
.
The present station building was built in 1908 by the Lübeck-Büchener Eisenbahn (LBE). At that time, the LBE operated most of the railway connections around Lübeck, including the express train
s. The station building was designed by Fritz Klingholz, and replaced the previous, outdated building.
Lübeck Hbf is a Reiterbahnhof, or station with a reception building laid out as a bridge "riding" over the tracks. Its reception building spans a total of 10 tracks with four platforms. A special feature is its wide wooden steps leading down to the platforms. The station was recently modernised and completely electrified, and is now fully connected with Germany's electric railway network.
. Initially, it had only one platform, but due to later expansion work ended up with four platforms. With increasing traffic, operations became problematic, as the trains crossed a main road directly after leaving the station, and the tracks needed to pass over several small streams. Upon the commissioning of the new Hauptbahnhof in 1908, the old station building finally lost its function.
After being put to various other uses (including the housing of the Harbour Railway administration), the old station building was demolished in 1934, as part of the transformation of the Holstentorplatz.
The problematic layout of the Lübeck inner city, which is situated on an island, had already caused great difficulties for the construction and operation of the original station. Thus, the new station site needed to be just outside the inner city to be able to solve these problems.
A suitable location was finally found in the Rethteich Meadows, a few hundred metres east of the inner city, near the St. Lawrence Church. The new station, built to a design by Fritz Klingholz, was finally opened in 1908, and the tracks slewed to the new location.
During World War II
, the main building and the train shed remained largely intact. However, in the bombing of 29 March 1942 there were some hits to the passenger bridge, which partially burned out, and the station wing, which was rebuilt in simplified form.
. The Bundesgrenzschutz
had its own border inspection facilities on the easternmost platform, and this had to be passed by passengers departing from Lübeck. The Interzonal trains operated about once or twice daily to Rostock
. They came usually from Hamburg
or Cologne
.
From 14 May 1963 onwards, Lübeck Hbf's most significant attribute was that it had become an important station on the Vogelfluglinie
from Hamburg to Scandinavia
. Numerous Express train
s with long itineraries served the station. Among them were the Italia Express and the Alpen Express, which operated between Rome
and Copenhagen
, and the TEE
Merkur, which ran from Stuttgart to Copenhagen.
The branch line to Segeberg, which had its platform next to the train hall, had its passenger traffic withdrawn on 26 September 1964, and was closed on 31 December 1967.
In 1967, on the occasion of the visit of Shah Reza Pahlavi to the city of Lübeck, the station was restored. The modifications then carried out corresponded with the spirit of the times but were later perceived as being of dubious aesthetic value. They were removed during the 2003 renovations. Amongst other things, the passage to the station wing was closed, windows bricked up and the interior of the train hall strengthened. Also installed during the Bundesbahn era was the metal luggage bridge, which obstructed the view of the station from the railway bridge.
in the late 1990s, Lübeck Hbf became a less important station for international traffic, as the new bridge made the longer route via Flensburg
more attractive. At the same time, there was an increasingly substantial decline of the station due to the reluctance of Deutsche Bahn
to invest in Lübeck. Thus, the Lübeck Hbf of the late 1990s was still equipped with hand operated semaphore signals, lack of care for the station building had become apparent, and Lübeck had become the largest German city not served by an electrified railway line. Additionally, the station wing looked down at heel, after its restaurant had had to close. By 2000, the entire building was completely outdated and no longer met the requirements of modern rail operations.
The turnaround in the policy of the Deutsche Bahn for the Lübeck area came in 2003. In that year, all the semaphore signals were replaced with centralized Ks- Signals. At the same time, work began on a large-scale reconstruction of the station, to modernize and prepare it for future electrification. The most important modifications were completed on 20 July 2007.
Electrification of the Lübeck–Hamburg and Lübeck–Lübeck-Travemünde Strand railways, and therefore also of Lübeck Hbf, was begun in late 2006 and finished in December 2008. On 1 October 2008, the power was turned on.
In addition to general upgrades, the construction work was as follows:
Most work was completed by 20 July 2007. The official inauguration took place on 13 December 2008, to commemorate the station's centenary. Seven businesses moved into premises on the pedestrian bridge, including a fast food restaurant
, a bookshop and a pretzel baker. The old luggage bridge was removed in April 2008. With the relocation of the travel center to the north wing of the building - establishing a passage to the main hall - construction was practically completed. In the south wing, which already had a connection with the main hall, is intended in future to host further businesses.
