A Night Full of Adventure: Nuremberg Central Station at Midnight | Sitting Alone in an Empty Station
As I boarded the train from Frankfurt to Nuremberg, I knew it was going to be a
late-night arrival. I’d probably reach there by midnight. Sure enough, I arrived
at Nuremberg Central Station at 2:30 AM on October 1, 2024.
Realizing it wasn’t the best idea to look for a hotel at that hour, I decided to wait it out at the station. After all, it was just a matter of a few hours—I could check in at my residence at 8:00 AM. Now that I’ve visited Nuremberg Station several times, I know it pretty well, but that night of 01st of October 2024 was completely different.
At first, I wandered around, looking for a corner to sit in. I noticed a few elderly people quietly sitting on the first floor of the station, so I assumed it would be safe to stay near them. I headed upstairs and found a spot. The station was eerily quiet, with just a handful of people moving about.
As I sat there, after a while I realized the “quiet” didn’t mean calm. Some of the people sleeping nearby weren’t just tired—they were dead drunk. One man sitting two seats away from me suddenly lost his balance mid-sleep, and a bottle of beer slipped from his hand, spilling everywhere. He didn’t even notice. He simply adjusted himself and went back to sleep. There was another man who had his phone in his hand, a video playing in the background but he was sleeping unusually.
Another intriguing character caught my attention. He would sleep for 10-15 minutes, wake up, reach into his pocket, and take out eight coins of 20 cents each. He’d count them meticulously, put them back, and fall asleep again. He repeated this four times. That’s how I knew exactly how many coins he had!
Despite the oddities, I was fine. I was texting my family to let them know I’d reached Nuremberg when a man sat across from me. We exchanged polite smiles, and I guessed he might also be a student traveling like me. His presence made me feel a bit more comfortable.
After an hour, I decided to grab something to eat, I could see a Burger King on the first floor. Just as I was about to stand up, a tall, strong-built man approached me. At first, he stared at me for a few seconds; I could see he held a handful of coins and asked me something in German. Judging by his gestures, as much I could understand he wanted me to count them for him.
I quickly said, “I am sorry Sir, I don’t understand German,”; something just didn’t feel right, I immediately stood up and walked straight toward the Burger King shop. As I just entered the shop, I could hear him yelling abusive words—not directed at me, but at the man who had been sitting across from me.
Soon, the police arrived and escorted the drunk man out of the station. I watched it all from inside the shop. By then, it was around 4:30 AM, and I realized it wasn’t safe to stay any longer. I decided to head to Erlangen early. Navigating the ticket machine was another adventure. That night I only saw elderly people around the station, and they didn’t speak English. But after several attempts, one kind man understood what I needed and helped me buy a ticket. Surprisingly, he did not understand English either.
I boarded the train to Erlangen, but I made a mistake along the way.
As the train traveled, I noticed “Bruck Erlangen” on the screen—a name I recognized because it was exactly where my arranged accommodation was. I thought to myself, this is also a station, right? Why cannot we get down here instead of going Erlangen. Assuming the ‘Bruck’ station a formal station, I decided to get off there.
It was certainly not a wise decision!
Bruck unfortunately wasn’t a proper station—it was just a small platform under an open sky. While I was getting off the train, I did not even notice that thing, as I was so focused on meeting the speed of the train door closing while carrying my heavy luggage. As the train pulled away, I looked around and saw... no one!!! Not a single human being or living soul was there at that station that night.
The silence was overwhelming. I checked the schedule board: and saw that the next train to Erlangen wouldn’t arrive for another 24 minutes.
I could not remember when was last time I was that scared. For a while, I was feeling so angry, at myself for this poor decision of mine. I guess it was a fear response. After a few minutes (basically after carefully looking around for potential risks) I decided to sit down on one of the available benches. I reminded myself that there was nothing that I could do in these 24 minutes. If something bad happens, it happens; there’s no way we could prevent that. So, I calmed myself down, sat there, and waited. The train did not come after 24 minutes by the way; now after three months of staying here, I know that sometimes late-night trains can get canceled.
As the sky began to lighten slightly, my fear eased.
Around 5:30 AM, a few people started arriving at the platform. Seeing a human felt different. I almost thought that the train had left me at an abandoned station. I even chatted with an Indian man waiting for his train.
Instead of going to Erlangen, I decided to stay at Bruck and wait until it was time to check in at my residence, which had been arranged by the President’s Welcome Award (PWA) team of FAU.
