Portikus

Portikus is the columned portico of Leipzig's former Bayerischer Bahnhof. The station opened in 1844 and helped tie the Petersvorstadt district into the growing city. That district now borders the city centre to the south. The portico marked the arrival area, the gateway where travellers entered the complex. Regional trains ran through the station until 2001.

The complex ranked among the oldest preserved railway stations in Germany, and its architecture is typical of nineteenth-century design. It held two halls: one for departures, one for arrivals. The war destroyed the arrival hall, while the departure hall remains. Plans call for rebuilding the arrival hall as a mirror of the existing departure hall, under the rules of monument preservation.

The city tunnel opened in December 2013, and the former railway land became free for new development. A new quarter is taking shape there, with homes, workplaces and public amenities a ten-minute walk from the centre. That suits Leipzig, a traditional hub for movement and exchange. The site around the gateway is wheelchair accessible. Redevelopment plans add a new high point on the side facing Straße des achtzehnten Oktober, rounding off the ensemble along that street. Standing beneath the columns, you take in two eras at once: Leipzig's railway history and the new quarter now rising around them.