 The station was a trial area for a CCTV scheme using automated face recognition.The current station was built as a central station from 1882 to 1884 according to the plans of Philipp Johann Berdellé (1838–1903) as part of the expansion of the city after the Franco-Prussian War.Under the "Rheinschifffahrtsakte" (Rhine navigation treaty) of 1831, Mainz lost its right to impose a "stapelrecht" (pile right, a medieval right apparently first granted by Charlemagne to some cities, including Mainz, to require river traders to unload goods in its marketplace for a specified number of days and offer them for sale or make payment in lieu) and thus its trading port and its high tariffs could be avoided.