Past and Present No. 9: Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof

Two images of Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof a century apart revealing a remarkably well preserved façade on a grandiose building completed in 1888 after nine years in construction. The mighty Atlas still struggles to support the globe even with the assistance of Iron and Steam. Two more photographs taken on the platform of this monumental terminus under the vast uninterrupted canopy of glass and cast-iron of which this is the second of three. The station largely escaped wartime bombing and its imperial grandeur survives unimpaired. A major operational inconvenience is the fact that through trains must reverse out of the station to resume their journeys, occupying track space that could be used more efficiently. An unintended consequence of the 19th. century civic leaders of Frankfurt believing their city to be everyone else’s ultimate destination.