The first “railroad” reached Kwidzyn in 1883 with the opening of the Malbork-Grudziądz railway line. This new connection was of significant importance for the city and influenced the pace of its development. The railway line and the first station in Kwidzyn were built on the outskirts of the city’s existing buildings. The railway industry was experiencing a rapid boom, so with the arrival of the first line, the city naturally began to expand in its direction. Over the following decades, rapid development occurred, with dense development along the streets running towards the station.

The aforementioned first railway line opened on August 15, 1883, covering the Grudziądz-Malbork (Graudenz-Marienburg) section, a distance of just under 80 km, thus completing the connection from Toruń to Malbork. Bringing the railway to Kwidzyn certainly generated considerable interest among the city’s residents. However, for the regency capital—a typically bureaucratic town—the line was part of a broader national railway development plan, connecting smaller centers in Prussia by rail.

The rapid development of the railway and the resulting pressure for short completion dates left their mark on the technical aspects of the newly opened line. The government prioritized rapid service. The small number of causeways constructed to compensate for the elevation difference and the numerous curves demonstrated the efforts to quickly build the connection, followed by reconstruction of the line at various points over the next few years. The construction of railway stations was no different. The vast majority were originally so-called barracks stations—housing ticket offices, waiting rooms, and storage facilities. The situation in Kwidzyn was similar.

The first railway station, in its shape and appearance, resembled the still-extant buildings in Ryjewo, Gardeja, or the relatively recently demolished one in Sadlinki. It was a single-story wooden structure, shaped like an elongated rectangle. It likely lacked any elevated platform. From the outset, this solution was likely intended to be temporary, as shortly after the opening of the entire line, reconstruction of some sections began, along with the construction of additional connections. Therefore, it can be assumed that construction of a brick station was also planned very quickly. It is still difficult to pinpoint the exact opening date of the new station building. It most likely occurred in 1899 or 1900 (considering the construction of artillery barracks nearby, an even earlier date is possible). The building’s design came from the Ministry of Public Works in Berlin, and the designer was Paul Thoemer (born June 20, 1851, in Koszalin, died June 3, 1918, in Berlin). The designer was a German architect and Prussian construction official (known as a privy construction counselor, and later a senior construction official) who learned his craft in Berlin. He began his career in the aforementioned ministry, initially in the Department of Railway Construction, and later in the Department of Justice. Thoemer and other ministry employees were therefore involved in the design of all major new construction projects within their respective areas of responsibility, hence the architect’s handiwork for numerous other railway stations and, later, courthouses throughout Prussia. The closest building to be designed by P. Thoemer is the main railway station building in Gdańsk (the so-called Welcome Building), opened in 1900. The stylistic similarities between the buildings designed by the ministry indicate the central nature of planning for this institution. It is not without significance that the ideological orientation of Prussian architecture of that period (the chief architect of Prussia, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, believed that Gothic was the soul of German national identity) meant that the vast majority of public buildings were built in the neo-Gothic style.

The Kwidzyn railway station is an exceptionally representative neo-Gothic building made of red brick. It perfectly fits both the Kwidzyn neo-Gothic architectural tradition and the entire family of Prussian national public architecture. The entire project cost 200,000 marks, and the “red” shape alluded to a magnificent and unique monument in such a small town – the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist and the Pomesanian Chapter Castle. The façade is asymmetrical, and a magnificent central projection connects two wings of different heights. The projection is topped with an attic with decorative blind windows, and the two gables contain coats of arms. Various iconographic sources indicate that these were the Prussian eagle and a coat of arms referring to the Teutonic Order, although the projections were repainted at various times. In the first years after the end of World War II, a white Polish eagle was painted in the blende, and from then on, it became a symbol of the city’s Polish administrative affiliation. The building was built on a rectangular plan, with a full basement, two stories in the southern section and three stories in the northern section. The entire structure was covered by a hipped roof with dormer windows. The decorative grates with abundant, intricately crafted floral motifs undoubtedly became a very interesting and unique feature of the ground-floor windows.

