The new central railway station at Frankfort on the Main is one of the
most imposing structures of modern times, not only as regards its
dimensions, but also because of the effect which its architectural
proportions produce upon the eye. Nobody looking at the long line of
buildings surrounded by gigantic perron halls can help being impressed
with their grandeur. The beholder, however, is not only struck by the
general aspect, but also by the beauty of detail in this magnificent
specimen of the Renaissance style. The interior of the perron hall
shown in one of our engravings is especially impressive, and every one
will admire the graceful outlines of the heavy iron structures in the
upper part, which, in consequence of their enormous height, look from
below like a spider web.
The base and the earth works were begun in the summer of 1881, and if
we take into consideration the fact that 2,700,000 cubic meters of
sand and gravel were necessary for the foundation, we will have some
idea of the scale on which the edifice was undertaken. In 1883, the
great hall, which has a width of 220 meters and which will shortly be
opened to traffic, was begun. The perspective view of this portion of
the station is given in one of our engravings. Inspector Eggert had
the general management of the building, which was erected after the
plan submitted by him, and which received the prize in the competition
between the different architects. Herr Frantz, a distinguished
engineer, who undertook the general supervision of the construction,
had an important part in the execution of the entrance hall for the
trains, and it was he, also, who built the perron hall, after designs
of Herr Schwedler.
The middle part of the station, which contains the porch, the ticket
offices, the baggage department, the police quarters and the telegraph
offices, projects, as shown in the picture, considerably beyond the
rest of the building, and by the distinct membering of its moulding
stands out conspicuously from the whole. Protruding portals of
peculiar structure and corner pavilions enliven the aspect of the
wings of the edifice, the great round arched windows of which are
separated from each other by powerful stone pillars. The corner
pavilions to the left in the view contain the so-called imperial
apartments for the reception of royal travelers, and on the other side
are the meeting hall and reception rooms of the different railway
administrations. On the right and left of the imposing main vestibule,
which is distinguished by the strength and the beauty of its style,
lobbies with arched roofs lead to the waiting and dining rooms, the
ladies' rooms, the imperial apartments and the above mentioned meeting
hall of the administration.
[Illustration: THE NEW CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION. FRANKFORT ON THE
MAIN.--Drawn by Fr. Schurmann.]
The ladies' and gentlemen's toilet rooms also are in that part of the
building.
The architect has laid especial stress upon the architectural
ornamentation of the building. Upon the apex of the arch over the main
vestibule a great group will be placed, representing Atlas carrying
the world on his shoulders, and supported in his work by the
allegorical figures of Steam and Electricity.
This group, which is at the present moment being executed in copper by
Houwald, in Brunswick, is the work of a Frankfort sculptor, Herr
Gustav Herold. In the arch itself, near the clock, we see two
allegorical female figures, over life size, in a sitting posture,
modeled by Prof. Gustav Kaupert in Frankfort, and representing Day and
Night. In front of the pillars supporting the arch, two other female
sitting figures, also above life size, will be perceived. These were
modeled by Professor Calandrelli in Berlin, and represent Agriculture
and Commerce, and in the niches on both sides there are the statues of
Navigation and Industry, the work of the sculptor Hundrieser, of
Berlin. The two side portals of the entrance hall are surmounted by
figures of boys, having a height 2.40 meters; on the left the
commercial traveler and traveling student, modelled by Rudolph
Eckhardt in Frankfort; on the right the traveler for pleasure and the
emigrant, the works of the sculptor Scholl, of Mayence. The groups of
the corner pavilions, allegoric representations of machine building
and engineering, were modeled by Professor Max Wiese, of Hanau. The
figures, like the whole building, are of Heibronn sandstone. Either
wing has a vestibule leading to the middle perron of the great hall.
They resemble in style the architecture of the front of the middle
building, only their arches are smaller. Here also we meet rich
architectural ornamentation on the pillars in the great arch. The
ornaments consist, as in the former case, of allegorical figures of
boys. They have a height of 2.20 meters, and represent Agriculture and
Art Industry on the one side and Art and the Retail Trade of Frankfort
on the other side. The two former figures are the work of the sculptor
A. Brutt, of Berlin; the two latter were modeled by Hermann Becker, of
Frankfort. The side facades are very long, but of simpler style than
the front of the building, and connect with the perron halls, which on
their part end in semi-towers. There the offices of the
administrations are located. The main vestibule leads directly to the
middle of the perron in the large hall, which consists of three naves,
and into which enter the trains of six railway lines, each separated
from the other by perrons. The perron hall has a length of 186 meters
and a width of 168 meters. The height of the naves, with their low
arched roofs, rises in the center to 28.5 meters. Tunnels connect the
different railway lines, in order to assist the rapid transit of
through trains. The port also benefits by these tunnels. The inside
front of the main vestibule is very richly decorated. In its center a
large clock is situated, and on both sides of it are colossal
allegorical figures modeled by F. Kruger, of Frankfort, and
representing the hours of Morning and Evening, while on the pillars we
perceive large male figures in a sitting posture, representing the
Defense of the Country and Mining, the work of Herr Keller, of
Frankfort. The pillars are crowned by groups of sculpture,
representing the Honeymoon Travel and Instruction in Traveling, the
one modeled by A. C. Rumpf, and the other by Friedrich Schierholz, of
Frankfort.
The whole edifice is fire proof, scarcely any wood having been used in
its erection. The hall as well as the other parts of the building are
heated by steam and lighted by electricity. The whole cost of the
structure amounted to about $8,500,000.--_Illustrirte Zeitung._
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