A further construction project, not yet completed by 2009, is the conversion of the ground floor of the north station wing, which has been empty for some years, because of the closure of the restaurant, and later the nightclub, formerly located in that wing. The basement is now occupied by the travel centre.
In the immediate vicinity of the Hauptbahnhof, adjacent to the station forecourt, is the Handelshof, an expressionistic former office building, the renovation of which was completed in 2009.
This policy stance finally ended in 2005, when a contract for electrification was officially signed. In it, the electrification of the Hamburg-Lübeck-Travemünde railway was agreed.
Apart from its assistance to passenger traffic, the integration of Lübeck into the electric rail network was particularly beneficial to the ever-increasing freight traffic between the Lübeck ports and Hamburg. The electrification contract included duplication of the section of line between Bad Schwartau Waldhalle and Lübeck-Kücknitz. As a source of electricity for the newly electrified line, a new substation was constructed in Lübeck-Genin, instead of the railway power lines that would otherwise have been required to connect the line with existing substations.
The new electrified line was energised on 1 October 2008, and officially commissioned on schedule on 14 December 2008.
At one stage, six railway lines radiated from Lübeck Hbf. Of those six lines, only the Lübeck-Segeberger Eisenbahn (LSE), opened in 1916 to Bad Segeberg
, has been closed. That closure, as far as passenger traffic is concerned, took place in 1964.
The following railways lead to Lübeck Hbf:
Currently, there are international connections between Lübeck Hbf and Copenhagen using Intercity-Express- and Eurocity
trains over the Vogelfluglinie, and to Szczecin
in Poland
via Bad Kleinen, Neubrandenburg
und Pasewalk
, operated by Regional-Express (RE) trains. Thanks to their long itineraries, these RE trains have the character of Heckeneilzug services. Additionally, Lübeck is an Intercity
station. Once daily, an Intercity train to Puttgarden stops at Lübeck, and later in the day the return service to Frankfurt am Main also stops there.
Some of the long distance travellers at Lübeck Hbf take a train to Lübeck-Travemünde Skandinavienkai, to connect with one of the ferries
to Sweden
or Finland
.
The majority of the passenger train traffic to and from Lübeck Hbf is carried by commuter trains on the line between Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
and Lübeck, operated by DB Regio
. During peak hours, trains on this line are timetabled at 30 minute intervals. On all other lines that operate to Lübeck Hauptbahnhof, trains generally operate at hourly intervals.
Since 9 December 2007, the Danish IC3
multiple units used to operate Eurocity trains through Lübeck Hbf have been partially replaced by diesel powered ICE TD
trains, which have transformed the Lübeck Hbf of today into an ICE station.
Since the December 2008 timetable change, Lübeck has had its first ever direct ICE connection via Hannover with Munich
.
Overall, there is an EC or ICE train linking Hamburg with Copenhagen approximately every two hours, except during a gap in the morning.
(ZOB), with services operated by Stadtverkehr Lübeck, Autokraft and Dahmetal.
This article is based upon a translation of the German language version as at September 2010.
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
city of Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
, in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
state of Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
. It is a through station at the western edge of the city centre.
With approximately 31,000 travelers and visitors each day, Lübeck Hbf is the busiest of all the railway stations in Schleswig-Holstein. It is classified by the Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
as a Category 3 station
German railway station categories
About 5,400 railway stations in Germany that are owned and operated by the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Station&Service are assigned into seven categories, denoting the service level available at the station....
.
The present station building was built in 1908 by the Lübeck-Büchener Eisenbahn (LBE). At that time, the LBE operated most of the railway connections around Lübeck, including the express train
Express train
Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...
s. The station building was designed by Fritz Klingholz, and replaced the previous, outdated building.
Lübeck Hbf is a Reiterbahnhof, or station with a reception building laid out as a bridge "riding" over the tracks. Its reception building spans a total of 10 tracks with four platforms. A special feature is its wide wooden steps leading down to the platforms. The station was recently modernised and completely electrified, and is now fully connected with Germany's electric railway network.
