Minden (Westfalen) station

Original fortifications around station

The station was opened in 1848 as the terminus of the trunk line of the Cologne–Minden Railway Company (CME), connecting with the Royal Hanoverian State Railways’ Hannover–Minden line. South of Minden the Cologne–Minden line passes through the gap created at Porta Westfalica by the Weser river between the Weser and Wiehen Hills. The geography made it difficult to build the railway on the western side of the river through the gap to a station near Minden and then cross the river to continue to the east. Instead it was decided to cross the river at Rehme (near Bad Oeynhausen), continuing north on the eastern bank through the gap, which was widened with explosives and then along a levee to a station built on the eastern bank of the river. Both lines were completed on 15 October 1847. As it was a border station on one of the major routes for east-west traffic, it was originally highly fortified. In 1866 the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia, allowing the railway to operate continuously from Berlin to Cologne without frontiers. The fortifications around the station were abandoned in 1873.

At the beginning of the 20th century further railway connections were added in the form of the Minden District Railway and the Bad Eilsen Light Railway. In 1921 the Verden–Rotenburg railway was built, providing a connection to the north towards Bremen. A freight station was later added and Minden station was connected to a railway to the river port. In 1950 the Bundesbahn Central Office, which was responsible for technological development and the procurement of rail vehicles and infrastructure was relocated to Minden, although some of these activities were also carried out in Munich.

The station and connecting railway lines

The Cologne-Minden Railway Company’s station and reception building was built to the design of the royal building inspector Schelle and was completed in 1848 after the start of railway operations on 15 October 1847. It was built in the romantic style, with features based on medieval towers and battlements, a style which was used at this time for many stations in Westphalia. The Minden station is one of the few remaining stations in this style.

The station was designed as a transfer station between the Cologne-Minden and the Royal Hanoverian State railways. This function was no longer required after the absorption of Hanover by Prussia, so the station always showed plenty of space and could accommodate new, larger traffic flows smoothly and without further modification. The facade of Minden station has three parts. The building is divided into two identical-looking end buildings, which are connected by a single-storey central section with a ticket office and baggage-handling facilities. Originally, there were customs facilities and first, second, third and fourth class waiting rooms. In addition, it houses a restaurant and bar.

The Cologne-Minden Railway built its lines and its maintenance facilities on the southern and western side of the station while the Royal Hanoverian State Railways built its lines and its maintenance facilities on the eastern side, turning the station into an "island" station.

The station was opened in 1847 is located on the Rheine to Löhne railway and the Hamm to Minden railway. The train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn.

The station is served by the following services:[4]

• Intercity services (IC 55) Cologne - Wuppertal - Dortmund - Hamm - Bielefeld - Hanover - Magdeburg - Halle - Leipzig
• Intercity services (IC 77) Amsterdam - Amersfoort - Hengelo - Osnabrück - Hanover - Berlin
• Regional services RE 6 Minden – Bad Oeynhausen – Herford – Bielefeld – Hamm – Dortmund – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf Airport – Düsseldorf – Neuss – Cologne – Cologne/Bonn Airport
• Regional services RE 60 Rheine - Osnabrück - Minden - Hanover - Braunschweig
• Regional services RE 70 Bielefeld - Herford - Minden - Hanover - Braunschweig
• Regional services RE 78 Bielefeld - Herford - Minden - Nienburg
• Local services RB 76 Rotenburg - Verden - Nienburg - Minden
• Hannover S-Bahn services S1 Minden - Haste - Wunstorf - Hanover - Weetzen - Haste

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minden station.

• Ellerbrock, Karl-Peter; Schuster, Marina, eds. (1997). 150 Jahre Köln–Mindener Eisenbahn, Katalog zur gleichnamigen Ausstellungs- und Veranstaltungsreihe (150 years of the Cologne-Minden railway) (in German). Essen: Klartext. ISBN 3-88474-560-3.
• Riepelmeier, Garrelt; Schütte, Ingrid; Schuette, Werner (2007). Die Eisenbahn in Minden und im Mühlenkreis (The Railway of Minden and the mill district) (in German). Hövelhof: DGEG Medien. ISBN 978-3-937189-31-4.
• Kaspar, Fred; Korn, Ulf Dietrich, eds. (1998). "V: Minden ausserhalb der Stadtmauern (Minden outside the city walls)". Bau und Kunstdenkmäler von Westfalen (Buildings and monuments of Westphalia) (in German). 50: City of Minden. Essen: Klartext Verlag. pp. 1713–1744. ISBN 3-88474-635-9.