Study: High-Rise Buildings at the Central Station

Around the 1970s, the construction of a large number of high-rise buildings at Frankfurt Central Station was under discussion, but these were ultimately not realized. In 1968, the Dutch company Bredero planned to completely rethink the apron. Bredero had recently added a shopping center to the train station in Utrecht and wanted to bring the experience he had gained to Frankfurt.

The City of Frankfurt was interested in the construction project at the time and had a development study carried out by the city planning office in 1970. On this basis, Bredero and the consulting company for commercial building were asked to submit specific urban planning designs.

Up to 20,000 new jobs were planned to be located on the planned site. The development was planned in particular by a new elevated road coming from Baseler Platz to the exhibition center. Bredero also expanded its focus to the area north and south of the main train station. The site of the former Gutleut barracks and the Khasana site were also planned.

The consulting company for commercial construction planned the project with shopping center, congress center and office buildings in such a way that the listed railway halls of the main train station would also have had to be demolished. In this design only the reception hall and the historic cross platform would have been preserved.

Ultimately, the concept failed in 1971 due to the overhead road, the coordination of those involved and the financial difficulties of the potential builders.