Wrocław Świebodzki

Wrocław Świebodzki, a disused railway station in the center of Wrocław, is the oldest preserved railway station in the city, opened in 1843 as the starting point of the Wrocław-Świebodzice line. Its architectural features, designed in the late classicist style by engineer Cochius, include a single-story building with two levels and two platforms under a canopy. Over the years, the building underwent several renovations, and between 1868 and 1874, it gained a more impressive appearance and decorative elements, including allegorical sculptures referencing the regions of Pomerania and Silesia. The station was part of a multinational railway hub, which in later years gradually lost other stations to Świebodzki. After World War II, the station resumed operations, but since 1991, it has no longer functioned as a railway station. Today, its buildings house a theater and service establishments, and in the past, it hosted a variety of businesses and clubs. Świebodzki Station is a place of many cultural and historical curiosities. It served as a backdrop for films such as "Lalka" (The Doll) in 1967, as well as various artistic events, including the "Kolejkowo" exhibition, opened in 2015, which featured a model railway. In 2016, the first publicly accessible passenger train service in 24 years was organized there. The history of the building is not without drama, as it has been the site of multiple fires, including a tragic event in 2019 that resulted in a fatality. Although Wrocław Świebodzki no longer functions as a railway station, it remains an important landmark in the history of Polish railways, and plans to restore train services anticipate further development of its functions in the future.