A few years ago, I was on a a train from Amsterdam to The Hague, and looked up just in time to see some unusual-looking buildings-within-a-building on the platform as we passed through Haarlem.
We made a plan to get off there on the way back and look around, but then unwittingly headed back to Amsterdam on an express that bypassed Haarlem. I promised myself I’d return for the pictures, and last month I finally did, and was fully rewarded.
Haarlem, it turns out, is the oldest railroad station in the Netherlands. Not this building, of course, which is a 1906 Art Nouveau gem by Dirk Margadant, who also designed new stations for The Hague and Leiden. But, 183 years ago, the first rail service in the Netherlands arrived at this site from Amsterdam.
Haarlem wins the ‘oldest’ laurels because Amsterdam’s original station location is no longer a railroad station. It’s also a busy station; Haarlem is only about fifteen miles from Amsterdam and has its own population of over 250,000, so trains are frequent.
Aside from the handsome tile and wood walls throughout the platform area, there’s a good deal of artistic tile signage… and a mystery. Note that the signs above designate the waiting rooms for First and Third class passengers. There are no longer third-class tickets, so perhaps second-class passengers can use the room, as there’s no sign anywhere of a second-class waiting room!
Or perhaps they have only the benches…
The tilework includes the commemorative plaque installed in 1939 for the 100th anniversary of Dutch railways.
The building below was originally a station restaurant. It is now a snack bar and shop selling souvenirs, practical items, packaged food and a variety of sandwiches and beverages. And flowers.
Across from the classic station is an added platform, built onto a modern building; it just lacks the specialness of the original.
The 1906 version of the station was built with the tracks elevated so that they no longer cut off city streets or had grade crossings. Down the stairs and through a short tunnel, I came to the main lobby of the station, facing the street.
It, too, got lavish artistic attention, featuring mosaic panels illustrating the area’s agricultural and industrial trades.
The station’s exterior departs from the Art Nouveau styles of the interior with headhouses that resemble medieval fortifications, and resemble buildings that shared the station plaza with it when it was built.