The old Hauptbahnhof
The forerunner of today's Hauptbahnhof was built by the LBE in 1851, on the wall peninsula near the HolstentorHolstentor
The Holsten Gate is a city gate marking off the western boundary of the old center of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck. This Brick Gothic construction is one of the relics of Lübeck’s medieval city fortifications and the only remaining city gate, except for the Citadel Gate...
. Initially, it had only one platform, but due to later expansion work ended up with four platforms. With increasing traffic, operations became problematic, as the trains crossed a main road directly after leaving the station, and the tracks needed to pass over several small streams. Upon the commissioning of the new Hauptbahnhof in 1908, the old station building finally lost its function.
After being put to various other uses (including the housing of the Harbour Railway administration), the old station building was demolished in 1934, as part of the transformation of the Holstentorplatz.
The origins of today's Hauptbahnhof
As it was evident by the turn of the twentieth century that the old station building was too small, a new location was sought.The problematic layout of the Lübeck inner city, which is situated on an island, had already caused great difficulties for the construction and operation of the original station. Thus, the new station site needed to be just outside the inner city to be able to solve these problems.
A suitable location was finally found in the Rethteich Meadows, a few hundred metres east of the inner city, near the St. Lawrence Church. The new station, built to a design by Fritz Klingholz, was finally opened in 1908, and the tracks slewed to the new location.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the main building and the train shed remained largely intact. However, in the bombing of 29 March 1942 there were some hits to the passenger bridge, which partially burned out, and the station wing, which was rebuilt in simplified form.
The Bundesbahn era
From 1945 to 1990, Lübeck Hbf was a border station adjacent to what was, initially, the Soviet occupation zone, and later the German Democratic RepublicGerman Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
. The Bundesgrenzschutz
Bundesgrenzschutz
Bundesgrenzschutz was the first federal police organization in Western Germany after World War II permitted by the Allied occupation authorities. In July 2005, the BGS was renamed Bundespolizei to reflect its transition to a multi-faceted police agency.It was established in 1951...
had its own border inspection facilities on the easternmost platform, and this had to be passed by passengers departing from Lübeck. The Interzonal trains operated about once or twice daily to Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
. They came usually from Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
or Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
.
From 14 May 1963 onwards, Lübeck Hbf's most significant attribute was that it had become an important station on the Vogelfluglinie
Vogelfluglinie
The ' or ' is a transport corridor between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Hamburg, Germany.As the Danish and German names imply, the corridor is also an important bird migration route between arctic Scandinavia and Central Europe.-Ferry link:The core of the connection is the ferry link between Rødby ...
from Hamburg to Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. Numerous Express train
Express train
Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...
s with long itineraries served the station. Among them were the Italia Express and the Alpen Express, which operated between Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, and the TEE
Trans Europ Express
The Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express, is a former international railway service in Europe. At its maximum extent, in 1974, the network comprised 45 trains, connecting 130 different cities.-Origin:...
Merkur, which ran from Stuttgart to Copenhagen.
The branch line to Segeberg, which had its platform next to the train hall, had its passenger traffic withdrawn on 26 September 1964, and was closed on 31 December 1967.
In 1967, on the occasion of the visit of Shah Reza Pahlavi to the city of Lübeck, the station was restored. The modifications then carried out corresponded with the spirit of the times but were later perceived as being of dubious aesthetic value. They were removed during the 2003 renovations. Amongst other things, the passage to the station wing was closed, windows bricked up and the interior of the train hall strengthened. Also installed during the Bundesbahn era was the metal luggage bridge, which obstructed the view of the station from the railway bridge.
Developments after the Wende
After the opening of the combined road/rail Great Belt Bridge in DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in the late 1990s, Lübeck Hbf became a less important station for international traffic, as the new bridge made the longer route via Flensburg
Flensburg
Flensburg is an independent town in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region of Southern Schleswig...
more attractive. At the same time, there was an increasingly substantial decline of the station due to the reluctance of Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
to invest in Lübeck. Thus, the Lübeck Hbf of the late 1990s was still equipped with hand operated semaphore signals, lack of care for the station building had become apparent, and Lübeck had become the largest German city not served by an electrified railway line. Additionally, the station wing looked down at heel, after its restaurant had had to close. By 2000, the entire building was completely outdated and no longer met the requirements of modern rail operations.
