Euskirchen

Euskirchen station is an important transport hub with heavy commuter traffic in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is it situated on Cologne–Trier, Bonn–Euskirchen, Euskirchen–Bad Münstereifel and the Euskirchen–Düren lines. The station is located on Alleestraße (street) on the Pützberg (hill) and is the largest station in the district. History The first Euskirchen station was built in 1846 in a neoclassical style, far outside the then city centre on the Pützberg. The station was considered to be a "business card" for the city and was the starting point for any parades and pageants through the city. The forecourt was planned as a park and construction began on a green space around a central war memorial, which was completed on 24 May 1903. Thus lawns, hedges and trees were created in front of the station building. As traffic has increased dramatically, the plaza has been redesigned several times. The entire rail infrastructure continued to grow steadily and at that time housed a water tower, a freight shed, an engine shed, a turntable and five signal boxes. In May 1928 the war memorial was moved to Hindenburgplatz. In the 1930s, the trees and lawns slowly disappeared. At the end of 1944 the entire site, including the station building, was destroyed permanently during violent and systematic bombing by the Allies. Lines were opened as follows: 2 October 1864: Euskirchen–Düren 1871: Euskirchen–Trier 1 October 1875: Euskirchen–Cologne 7 June 1880: Euskirchen–Bonn 1 October 1890: Euskirchen–Bad Münstereifel After 1945 On 1 August 1945, traffic was restored on a temporarily repaired line from Aachen to Düren, Euskirchen and Bonn. In 1956 a new station building was built on the site. Deutsche Bundesbahn built it in a functional style, as was customary in the postwar period. The Euskirchen painter and graphic designer Konrad Schaefer designed the facade windows. The plaza was redesigned. Thus the remaining trees were removed and the former character of the park was gone for good. The former gardens were replaced in 1956 by a paved surface with islands for bus stops.