Schwäbisch Gmünd station

Schwäbisch Gmünd station was opened in 1861 and is located northwest of the city centre of Schwäbisch Gmünd in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is on the Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt–Nördlingen railway and is a stop for InterCity trains.

Schwäbisch Gmünd
Deutsche Bahn
Through station
General information
LocationSchwäbisch Gmünd, Baden-Württemberg
Germany
Coordinates48°48′04″N 9°47′18″E / 48.8010°N 9.7884°E / 48.8010; 9.7884
Elevation319 m (1,047 ft)
Owned byDeutsche Bahn
Operated byDB Station&Service
Line(s)
Platforms4
Train operators
Construction
ArchitectGeorg Morlok
Architectural styleNeoclassical
Other information
Station code5699[1]
DS100 codeTSG[2]
IBNR8000329
Category4[1]
Fare zoneOAM: 2000[3]
Websitewww.bahnhof.de
History
Opened25 July 1861
Services
Preceding station DB Fernverkehr Following station
Stuttgart Hbf IC 61 Aalen
towards Leipzig Hbf
Preceding station Following station
Schorndorf IRE 1 Aalen Hbf
Terminus
Lorch (Württ) MEX 13 Böbingen (Rems)
towards Crailsheim
Map
Location
Schwäbisch Gmünd is located in Baden-Württemberg
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Location in Baden-Württemberg
Schwäbisch Gmünd is located in Germany
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Location in Germany
Schwäbisch Gmünd is located in Europe
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Location in Europe

History edit

 
Options in 1858

Three options were discussed in 1858 for the route of the Rems Railway through the city and the location of the station:

  • south of the city
  • north of the city, but south of the Rems
  • north of the Rems

The first options would have meant passing through parks or the built-up area and the future expansion of the city would have been affected. It was decided that the line would run north of the Rems, which meant that the station would be away from the city centre. It also required the relocation of the Rems river, which would protect the city against flooding.[4][5]

Responsibility for the design of the station building was assigned in Württemberg in the 1850s and 1860s to the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the rail track, which in the case of Rems Railway was Georg Morlok. The construction followed the neoclassical style of station architecture already in use in Württemberg. The small central bell-tower and the pilasters between the arches on the ground floor are typical of Morlok buildings of this era.[6]

Opening edit

 
Station in 1868
 
Station and town in 2006

The first official trial run on the Schorndorf–Gmünd section of the Rems line was held on 29 June 1861 in a festive atmosphere with great general interest. An official opening trip with guests of honour was held on 18 July 1861 and on 25 July scheduled services began between Stuttgart and Wasseralfingen.[7] The station tracks initially included 25 sets of points, a turntable and a water station with two water cranes.[4] A ticket from Gmünd to Stuttgart cost, in second class, 81 kreuzers and, in third class, 51 kreuzers.[8]

Reconstruction in 1907 edit

The station was reconstructed between 16 September 1907 and 1910 to handle increasing traffic and the proposed branch line to Göppingen, the Hohenstaufen Railway. This involved the building of an island platform with an underpass leading to it. A level crossing east of the station was replaced by an underpass. Two stub tracks and a turntable were built for the Hohenstaufen Railway south of the main tracks on the western side of the station building, where there had previously been a goods shed. North of the main tracks, two locomotive sheds were demolished in order to build the new freight yard. The second track of Rems line was being extended from Deinbach block post to Gmünd and this was put into operation on 27 April 1910. After the redevelopment the station tracks had 116 sets of points and two turntables. It became one of the 24 “first class” stations in Württemberg. The Gmünd–Wäschenbeuren section of the Hohenstaufen line was opened on 1 August 1911.[4][9]

In 1923 an eastern industrial track was created, running from the freight yard to an industrial area north of the Rems Railway, which from 1937 included a subsidiary of Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen in Ziegelberg. In 1936, the western industrial track was built south of the main line.[10]

Second World War edit

As part of Second World War in late 1944 bomb attacks and gun fire from allied fighter-bombers repeatedly killed and injured people in the station and on the surrounding railway lines and disabled rail services by the destruction of railway track and vehicles. A bomb explosion on 19 April 1945 destroyed a railway bridge to the west of the station and broke the connection on the Rems Railway to Stuttgart.[10]

Post-war period edit

North of the passenger station the freight yard was served by approximately 14,900 freight wagons in 1959.[4] A few years ago it was shut down and the tracks are currently being demolished.

As part of the horticultural show of 2014 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, the station and the surrounding area have been redesigned.

Services edit

The station has two platforms, connected by an underpass. The underpass has been equipped with lifts in 2014.

Next to the entrance building is platform track 1, which is a through track, on the island platform are track 2 (a through track), track 3 (which is a terminating track from Stuttgart) and the seldom-used platform 4.

The station building built in 1861 is still used as such. Today the facilities for the public are a ticket office, a kiosk, a snack bar and a restaurant.

Operations edit

 
The station in 2011 with RE 19458 service from St. Salvator. In the background demolition is under way for the 2014 horticultural show.

Every two hours inter-city services operated by DB Fernverkehr on the Karlsruhe–Stuttgart–Nuremberg–Leipzig route stop at the station. Regional services operated by the DB Regio consist of a pair of Interregio-Express services each day between Aalen and Stuttgart, hourly Regional-Express services on the same route with extra services in peak periods and some Regionalbahn services between Schwäbisch Gmünd and Schorndorf.

Line Route Frequency
IC 61 LeipzigNaumburgJena ParadiesSaalfeldLichtenfelsBambergNurembergAnsbachAalenSchwäbisch GmündStuttgartKarlsruhe Every 2 hours
IRE 1 Stuttgart – SchorndorfSchwäbisch Gmünd – Aalen
MEX 13 Stuttgart – Waiblingen – Schorndorf – Schwäbisch Gmünd – Aalen – EllwangenCrailsheim Every half hour, to Ellwangen every hour, to Crailsheim every two hours

Connections edit

West of the station building is the city's central bus station, in the forecourt there are a taxi rank, parking spaces and bicycle stands; further east is a park-and-ride car park.

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b "Stationspreisliste 2024" [Station price list 2024] (PDF) (in German). DB Station&Service. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (2009/2010 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  3. ^ "Zonenplan mit Innenstadtplänen" (PDF). OstalbMobil. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Felix Klaus. 100 Jahre Bahnhof Schwäbisch Gmünd (in German). (in: Einhorn, p. 143 ff.)
  5. ^ Helmut Mende. Eisenbahn und Stadtplanung (in German). (in: Einhorn, p. 154 ff.)
  6. ^ Roland Feitenhansl (2003). Der Bahnhof Heilbronn – seine Empfangsgebäude von 1848, 1874 und 1958 (in German). Hövelhof: DGEG Medien. p. 173. ISBN 3-937189-01-7.
  7. ^ Seidel 1987, pp. 44 ff.
  8. ^ E. T. Ein großes Ereignis im Spiegel der Presse (in German). (in: Einhorn, p. 154 ff.)
  9. ^ Seidel 1987, pp. 71 ff.
  10. ^ a b Seidel 1987, pp. 112 ff.

References edit

  • Einhorn, Illustrierte Zeitschrift zur Pflege des Heimatgedankens in Stadt und Kreis Schwäbisch Gmünd (in German). Schwäbisch Gmünd. June 1961.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (special issue on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Rems Railway)
  • Seidel, Kurt (1987). Die Remsbahn. Schienenwege in Ostwürttemberg (in German). Stuttgart: Theiss. pp. 44 ff. ISBN 3-8062-0483-7.

External links edit