The turnaround in the policy of the Deutsche Bahn for the Lübeck area came in 2003. In that year, all the semaphore signals were replaced with centralized Ks- Signals. At the same time, work began on a large-scale reconstruction of the station, to modernize and prepare it for future electrification. The most important modifications were completed on 20 July 2007.
Electrification of the Lübeck–Hamburg and Lübeck–Lübeck-Travemünde Strand railways, and therefore also of Lübeck Hbf, was begun in late 2006 and finished in December 2008. On 1 October 2008, the power was turned on.
The reconstruction work
In 2003, after much hesitation, the Deutsche Bahn initiated a comprehensive modernisation of Lübeck Hbf. In carrying out the modernisation, the DB was required to observe rules of heritage building preservation. The work involved the complete reconstruction of the reception building and train hall, and the basic restoration of the pedestrian bridge.In addition to general upgrades, the construction work was as follows:
- Demolition and reconstruction of all four platforms.
- Dismantling of the train hall and subsequent reconstruction. In the process, about 70 percent of the old steel beams were reused. The train hall roof was fitted with stronger glazing, and the overall structure was stabilised by new steel double arches. At the same time, steel structural units, described as arches and depicted in the photo at right, were also installed. They are necessary for structural reasons, because there is a transit line between two of the platform tracks. At that point, the roof weights could not be forwarded directly into the ground but are diverted via the arches. This transit line is not needed at the moment and remains non electrified to this day. It is used exclusively for the stabling of railcars.
- Installation of a modern light and speaker system
- Demolition of the pedestrian bridge and subsequent renewal with the greatest possible reuse of the original steel components. In the process, the beam was raised by 60 centimetres (23.6 in), to facilitate the electrification of the station.
- Reglazing of windows on the hall side of the pedestrian bridge that had been bricked up in the 1960s.
- Construction of a second staircase to each platform.
- Installation of a lift on each platform for a maximum of 20 persons.
- Refurbishment of the reception building.
- Demolition of the redundant post office bridge.
- Fitting of digital destination displays to all platforms.
- Installation of a double-sided train departure board in the lobby.
- Construction of the new travel center in the north wing (carried out only in 2009).
Most work was completed by 20 July 2007. The official inauguration took place on 13 December 2008, to commemorate the station's centenary. Seven businesses moved into premises on the pedestrian bridge, including a fast food restaurant
Fast food restaurant
A fast food restaurant, also known as a Quick Service Restaurant or QSR within the industry itself, is a specific type of restaurant characterized both by its fast food cuisine and by minimal table service...
, a bookshop and a pretzel baker. The old luggage bridge was removed in April 2008. With the relocation of the travel center to the north wing of the building - establishing a passage to the main hall - construction was practically completed. In the south wing, which already had a connection with the main hall, is intended in future to host further businesses.
A further construction project, not yet completed by 2009, is the conversion of the ground floor of the north station wing, which has been empty for some years, because of the closure of the restaurant, and later the nightclub, formerly located in that wing. The basement is now occupied by the travel centre.
In the immediate vicinity of the Hauptbahnhof, adjacent to the station forecourt, is the Handelshof, an expressionistic former office building, the renovation of which was completed in 2009.
Electrification
For a long time, Lübeck was the largest German city without an electrified rail connection. From the 1970s, the city sought to be connected to the electric rail network. However, the initial response was that Lübeck was located in the zone boundary area, right on the border with East Germany, and later the Deutsche Bahn had a policy against it.This policy stance finally ended in 2005, when a contract for electrification was officially signed. In it, the electrification of the Hamburg-Lübeck-Travemünde railway was agreed.
Apart from its assistance to passenger traffic, the integration of Lübeck into the electric rail network was particularly beneficial to the ever-increasing freight traffic between the Lübeck ports and Hamburg. The electrification contract included duplication of the section of line between Bad Schwartau Waldhalle and Lübeck-Kücknitz. As a source of electricity for the newly electrified line, a new substation was constructed in Lübeck-Genin, instead of the railway power lines that would otherwise have been required to connect the line with existing substations.
The new electrified line was energised on 1 October 2008, and officially commissioned on schedule on 14 December 2008.
Traffic
Bad Segeberg
Bad Segeberg is a German town of 16,000 inhabitants, located in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, capital of the district Segeberg. It is situated approximately northeast of Hamburg, and west of Lübeck.It is famous for its annual Karl-May-Festival...
