Railway station

Old Wiehre Station

The historic station of the Höllental railway - today a municipal cinema, gallery, literature forum and Café Barbette.

The Old Wiehre Station at Urachstraße 40 in the Oberwiehre served as the reception building of the Höllental railway from 1887 to 1934, when the line still ran through the residential quarter. With the opening of the new, double-track route through the Loretto and Sternwald tunnels on 8 November 1934, the building lost its function and stood largely empty for decades. In 1981 the Kommunales Kino Freiburg (municipal cinema, founded 1972) and the Freie Künstlergruppe Freiburg moved in and, with their own hands, converted the former second- and third-class waiting room into a cinema with around 90 seats; the former first-class waiting room has served as a gallery ever since.

Today the station is a cultural venue for the Wiehre: it houses the municipal cinema, the artists' group and, since summer 2003, the Literaturforum Südwest. In the annex, Freiburg restaurateur Annette Huber runs Café Barbette, open on market days and with an outdoor area under chestnut trees in summer. On the station forecourt a farmers' market takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays, complemented by a boules court and table-tennis tables that make it a neighborhood gathering point.

Access is via tram line 2 (Johanneskirche or Lorettostraße stop) and a short walk; from today's Wiehre station on Hildastraße it is about five minutes on foot. Check the current cinema program and café opening times before visiting.

Address: Urachstraße 40, 79102 Freiburg