Built in 1854 as the terminus of the Hanoverian Southern Railway, the station lies west of the medieval town centre.

The planning was undertaken by Adolph Funk, Conrad Wilhelm Hase and Julius Rasch and construction was managed by Emil Hackländer.

In particular, the tracks were raised south of the station (which in the southern section involved the relocation of the line to Eichenberg) and the building of an underpass for Groner Chaussee (now Groner Landstraße), as the railway crossing was congested by the increasing traffic and it has also been decided to build a tram line.

In the course of this rebuilding, the Garte Valley Railway (Gartetalbahn), a 750mm narrow gauge railway to Duderstadt that had previously ended at the station, was cut back to run to end at its own station about 400 metres further south; this line was closed in 1959.

The first plans for the new line in Lower Saxony, submitted in 1971, provided for a route though the Weser Uplands via Holzminden.

[8] A total of 4.0 km (2.5 mi) of the tracks were adapted in the western part of the station area.

[9] With a total of 172 scheduled long-distance services arrivals and departures per day, the station held 18th place in the Deutsche Bundesbahn network in the timetable for summer 1989.

The newly built platform lifts were boarded up for months due to the lack of a Federal Railway Authority (Eisenbahn-Bundesamt) approval.

In the third phase of the rebuilding, the part of the station building next to the tracks were rebuilt with toilets and luggage lockers.

[11] As part of the economic stimulus program, the entrance building was renovated to reduce energy use by DB Station&Service in 2010/2011.

[15] On the opposite side of the station, this historical industrial monument now accommodates a large multiplex cinema and multipurpose hall for conferences and events with 5,400 m ² of meeting space and 3,000 m ² of lobby area.

The continuation of the route from Hannoversch Munden over the Dransfelder Incline required stronger locomotives for the steep gradients: these were stored and repaired in the Göttingen works.

After 1976 the works were closed, the area lay vacant for two decades and although listed in 1981 by the Niedersächsische Institut für Baudenkmalpflege at first no profitable re-use was adopted.