October 26, 2025, 1:07 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
In the metropolis of Frankfurt am Main, in the Bockenheim district, stands a rather unusual piece of art. It looks as if an old tram car has bizarrely crashed. This crashed vehicle serves as an unusual entrance to the Bockenheimer Warte subway station. Other stations in Frankfurt are also truly eye-catching as absolute works of art.
Anyone traveling in Bockenheim, a district of Frankfurt am Main, might find themselves rubbing their eyes in disbelief near the campus of Goethe University. The above-ground access to the Bockenheimer Warte subway station looks as if an old tram car has crashed into the ground at full speed. However, this is not a “traffic accident” but an unusual piece of art through which one can normally reach the underground tracks.
Even pictures of the subway entrance at Bockenheimer Warte are astonishing. The asphalt around the “crashed” tram car is roughened, as if the vehicle had actually drilled into the earth. Or, depending on the perspective, was breaking out of it. According to the site “Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Frankfurt,” the late architect Zbigniew Peter Pininski, who passed away in 2018, invented and realized the unusual station. He also taught as a professor at the technical universities of Warsaw, Darmstadt, Vienna, and Braunschweig, and created the Bockenheim landmark back in 1988.
“Local Attraction”
The “derailed” vehicle is actually a real tram car from London, which once operated there. The subway entrance at Bockenheimer Warte is thanks to a project by the city of Frankfurt am Main, which supported artists in designing works for public urban spaces until 1993. They were thus encouraged to contribute to the design of city rail station structures. As part of these measures, Pininski also designed another Frankfurt station, the Dornbusch subway station. His work there is titled “Fire Composition (Human Family),” consisting of paintings and mosaics.
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Unfortunately, little more information about the quirky station at Bockenheimer Warte can be found today. An inquiry with the city of Frankfurt goes unanswered. “It is more of a local attraction,” a spokesperson told TRAVELBOOK. “But we do not promote it ourselves, and it is certainly not a tourist magnet.” No further information was available during the call, and even almost two weeks after the inquiry, as promised, nothing has been provided. The Frankfurt transport authorities also cannot provide further information about the subway artwork.
Frankfurt’s Subway Stations Are Art
A spokesperson did, however, send a brochure about Frankfurt’s underground stations. The one at Bockenheimer Warte is not the only artistically interesting one. Since August 2025, the Willy-Brandt-Platz station has been the first stop in Germany to appear entirely in the colors of the local soccer club, Eintracht Frankfurt. The columns also feature legendary players of the club. The Zoo station features both architectural and design elements that are literally “animalistic.”
In the Bockenheimer Warte station, underground pictures by the internationally renowned photographer Barbara Klemm hang, depicting student life in the city. According to “BILD,” the subway in Frankfurt am Main has been operating since 1968, and today several hundred thousand passengers use it daily. At Bockenheimer Warte, the C-line with the U6 and U7 lines intersects with the U4 running in the D-tunnel. The station is thus one of four underground transfer stations of the Frankfurt subway. And certainly worth a visit for its unusual entrance if you ever find yourself in Frankfurt.