Heinrich Reinhardt and Georg Süßenguth designed the station after a competition in 1900. It was built from 1902 to 1906, replacing four smaller terminal stations, and opened to visitors on December 4, 1906. The article says Kaiser Wilhelm II called the first draft "simply horrible" and changed its Art Nouveau elements to Neo-Renaissance, giving it a fortress-like character.
The building is 676 feet (206 m) long, 443 feet (135 m) wide and 121 feet (37 m) high. The two clock towers are 148 feet (45 m) tall. An iron and glass track shed covers the main-line platforms and two S-Bahn tracks, modeled on the 1889 Paris Galerie des machines.
Bombing damaged it on November 9, 1941, and one clock tower was destroyed in 1943. Renovation ran from 1985 to 1991, and the Wandelhalle shopping arcade was built in 1991. The infobox gives 480,000 daily passengers and the body 550,000.
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