Main Train Station

For many years, the central station in Hannover lay like a gaping wound in the centre of the city – an inhospitable place from which to quickly speed away, arrive, or to change trains. Since it’s redevelopment, the character of the building has been markedly changed by the introduction of one element: light. Through transparent roofs and openings to the platform entrances, it falls deep into the shopping mall below the platforms, and generates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. The listed building of Germany’s most important rail interchange – the ICE lines from Berlin-Cologne and from Hamburg-Munich cross here – was also carefully redeveloped. The representative lobby to Ernst-August-Platz shines once more with the elegance of the early days of rail travel; in the wings of the building are the Travel Centre, a hotel, restaurants, and shops from a modern service centre.