Wien Südbahnhof

Vienna’s former Südbahnhof stood in the Favoriten district, south-east of the city centre. It grew from two separate stations built in the 1840s by Matthias Schönerer: the Gloggnitzer Bahnhof for southern lines and the Raaber Bahnhof for eastern routes. By the 1870s Wilhelm von Flattich enlarged the southern section into a grand hall 35.7 metres wide, the second largest in Vienna at the time. The unified Südbahnhof opened in 1961 under Heinrich Hrdlicka, combining both halves into a single building with two levels of platforms. Two underground S-Bahn platforms were added later, now known as Wien Quartier Belvedere. The station handled expresses from St Petersburg to Cannes until 1939 and served routes to Ljubljana, Trieste and Zagreb. The site’s importance lay in its role as Vienna’s busiest railway gateway. The southern line to Gloggnitz carried more passengers than freight, linking the capital to tourist towns such as Baden and Mödling. After nationalisation in 1924 the ÖBB unified operations, and the post-war rebuilding kept the steel frame intact despite minor bomb damage in 1945. The 1969 car-loading bay introduced car carrier trains, marking a shift toward combined transport. By 2009 the ageing terminus closed, its last trains leaving for temporary platforms until 2012. Visitors to the site now find the Quartier Belvedere S-Bahn station and a new public square where the platforms once stood. The Schweizergarten park lies immediately north, its lawns covering part of the old approach. Tram lines O and 18 served the main entrance, while side streets still carry the name Schweizergartenstraße. A few hundred metres west, Südtiroler Platz offers U-Bahn connections, linking the past with today’s transport network.