Hauptbahnhof underground station (Kassel)
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The Hauptbahnhof underground station in the north Hessian city of Kassel was an underground station of the Kassel tram under the forecourt of the Kassel main station , which was in operation from 1968 to 2005. The structure was supplemented by two tunnel sections, which were at ground level in the east and via a ramp in the south-west to connect to the otherwise entirely above-ground network.
prehistory
The main train station in Kassel was the most important train station in the city until the Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe train station was expanded into a long-distance train station. At the latest with the growing motorization in the 1950s, the forecourt was overloaded with traffic and blocked up with a pavilion . A tram junction cut the pedestrians' way in the direction of the new stairs street into the city center. In the 1960s, plans for light rail vehicles and the laying of trams underground were concretized across Germany .
The northern part of the Kassel center around Scheidemannplatz , the area around the main train station and the front of the train station itself were the subject of an urban redesign in the style of economic miracle architecture.
history
With a budget of eight million DM , an extensive two-story underground structure was built from 1966. At the same time, the turning loop on Ottostraße was built.
The aim was to solve the traffic problems by "unbundling the traffic flows". The new building was inaugurated on February 1, 1968, three months before the 4th documenta . There were entrances on the station forecourt and on the sidewalks with escalators and stairs, the entrance was signposted with a U and from the station side with the note “To the city and the tram”. The B level offered an underpass with a shopping arcade, the C level the underground station with two outer platforms , also accessible via escalators. The platforms were kept in dark blue and white. The trams reached the station through an entrance and exit to the northeast of the station and a little south of it near stairs street. There were four lines going through the tunnel. At times, more modern trams could not enter the tunnel, which was remedied with a replacement of the tracks in 1977.
From May 29, 1991, long-distance traffic was directed through the Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe station, and the previous main station lost a large part of its traffic. In the 1990s, the escalators from the forecourt of the main station into the underground structure were shut down and blocked by a crossbar (later also to the platforms). So only the stairs were available.
Closure of the station
In 2001 the RegioTram was introduced, which connected the city of Kassel with the surrounding area via the Deutsche Bahn network . Their trains could only go to the main station due to the lack of a connection between the long-distance and tram networks. Different variants were examined for the intended threading into the tram network. Instead of the also discussed partial demolition of the station building , an underground link was to be implemented. For this purpose, some of the station platform tracks were laid on an incline, passed under the front building of the reception building and connected to the south ramp of the underground tram. The remaining parts of the underground tram with the tunnel station were thus cut off and no longer usable for rail operations. A subsequent use was not part of the planning.
On March 28, 2005, the last tram passed through the tunnel, then the renovation work began and all entrances to the structure were closed. Since then, trams have been running between Scheidemannplatz and Lutherplatz via a new route along Rudolf-Schwander-Straße. On August 19, 2007 the new 170 meter long RegioTram tunnel was put into operation. The cut off tunnel station was used for the storage of decommissioned tram cars and other municipal objects that were intended for museum preservation. Due to the lack of maintenance, high follow-up costs are to be expected in the future. If the structure is in danger of collapsing, complete backfilling with concrete will be considered. The tunnel station and the B-level were available for making films. On October 23, 2014, the museum cars were removed and then the catenary dismantled and the switches in the Ottostraße turning loop blocked. In the meantime, the entrances from the station forecourt and the opposite side of the street have been completely closed and paved.
In the building there is a 14 meter long glass mosaic by Dieter von Andrian , previously backlit, which was partially destroyed by vandalism. Plans to remove the work of art and restore it to a new location have so far failed for financial reasons and legal problems.
The documenta 14 used the old train station as an exhibition space. Access was via a staircase on the station forecourt, which was covered with a construction container. The glass mosaic was integrated into the exhibition. The exit led at ground level from the northern tunnel portal and via stairs from the Ottostraße turning loop back to the station forecourt.
Structural traces today
North-east entrance to the structure before dismantling the catenary
Tunnel portal north in May 2016
The tunnel ramp in Kurfürstenstraße in operation of the RegioTram
Wendeschleife Ottostraße
Web links
- Contemporary photo of the tram station
- Hessischer Rundfunk report on the opening, 1968
- Video about the station and a mosaic
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Forgotten relief "Glass City" - tragedy under the surface of the earth . In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur . ( deutschlandfunkkultur.de [accessed October 18, 2017]).
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Archived copy ( memento of the original from December 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
- ↑ http://www.documenta14.de/de/venues/21712/ehemaliger-unterirdischer-bahnhof-kulturbahnhof-
Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 3.5 ″ N , 9 ° 29 ′ 26.2 ″ E