Here we can see the facade of the Concourse inside Leipzigs central station (in direction of the city centre). It was built between 1909 and 1925 after plans by the Dresden based architects William Lossow and Max Hans Kühne (plus Rudolf Bitzan). Heavily destroyed during WWII, the station was rebuild after the war (during GDR times) due to its importance to the national train system and the international Leipziger Messe (Leipzig trade fair). The rebuilding of the original station lasted for 20 years. It was again rebuilt during the mid 1990s. In 1997 below the concourse a 2-storey shopping centre, the Promenaden, was opened, which made Leipzig central station one of the first modern shopping stations. It was once the largest terminus staion in europe, however it lost this status when several railtracks were removed during this conversion. It remains the largest terminus in terms of covered area.
This panorama presents the historic inner facade of the Concourse and we can also partly see the shopping level of the Promenaden below. Left and reight we see the two grand portals towards the East and the West Hall, the two main entrance areas of the station. On the far left and right we can also see the large extra entrances on the eastern and western sides of the station. Hidden behind two rectangle facde parts in the centre are two luxurious waiting areas, today housing shops. The complete concourse has a length of about 270 metres, which makes it about as long as the Titanic had been. If you look closely you can see the the two large station clocks show different times in this view.
