Bad Salzungen station was opened in 1858 by the private Werra Railway Company (Werra-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) and soon developed into a hub on the Werra Railway. Its importance continued to grow with the opening in 1879 of the first metre-gauge railway in Germany, the nearby Dorndorf–Kaltennordheim railway (Feldabahn or Felda Railway), the opening in 1889 of the line to Liebenstein-Schweina, which branched off in the neighbouring Immelborn station, and the steadily increasing potash production in the nearby Werra potash district. Therefore the Felda Railway was converted to standard gauge in sections from 1906 until 1934.
