Situated at the junction of several important routes, it is the largest railway station in the Lower Silesia Voivodeship, as well as in Poland in terms of the number of passengers serviced.

The station was built in 1855–1857, as the starting point of the Oberschlesische Eisenbahn (Upper Silesian Railway), as well as the line from Breslau to Glogau via Posen.

Its designer was the royal Prussian architect Wilhelm Grapow, and in the mid-19th century, it was located near the southern outskirts of the city, as the areas to the south had not yet been urbanized.

In the late 19th century, when the government of the German Empire heavily invested in railway construction, the station was extended.

During World War II, Polish resistance from the group Zagra-Lin successfully attacked a Nazi troop transport on the station on 23 April 1943.

A commemorative plate honoring their actions was placed after Nazi Germany was defeated and Breslau, together with Silesia, was incorporated into Poland,[3][4][5][6] its German population expelled.