, has been closed. That closure, as far as passenger traffic is concerned, took place in 1964.
The following railways lead to Lübeck Hbf:
- HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
–Bad OldesloeBad OldesloeBad Oldesloe is a town located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is the capital of the Kreis Stormarn .The area has been inhabited since mesolithic times. The flint tools found here from that era are clearly defined and known as the Oldesloer Stufe...
–ReinfeldReinfeld (Holstein)Reinfeld is a town in the district of Stormarn, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated near the river Trave, approx. 8 km east of Bad Oldesloe, and 14 km west of Lübeck. It belongs to the Hamburg Metropolitan Region.-History:...
–Lübeck (Lübeck–Hamburg railway); opened in 1865 by the Lübeck-Büchener Eisenbahn (LBE), now part of Kursbuchstrecken (KBS) 104 and 140. - LüneburgLüneburgLüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
–BüchenBüchenBüchen is a municipality in the district of Lauenburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Elbe-Lübeck Canal, approx. 13 km northeast of Lauenburg/Elbe, and 45 km east of Hamburg....
–Lübeck (Lübeck–Lüneburg railway); opened in 1851 by the LBE, today KBS 145. - Bad KleinenBad KleinenBad Kleinen is a municipality in the Nordwestmecklenburg district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the north bank of the Schweriner See.-Geography:...
–Lübeck (Lübeck-Bad Kleinen railway); opened in 1870 by the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz RailwayGrand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz RailwayThe Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz Railway was the state railway company in Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz...
(MFFE), today KBS 150. - Lübeck-TravemündeTravemündeTravemünde is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes subsequently strengthened it. It became a town in 1317 and in...
-Strand–Lübeck (Lübeck–Lübeck-Travemünde Strand railway); opened in 1882 by the LBE, today part of KBS 140. - PuttgardenPuttgardenPuttgarden is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the 18 km strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland....
–Lübeck and NeustadtNeustadt in HolsteinNeustadt in Holstein is a town in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Bay of Lübeck , approx...
–Lübeck (VogelfluglinieVogelfluglinieThe ' or ' is a transport corridor between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Hamburg, Germany.As the Danish and German names imply, the corridor is also an important bird migration route between arctic Scandinavia and Central Europe.-Ferry link:The core of the connection is the ferry link between Rødby ...
); opened in 1925 by the Deutsche ReichsbahnDeutsche Reichsbahn-GesellschaftThe Deutsche Reichsbahn – was the name of the German national railway created from the railways of the individual states of the German Empire following the end of World War I....
(DRG), today KBS 141. - KielKielKiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
–EutinEutinEutin is the district capital of Eastern Holstein located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of 2005, it had some 17,000 inhabitants....
–Bad SchwartauBad SchwartauBad Schwartau is a town in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the river Trave and the Schwartau creek, approx. 5 km north of Lübeck. Bad Schwartau is a spa, well known for its iodide saline waters....
–Lübeck (Kiel–Lübeck railwayKiel–Lübeck railwayThe Kiel–Lübeck railway is a non-electrified, mostly single-track railway line in eastern Schleswig-Holstein in north Germany. It links Kiel and Lübeck, the only two cities in the state...
), opened in 1873 by the Eutin-Lübecker Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (ELE), today part of KBS 140.
Currently, there are international connections between Lübeck Hbf and Copenhagen using Intercity-Express- and Eurocity
EuroCity
EuroCity, abbreviated EC, denotes an international train service within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains with the "IC" label, "EC" trains are international trains that meet certain criteria. The EuroCity label replaces the older Trans Europ Express name for...
trains over the Vogelfluglinie, and to Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
via Bad Kleinen, Neubrandenburg
Neubrandenburg
Neubrandenburg is a city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, on the shore of a lake called the Tollensesee ....
und Pasewalk
Pasewalk
Pasewalk is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. Located on the Uecker river, it is the capital of the former Uecker-Randow district, and the seat of the Uecker-Randow-Tal Amt of which it is not part.Pasewalk became a town during the 12th...
, operated by Regional-Express (RE) trains. Thanks to their long itineraries, these RE trains have the character of Heckeneilzug services. Additionally, Lübeck is an Intercity
Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)
Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...
station. Once daily, an Intercity train to Puttgarden stops at Lübeck, and later in the day the return service to Frankfurt am Main also stops there.
