Veitshochheim station

Veitshöchheim station is a regional railway station in southern Germany. It is at kilometre marker 7.0 on the Main-Spessart Railway from Würzburg to Aschaffenburg. It was built during the construction of Ludwig's Western Railway, which was taken fully into service on 1 October 1854.The station was built in the immediate vicinity of Schloss Veitshöchheim, a summer residenz initially of the prince bishops of Würzburg, later the kings of Bavaria, at Veitshöchheim near Würzburg. The castle is especially well known for its surrounding rococo garden.In the 19th century this park, which was then a public facility, was nearly destroyed by the construction of the railway. Engineers had planned to use the central avenue of the park for the trackbed of the railway. This idea was however vetoed by King Ludwig I, who ordered the line to be routed to the east around the castle gardens even though this was topographically less suited.This was also where Veitshöchheim station came to be built. It was given a station building which was particularly representative of a spa town and which was to required to serve both as an excursion station for Würzburg's citizens visiting the park as well as acting as the station for the royal castle. The public station building was much larger than was warranted for Veitshöchheim which was only a village at the time. Next to this building a royal pavilion (Königspavillon) was built directly on the main axis of the castle acting as a private railway station. This was connected to the station building by a covered hallway. The royal pavilion is used today by the municipal library and by Veitshöchheim's youth hostel.