The station is named after one of Cologne's busiest old-town squares, on which it is also located and − to a less favorable extent − whose built environment it has shaped for the last 40 years.

With completion of the Deutz Suspension Bridge in 1915, service was complemented with suburban rail connections into Cologne's left-Rhenish districts.

This resulted in an extended feeder for the bridge and − in order to obtain exclusive right-of-way for the trains − fences, a level-crossing and traffic-signals for pedestrians.

The station was rebuilt in 1994 to accomidate low-floor trains as part of the effoert to build out a shared East-West Stadtbahn corridor.

The project's intention is to more directly link the Hauptbahnhof with Cologne's southern districts, with Heumarkt station in-between.