after a Greek or Roman atrium. Along the sides there were facilities necessary for travel, including three waiting rooms for the first to third classes. The connecting building was, in contrast to many other former station buildings, arranged perpendicular to the tracks. This allowed Eisenlohr to leave the platform area and the entrance building as separate architectural units, despite the connection. However, passengers had to take into account a long walk. The train shed was 110 metres long and 16.3 metres wide with ridgeline of the roof at a height of 12.3 metres, the biggest in Baden. It consisted of three naves in the style of a basilica with roofs that could be drained externally. This was an improvement over Mannheim station, where there had only been two naves and there had been problems with drainage. The slate roof lay on a structure made of native wood, as Eisenlohr had avoided expensive cast iron for reasons of cost. Nevertheless, this station was, like many other stations in Baden, criticised at first for its opulence. As the freight yard was not yet separated from the passenger station, the loading of freight was possible using a loading siding and a loading road on both sides of the station. On the west side of the station there were larger loading areas and cranes, but no large gantry crane. The freight halls were on the east side of the station. The entrance freight hall contained both of the customs warehouses. The receiving and shipping area were each 99 metres long but only 13.5 meters wide. The express freight hall had a storage area of 640 m2. The only remaining building of the original station area, the carriage halls that were built in 1845 between Wenzingerstraße and track 8, are both under heritage protection. Second building (1949–1999) The lack of financial resources, building materials and construction machinery meant that an architecturally complex solution could be ruled out from the beginning. Therefore, it was decided the re-use of the intact foundations and the basement. On this basis, a floor plan was created with a massive central block and two lower wings in lightweight construction, which could be later expanded on one level or replaced by multi-storey buildings. It was designed and built by the railway administration and the architect Walter Lay. The steel frame of the skylight of the old building had also survived the air