The station is situated under the Hauptwache square at the western end of the Zeil, Frankfurt's main shopping street.

Construction began in 1963 on a line between the Nordweststadt (a new housing estate in the north-western suburbs) and the city centre.

The S-Bahn reached Hauptwache on 28 May 1978, when the first section of the City Tunnel from the central station to was opened.

[7] Hauptwache was the terminus of the S-Bahn until 1983, when the City Tunnel was extended to Konstablerwache, at the other end of the Zeil.

The east-west U-Bahn C Line (services U6 and U7) began running through Hauptwache in 1986,[8] using platforms which had already been built at the same time as those for the S-Bahn.