The station’s functional aspect was also indistinguishable from other stations in Prussia. The entrance led to the central section – a large, spacious hall, from which one could access the ticket offices, left luggage, or the waiting room and restaurant. A preserved inscription above the entrance in the corridor suggested that in the first years of operation, there were two waiting rooms, one for first- and second-class passengers, and the other for third- and fourth-class passengers. The original, rich woodwork and decorative wall paintings, preserved to this day, indicate that the station undoubtedly served as a showcase for the railway and a representative building. The interiors were partly plastered and partly lined with carved wainscoting. The floors were made of durable ceramics. Even the ceilings – wooden beams, additionally carved in the waiting room and restaurant – accentuated this style. The side sections of the station were designated for the so-called back rooms – one section containing various office spaces, the other housing apartments, which was standard practice during the station’s construction. Employees were often provided with company apartments as well.

Kwidzyn station ultimately had three platforms. Each platform was low-rise, with two covered with a roof. The platforms were accessed via a tunnel built several years after the station itself was completed. Old postcards show that travelers initially accessed the platforms directly across the railway tracks, with the exit leading from the main hall, in the same spot where the tunnel entrance is located today. A separate restroom was added outside the building. Kwidzyn railway station was more than just a passenger station and platforms. The station grounds also housed other facilities essential at the time, such as a locomotive shed, a water tower, railway ramps, and sidings. The main station building was also part of a larger complex of railway buildings running along Kościuszki Street. The station’s final shape was influenced by subsequent lines extending into the city in the following decades. On January 15, 1900, the second line, after the Grudziądz–Malbork section, connecting Kwidzyn with Kisielice (Freystadt–Marienwerder), was opened. Kwidzyn became a junction, and the coincidence of this line’s opening date with the probable construction date of the station suggests that the station building opened at the same time as the line’s launch, or very shortly before. The construction of two further connections also had a significant impact on the development: Prabuty–Kwidzyn (Riesenburg–Marienwerder) in June 1909, and a line across the Vistula to Smętów (Schmentau) in September 1909. The ceremonial opening of the bridge over the Vistula in Opalenica (the so-called Münsterwalder Brücke) also took place at that time. In January 1901, Kwidzyn station was also joined by a narrow-gauge railway, whose track terminated near the station building, and the line—unused for passenger service—ran to the main narrow-gauge station, Marezy. The history of the subsequent stages of construction and development of the entire Kwidzyn station is undoubtedly interesting, but still awaits detailed study.

The Kwidzyn station escaped destruction during World War II. As early as April 1945, Polish authorities dispatched a group of railway workers and several Railway Protection Service employees to Kwidzyn. The pre-war Lieutenant of the Polish Army, Tadeusz Strzelecki, became the commander of the Railway Protection Service. On July 29, 1945, the station was officially opened and consecrated by the parish priest of the Holy Trinity Church, Father Szczepan Smarzych. The building and interior of the station were not damaged. The interior decoration of the rooms was preserved, although over time, individual elements “disappeared” under layers of paint due to subsequent renovations and painting. Kwidzyn remained a railway junction, although the line to Kisielice was irrevocably dismantled, and after 1947, the line to Smętów was closed due to the dismantling of a bridge over the Vistula River. The station’s recreation room, in the former waiting room, served as a place for promoting culture even into the 1960s. Exhibitions and musical concerts, such as those of the local military orchestra, were held there. However, there are few sources on the subject. Nor have many photographs survived. This was undoubtedly due to the photography ban, as railway stations were usually strategically important. Nevertheless, the Kwidzyn station was fortunate. Fortunately, despite various neglects and the passage of time, the building resisted change. Thanks to this, the revitalization project allowed the city, as the owner of the building, to recreate its historic structure almost unchanged.