As, on the one hand, it was desirable for the station to be as close to the city centre as possible, and on the other hand, a crossing of the deep Iller Valley at a reasonable cost was only possible at a narrow point one kilometre south of the city, it was decided to build a terminus,[3] used for both passengers and freight.

In 1853, the station was equipped with a structure designated as the "administration building", a covered “home” platform, an entrance hall and a freight shed.

The administration building had three full floors and a mezzanine, a low sloping roof supported by purlins, reflecting the traditional architecture of the Alpine foothills.

The commissioning of the Neu-Ulm–Kempten railway on 1 June 1863 and a substantial increase in traffic led to the first reconstructions of the platform and track facilities in 1869.

[5] The opening of the Außerfern Railway to Pfronten on 1 December 1895 and the line to Isny on 15 October 1909 led to further changes to the station.

On 1 July 1907, the Kempten bypass railway was opened, which relieved the terminal station of through traffic, especially freight trains.

At the same time the engine depot was moved about two kilometres from the terminal station to the south of the marshalling yard.

The station building was built west of the platforms and was planned to handle ticket sales of 1,500 and the clearance of 8.5 tons of luggage each day.

Particular importance was attached to the seven metre wide tunnel to the platforms, the first time that DB had installed as a common structure for the transport of luggage and passengers.

The station forecourt was built with parking lots, bus stops and a taxi stand and connected by a grade-separated interchange with federal highway 19.

A relay interlocking was built south of the entrance building, replaced eleven old signal boxes.

The depot east of the passenger station was significantly reduced in scope after the switch from steam to diesel traction.