Wuppertal-Barmen station is a station in the city of Wuppertal

Wuppertal

Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...

 in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

 on the Elberfeld–Dortmund railway

Elberfeld–Dortmund railway

The Elberfeld–Dortmund railway is a major German railway. It is part of a major axis for long distance and regional rail services between Wuppertal and Cologne, and is served by Intercity Express, InterCity, Regional Express, Regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains....

. Its entrance building is protected as a monument. It was Barmen Hauptbahnhof (central station

Central station

A central station usually designates the principal passenger railway station of cities which have multiple stations. The central station functions as the main transport hub for rail transport, normally with interchange with other modes of public transport...

) prior to Barmen's incorporation in Wuppertal in 1929. Before the Second World War it was an important stop for express trains and had substantial freight traffic. Its importance declined after the war in favour of Oberbarmen

Wuppertal-Oberbarmen station

Wuppertal-Oberbarmen station is a station in the city of Wuppertal in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was long an important railway junction, connecting to four railway lines...

 and since the renaming of the Elberfeld station as Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof.

Entrance Building

The building is a rectangular construction of Muschelkalk

Muschelkalk

The Muschelkalk is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic age and forms the middle part of the Germanic Trias, that further consists of the Buntsandstein and Keuper...

 stone in neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

 style, with pilaster

Pilaster

A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....

s and arched windows. Originally it had projecting wings at each end with Ionic columns

Ionic order

The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...

, but since the war only the western one is preserved. This portal wing is topped by a flat triangular tympanum

Tympanum (architecture)

In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....

 and has tall rectangular windows and oculi

Oculus

An Oculus, circular window, or rain-hole is a feature of Classical architecture since the 16th century. They are often denoted by their French name, oeil de boeuf, or "bull's-eye". Such circular or oval windows express the presence of a mezzanine on a building's façade without competing for...

 in the panels below the beams. In the tympanum there is a small semi-circular window. The central axis is adorned by a clock, with the letters of "Wuppertal-Barmen" replacing the numbers.

History

The first station building was opened with the Elberfeld–Dortmund line as Barmen station by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company on 9 October 1847. In 1905 the station’s name was changed to Barmen Hauptbahnhof. The first building, which was a little to the east of the current building was demolished.

Relocation and construction of the new station building

Construction of the current, only partly preserved, station building at Winklerstraße started in October 1911 and it was opened for the public on 10 October 1913. The plans of the building were drafted by the Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n architect Rüdell Alexander, who worked in a leading position in the railway department of the Prussian Ministry of Public Works. The construction was directed by the government architect, Johannes Ziertmann and Edward Behne of the railway division

Railway divisions in Germany

In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as Eisenbahndirektionen , Bundesbahndirektionen or Reichsbahndirektionen ...

  of Elberfeld. The building was badly damaged in the Second World War.

The station building became a listed building on 1 July 1988.

Current operations

The station Wuppertal-Barmen is currently served by the following passenger services:

Line	Line name	Route
	Wupper-Express	Aachen Aachen Hauptbahnhof Aachen Central Station is the train station for the city of Aachen, in the far west of Germany near the Dutch and Belgian border. It is the largest of the four currently active Aachen stations, and is integrated into the long-distance network.- History :...  – Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the city of Mönchengladbach in western Germany.-Overview:The station is the largest railway station in the city and, along with Rheydt Hbf, one of the two Hauptbahnhof stations in Mönchengladbach...  – Neuss Neuss Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station and Hauptbahnhof for the German city of Neuss.-History:Neuss station was opened in 1853, along with the line from Aachen. A rail connection to Cologne followed in 1855. In 1875/76, the second station building was built. The current station building was opened at the...  – Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Düsseldorf in Germany, state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:The station was opened on 1 October 1891 opened as Düsseldorf Central Station...  – Wuppertal Hbf – Wuppertal-Barmen – Hagen Hagen Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Hagen in western Germany. It is an important rail hub for the southeastern Ruhr area, offering regional and long distance connections....  – Dortmund Dortmund Hauptbahnhof is the central station for the city of Dortmund in Germany.The station's origins lie in a joint station of the Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn and Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn which was built north of the city centre in 1847. That station was replaced by a new station, erected in 1910 at the current site....
	Maas-Wupper-Express	Venlo Venlo railway station Venlo is the railway station for the city of Venlo in the province of Limburg, The Netherlands. It is situated on the Maastricht–Venlo railway, the Viersen–Venlo railway, the Venlo–Eindhoven railway and the Nijmegen–Venlo railway....  – Viersen Viersen station Viersen station is a station in the city of Viersen in the west of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:The first Viersen station was opened on 5 October 1849 by the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company as part of its Ruhrort–Gladbach line near Alte Bruchstraße.On 4 March 1850,...  – Mönchengladbach – Neuss – Düsseldorf – Wuppertal Hbf – Wuppertal-Barmen – Hagen – Unna Unna station Unna station is the main passenger station in the Westphalian city of Unna in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The other stations in the city that are served by regular passenger services are Unna-Königsborn, Unna West, Massen, Lünern and Hemmerde....  – Hamm (Westf)
	Der Müngstener	Wuppertal Hbf – Wuppertal-Barmen – Remscheid Remscheid Hauptbahnhof Remscheid Hauptbahnhof is in the Bergisch city of Remscheid in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in Willy-Brandt-Platz near central Remscheid and is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 5 station....  – Solingen Solingen Hauptbahnhof Solingen Hauptbahnhof is the only train station in Solingen, Germany offering ICE and IC long distance trains....
	Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn	Mönchengladbach – Neuss – Düsseldorf – Wuppertal – Wuppertal-Barmen – Gevelsberg Gevelsberg Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the municipality of Gevelsberg in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The station was opened along with a section of the Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund Süd railway, opened by the Rhenish Railway Company between Wuppertal-Wichlinghausen and Hagen RhE station on 15...  – Hagen (usually continuing as line S5 to Dortmund)