A first provisional terminus opened with the inauguration of the first section of the Emperor Franz Joseph Railway from Vienna to Eggenburg in 1870.

The Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof, lavishly designed in a historicist Ringstraße style, was built at the present site from 1872 onwards and finished six years later.

In 1907 it received access to the Vienna tramway network providing a direct connection to the Westbahnhof, Nordwestbahnhof, Nordbahnhof (Praterstern) railway stations.

Re-erected in a simple manner, the reception building served as a backdrop for the 1968 film Mayerling starring Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve.

The station also hosts a grocery store supplying the local population outside regular shopping hours.