At the western end of the station is the beginning of Bahnhofstraße (station street), which runs over the Friedrich Ebert Bridge and is a direct extension of Kaiserstraße running to Marktplatz (market square), the historic centre of Heilbronn.

The main building was completed in 1958 to a design by Hellmut Kasel, based on a preliminary draft by Emil Schuh.

The west wing has a large open terrace on the ground floor and the former restaurant upstairs.

On the eastern wall of the reception building is a colourful metal relief in silicate paint and wrought iron made in 1958 by Peter Jakob Schober, called "Travel by train—Heilbronn and the world" (Reisen mit der Bahn—Heilbronn und die Welt), which includes symbols of Heilbronn and the world.

The stops for buses and the Stadtbahn outside the station was renamed at the 2013/2014 timetable change in December 2013.

The original Heilbronn station of 1848 was built a little further east on the Neckar River near the harbour.

The re-routing of the line and the increase in traffic meant that a new station was built at the current location in 1873.