Kempten (Allgäu) Hauptbahnhof

Geschichte

Kempten Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in Kempten in the German state of Bavaria. It is the most important station of Kempten and a hub for the Iller Valley Railway, the Allgäu Railway and the Ausserfern Railway. The original Kempten station was built in 1852 as a terminal station near the centre of town and was replaced by a through station in 1969.HistoryThe first Kempten station was built during the construction of the Ludwig South-North Railway, opened on 1 April 1852 between Kaufbeuren and Kempten and extended on 1 May 1853 from Kempten to Immenstadt. As, on the one hand, it was desirable for the station to be as close to the city centre as possible, and on the other hand, a crossing of the deep Iller Valley at a reasonable cost was only possible at a narrow point one kilometre south of the city, it was decided to build a terminus, used for both passengers and freight. In 1853, the station was equipped with a structure designated as the "administration building", a covered “home” platform, an entrance hall and a freight shed. The administration building had three full floors and a mezzanine, a low sloping roof supported by purlins, reflecting the traditional architecture of the Alpine foothills. The "unusual highly stilted building" was typical of many commercial buildings from the early days of the industrial revolution.