Wrocław Główny

Wrocław Główny is the largest passenger railway station in Wrocław, located on the border of the Przedmieście Świdnickie and Huby districts. It is one of the few stations in Poland with a preserved platform hall, entered in the heritage register and holding Premium category in the PKP classification.

A Neo-Gothic station from the mid-19th century

The first station building was designed by architect Wilhelm Grapow. Construction began on 10 September 1855, with around 250 bricklayers working on it, and the official opening took place on 12 October 1857. The original platform hall was around 200 metres long, and the whole building was built in the English Neo-Gothic style, using brick.

The great turn-of-the-century rebuilding

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, between 1899 and 1904, the station was thoroughly modernised under the direction of Bernard Klüsche, combining historicism with Art Nouveau elements. Five new platforms were built, raised 4-5 metres above the surrounding terrain, along with an enclosed platform hall 170.5 metres long, made up of four spans. Five underground passages for passengers, luggage and mail were also added. By 1911 the whole investment had cost more than 8 million marks.

Destruction, rebuilding and major modernisation

In 1942 air-raid shelters were built under the station square, and after the war the station was repaired until 1949. In 1960, during a further renovation, some of the Art Nouveau decoration was removed. The largest post-war rebuilding took place between 2010 and 2012, partly funded by the European Union. The station reopened in its current form on 1 June 2012, gaining a new south pavilion, an underground car park and platform canopies made of self-cleaning glass.

A railway hub with six directions

The station lies on railway lines running in six directions: to Częstochowa, Opole, Kłodzko, Jelenia Góra, Poznań and Warsaw. This makes Wrocław Główny one of the most important railway hubs in Poland, with the Premium category granted to the country's largest stations.

A place in the city's memory

At the station in 1967 the actor Zbigniew Cybulski was fatally injured trying to board a moving train, an event commemorated with a plaque in 1997. From 1947 to 2010 the station was home to one of the last station cinemas in Europe. During the flood of the millennium in 1997, sandbags successfully protected the building from flooding.

Practical information

• Address: marsz. Józefa Piłsudskiego 105, Przedmieście Świdnickie, Wrocław
• Getting there: directly next to the main bus station, in the basement of the Wroclavia shopping centre
• What to expect: a historic railway station with a platform hall, open around the clock, operating as a Premium station; it is worth checking the current timetable before travelling