The Kelenföld of Vienna: the New Hauptbahnhof Wien

Architects: Albert Wimmer, Ernst Hoffmann, Theo Hotz
Text: György Szegő
Photos: Hanna Szegő, ÖBB/Roman Bönsch

The large-scale development project of the Hauptbahnhof Wien is a spectacular example of European trends. The function of the former main railway stations is taken over by the transitory ones, as it is required by contemporary accelerated lifestyle and the modernization of the railway networks accordingly in its wake. Opened this winter, the new railway station has a background created by integrating the adjacent Southern and Eastern main stations of Vienna, within the framework of traditionally large-scale developments. The requirements and faculties as well as the topography of the rails strikingly remind us of the „promotion” of our main railway station in Kelenföld, still on blueprint. The attraction of the neighbouring residential and social infrastructure is discovered by development in the fact that this 8-hectare condominium site is only 2.5 km from Stephansdom and that it borders on two genuine parks: the Baroque-style one of the Belvedere and the Schweizergarten.