By 7:30 AM, I finally started walking toward my destination— 'The Brucklyn Apartments’, the place I would call home for the next 12 months.
Realizing it wasn’t the best idea to look for a hotel at that hour, I decided to wait it out at the station. After all, it was just a matter of a few hours—I could check in at my residence at 8:00 AM. Now that I’ve visited Nuremberg Station several times, I know it pretty well, but that night of 01st of October 2024 was completely different.
At first, I wandered around, looking for a corner to sit in. I noticed a few elderly people quietly sitting on the first floor of the station, so I assumed it would be safe to stay near them. I headed upstairs and found a spot. The station was eerily quiet, with just a handful of people moving about.
As I sat there, after a while I realized the “quiet” didn’t mean calm. Some of the people sleeping nearby weren’t just tired—they were dead drunk. One man sitting two seats away from me suddenly lost his balance mid-sleep, and a bottle of beer slipped from his hand, spilling everywhere. He didn’t even notice. He simply adjusted himself and went back to sleep. There was another man who had his phone in his hand, a video playing in the background but he was sleeping unusually.
Another intriguing character caught my attention. He would sleep for 10-15 minutes, wake up, reach into his pocket, and take out eight coins of 20 cents each. He’d count them meticulously, put them back, and fall asleep again. He repeated this four times. That’s how I knew exactly how many coins he had!
Despite the oddities, I was fine. I was texting my family to let them know I’d reached Nuremberg when a man sat across from me. We exchanged polite smiles, and I guessed he might also be a student traveling like me. His presence made me feel a bit more comfortable.
After an hour, I decided to grab something to eat, I could see a Burger King on the first floor. Just as I was about to stand up, a tall, strong-built man approached me. At first, he stared at me for a few seconds; I could see he held a handful of coins and asked me something in German. Judging by his gestures, as much I could understand he wanted me to count them for him.
I quickly said, “I am sorry Sir, I don’t understand German,”; something just didn’t feel right, I immediately stood up and walked straight toward the Burger King shop. As I just entered the shop, I could hear him yelling abusive words—not directed at me, but at the man who had been sitting across from me.
Soon, the police arrived and escorted the drunk man out of the station. I watched it all from inside the shop. By then, it was around 4:30 AM, and I realized it wasn’t safe to stay any longer. I decided to head to Erlangen early. Navigating the ticket machine was another adventure. That night I only saw elderly people around the station, and they didn’t speak English. But after several attempts, one kind man understood what I needed and helped me buy a ticket. Surprisingly, he did not understand English either.
I boarded the train to Erlangen, but I made a mistake along the way.
As the train traveled, I noticed “Bruck Erlangen” on the screen—a name I recognized because it was exactly where my arranged accommodation was. I thought to myself, this is also a station, right? Why cannot we get down here instead of going Erlangen. Assuming the ‘Bruck’ station a formal station, I decided to get off there.
It was certainly not a wise decision!
Bruck unfortunately wasn’t a proper station—it was just a small platform under an open sky. While I was getting off the train, I did not even notice that thing, as I was so focused on meeting the speed of the train door closing while carrying my heavy luggage. As the train pulled away, I looked around and saw... no one!!! Not a single human being or living soul was there at that station that night.
The silence was overwhelming. I checked the schedule board: and saw that the next train to Erlangen wouldn’t arrive for another 24 minutes.
I could not remember when was last time I was that scared. For a while, I was feeling so angry, at myself for this poor decision of mine. I guess it was a fear response. After a few minutes (basically after carefully looking around for potential risks) I decided to sit down on one of the available benches. I reminded myself that there was nothing that I could do in these 24 minutes. If something bad happens, it happens; there’s no way we could prevent that. So, I calmed myself down, sat there, and waited. The train did not come after 24 minutes by the way; now after three months of staying here, I know that sometimes late-night trains can get canceled.
As the sky began to lighten slightly, my fear eased.
Around 5:30 AM, a few people started arriving at the platform. Seeing a human felt different. I almost thought that the train had left me at an abandoned station. I even chatted with an Indian man waiting for his train.
Instead of going to Erlangen, I decided to stay at Bruck and wait until it was time to check in at my residence, which had been arranged by the President’s Welcome Award (PWA) team of FAU.
By 7:30 AM, I finally started walking toward my destination— 'The Brucklyn Apartments’, the place I would call home for the next 12 months.
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