On October 1, 1890, the municipality of Morsbach in today's Oberbergischer Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia was connected to the world, as the Wissen — Morsbach railway of the Prussian State Railway was opened. There were connections from Wissen to Cologne, Gießen and Siegen. This line, called the Wissertalbahn, was extended in 1908 to include the Hermesdorf — Morsbach line with Morsbach as the terminal station.
The station building in Morsbach was built in 1898. It was built from regional greywack blocks and is an example of the Prussian style for station station buildings of this period: a gabled central wing is complemented by two unevenly shaped wing buildings. One of the side wings has two storeys. The upper floor of the central wing and side wing housed the apartment of the station manager. The waiting room was located in the lower side wing. The roof was given elaborate floating gables with rich wood decoration. The station building is so typical that a model of it would be a highlight on any model railroad layout.
In the 1960s, passenger traffic was discontinued first and later also freight traffic. The station was first used as a warehouse, then stood empty for decades and fell into disrepair. In 1988, it was listed as a historical monument due to the stylistic features of the Royal Prussian railroad, but it took until 2017, when the station became the property of the municipality of Morsbach, that a decision was made on a new use as a cultural center and club meeting place.
The architecture office Bonfanti architects took over the renovation in consultation with the monument protection office. The building was gutted, walls were removed and ceilings were lowered to create space and a continuous level. In the reception area, Mosáico cement tiles in yellow (M05) and anthracite (M31) were replaced by the Oberberg tile house laid diagonally. This corresponds to the original tiles, which are even underneath, as Mr. Bonfanti told me. The original entrance door was restored and is now used as a vestibule door.
In The entrance hall is now equipped with a café with a bar and kitchen area. Morsbach associations can come together here for cozy meetings.
To highlight railway history, a wall of the café was printed with a picture of the Kömpel Tunnel. At 786 meters, this tunnel on the line from Morsbach to Hermesdorf was unusually long for a branch line. This entire existing route was also listed as a historical monument in 2003 and is to be used for tourism in the future for trips with bicycle trolleys.
The adjacent former waiting room is now an event room where lectures or readings are held and where you can also get married. Here, the floor is made of diagonally laid cement tiles from Mosáico in anthracite. The bridal couple and their guests can then hold their champagne reception in the café area.
The upper floor houses association offices and a conference room. In addition to the office, the Highlight Youth Center also has rooms in the attic and in the basement. The basement of the former car shed was freed of rubble and old coal scraps and an untreated steel spiral staircase and a cast screed floor were added to match the raw greywack walls.
So the old train station has a new life as Cultural center and club meeting place received.
All photos are from Wolfgang Grümer and were kindly made available to me by the Bonfanti architecture firm.