April 10, 2026, 8:34 am | Read time: 2 minutes

In the German language, there are countless abbreviations that people no longer recognize as such. There’s the car, the trainee, or even the info. They are used as regular words. But then there are true abbreviations like Kfz or WG. And the main train station, regardless of the city, is usually abbreviated as Hbf on the platform. But why is that? Wouldn’t Hbh make more sense? In a recent Instagram post, Deutsche Bahn sheds some light on the matter.

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Many Abbreviations for One Word

Deutsche Bahn explains the abbreviation Hbf by stating that it is derived from the word Bahnhof. The abbreviation for Bahnhof is BF, not BH. That’s how Hbf came about. That’s the short explanation. But it took a while before the main train station was actually abbreviated and named that way.

Initially, according to Bahn, the most important city stations were not called Hauptbahnhof but Centralbahnhof. Accordingly, the abbreviation C.-B. could be seen on tickets. Around 1900, however, Centralbahnhof was gradually replaced by Hauptbahnhof. There was still no uniform spelling.

Uniformity? Not a Chance!

Instead, the “normal” station was sometimes abbreviated as Bhf. and sometimes as Bf. The main train station, on the other hand, was sometimes abbreviated as H.-B. or Hptbhf. or Hpbf.

It took another 20 years or so before it became more uniform. From around 1920, the main train station was largely abbreviated as Hbf. But as expected, it took many more years for this abbreviation to really catch on everywhere.

Until the 1970s, for example, the abbreviation Hpbf was still used at the main train station in Frankfurt am Main.

There are no fixed rules for abbreviations at train stations in Germany. Essentially, anyone can do as they please. According to Deutsche Bahn, Switzerland has remained loyal to the old spelling. There, the main train station is still abbreviated as HB.