Some of the long distance travellers at Lübeck Hbf take a train to Lübeck-Travemünde Skandinavienkai, to connect with one of the ferries
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
or Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
The majority of the passenger train traffic to and from Lübeck Hbf is carried by commuter trains on the line between Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the German city of Hamburg. It was opened in 1906 to replace 4 terminal stations. Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is operated by DB Station&Service...
and Lübeck, operated by DB Regio
DB Regio
DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates short and medium distance passenger train services in Germany, and operates light and heavy rail infrastructure in the United Kingdom.-Germany:...
. During peak hours, trains on this line are timetabled at 30 minute intervals. On all other lines that operate to Lübeck Hauptbahnhof, trains generally operate at hourly intervals.
Since 9 December 2007, the Danish IC3
IC3
The IC3 is a Danish-built high-comfort medium/long distance diesel multiple-unit train. The sets were built by ABB Scandia . This train model has been operating in Denmark and Sweden since 1989...
multiple units used to operate Eurocity trains through Lübeck Hbf have been partially replaced by diesel powered ICE TD
ICE TD
The DBAG Class 605 is a high-speed diesel multiple unit train, in service with Deutsche Bahn and DSB, commonly known as the ICE TD.- Development :...
trains, which have transformed the Lübeck Hbf of today into an ICE station.
Since the December 2008 timetable change, Lübeck has had its first ever direct ICE connection via Hannover with Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Long distance traffic
| Line | Train route | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| (Lübeck Hbf –) Hamburg Hbf – Hannover Hbf – Göttingen – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Nürnberg Hbf Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof Nuremberg Central Station is the main railway station for the city of Nuremberg in Germany. It is the largest station in north Bavaria and belongs to the 20 stations in the highest category of importance allocated by DB Station&Service.... – Ingolstadt Hbf Ingolstadt Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof for the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, situated in southern Germany.Ingolstadt station is an important junction in the net Deutsche Bahn network... – München Hbf München Hauptbahnhof Munich Central Station is the main railway station of the city of Munich in Germany. It is one of the three long distance train stations in Munich, the others being München-Pasing and München Ost. The station sees about 350,000 passengers a day, which puts it on par with other large stations in... (– Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria... ) |
One train pair | |
| Berlin Ostbf Berlin Ostbahnhof Berlin Ostbahnhof is a mainline railway station in Berlin, Germany. It is in Friedrichshain, now part of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, and has undergone several name changes in its history. It was known as Berlin Hauptbahnhof from 1987 to 1998, a name now applied to Berlin's new central station... – Hamburg Hbf – Lübeck Hbf – Puttgarden – Copenhagen Central |
Individual trains | |
| Hamburg – Lübeck – Puttgarden – Copenhagen | Individual train pairs | |
Overall, there is an EC or ICE train linking Hamburg with Copenhagen approximately every two hours, except during a gap in the morning.
Regional traffic
| Line | Train route | KBS |
|---|---|---|
| Kiel–Preetz–Lübeck Hauptbahnhof–Lüneburg | 145 | |
| Lübeck Hauptbahnhof–Bad Oldesloe–Hamburg Hauptbahnhof | 104,140 | |
| Lübeck Hauptbahnhof–Oldenburg (Holst)–Puttgarden | 140 | |
| Lübeck Hauptbahnhof–Lübeck-Travemünde Strand | 104 | |
| Lübeck Hauptbahnhof–Bad Kleinen–Neubrandenburg–Szczecin | 175 | |
Bus connections
Near the station, and accessible via a recently widened passageway through a row of houses, is Lübeck's central bus stationBus station
A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...
(ZOB), with services operated by Stadtverkehr Lübeck, Autokraft and Dahmetal.
External links
- Deutsche Bahn AG: renovation of Lübeck Hbf
- Images of the almost completed construction work as at the end of March 2008
- Images of Lübeck Hbf also showing the completed electrification works
- Hauptbahnhof 360° City Panorama
- Gössler Kinz Kreienbaum Architekten BDA, basic renovation of Lübeck Hbf, planning from 2001, conversion 2003-2007
- Track plan of Lübeck Hbf on the Deutsche Bahn website (PDF; 158,3 KB)
This article is based upon a translation of the German language version as at September 2010.