Water tower at the train station

Historical Monuments

Description

The water tower is octagonal in form with a height of approximately 20 m. It is a multi-storey railway water tower in the form of a plastered brick building with a slightly projecting flat roof.

Historical background

In 1843, the first public-private company in Prussia, Lower Silesian-Margraviate of Brandenburg Railway (Ger.: Niederschlesisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft), received a concession to build a railway line from Frankfurt (Oder) to Wrocław as part of the Doussier project - one of the most important stops on this line was supposed to be Guben. Beginning in 1866, the Margraviate of Brandenburg-Poznań Railway built a second line from Guben to Bentschen (and later to Cottbus), transforming the station into a four-way railway junction. The previously used, small building was replaced by a large New Departure and Arrival Hall, built in the then historicizing arcaded style. At the same time, a water tower and a large steam engine house were additionally built. In 1924, the so-called The Royal Main Workshop (Ger.: Königliche Hauptwerkstatt) was completely burnt down in a fire. During World War II, the station was repeatedly attacked by the Allies and Soviet armies. Due to serious damage to the tracks, engine sheds, station buildings and water tower, the operation of the railway had to be suspended for several months after the end of the war. Traffic was gradually resumed from July 1945 until its full normalization in 1948. Passenger traffic across the German-Polish border was slowly restored in the following decades.