Quick Question on Train Transfers

It really depends on the station. Some stations are small and a 6 minute transfer can be made in no time. Theoretically, DB wouldn't suggest those transfer times without being pretty sure you can make them.

That said, many factors can come into play, such as heavy luggage, or lack of good mobility. So keep in mind that when you order online at Deutsche Bahn, you can increase the transfer time if you think it's too short. To increase it, just click on details to get all the transfer times. Right under the transfer will be a small box with the words, "Increase Transfer Time." Click that and follow the instructions.

It helps to be ready to exit the train with your baggage before it gets to your stop. That is, don't dawdle in your seat or you could be jammed in by passengers getting on your train. You should know how many stop there will be before your stop, and the names of the ones before. If I'm worried about it because I see the train is full and I might get delayed exiting, I've often been up and waiting in the door area before the train comes to a stop.

6-10 minutes is plenty of time at small stations, but I would personally like a bit more if changing at a major station like Frankfurt Hbf or Hamburg Hbf.

But in general, short transfer times is the norm and in many stations trains are scheduled to have smooth connections to each other.

Great info, thanks everyone.

To be honest, in a station like Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, or Munich, which are dead end stations, the transfer might be faster unless you are at the back of the train. Compared to cities where you have to go up and down steps with your bags which takes longer. Or at least it takes me longer. If you are at the end of the train which is ending at a dead end station, I would certainly walk forward to the front. This is when travel with a carry-on only is helpful.

It's not only about luggage, the construction of train stations, etc... The elephant in the room for this thread is that trains often run late in Germany these days. On average, only 62.5% of the long-distance trains in Germany were on time in 2024, according to DB. And DB does not put the "LATE" label on its trains if they are just 1-5 minutes late... a train must be 6 minutes late for that designation. So for your own sake, do not count on getting to your transfer station at the scheduled time! Chances are very good that you will have less time than scheduled between trains.

and it is possible that the train you are connecting onto may itself be late - check carefully before boarding

All of the above is true, and that makes a good reason for making sure you have downloaded the DB Navigator app, as that will (should) keep you informed about train delays and track changes via push notification.

there must be variables such as track numbers and specific stations

For the variables travelers can check the DB station pages, often inciluding map and / or track plan. Be aware to enter the original German station names, e. g. "München Hbf" instead of Munich main station.

An overview of shops and restaurants at stations incl. opening times travelers can find here (German language only).

The on line trip planners will not propose impossible short transfers. And generally the transfer times allocated are on the generous side. Most of the time the minimum transfer time is set to 5 minutes, except for where it needs to be larger (eg in Munich between the different sections) or where it can be shorter (eg. cross platform transfers).
So just buy whatever the railway proposes to you. And at the station just follow the signs.

And it does happen that trains run late, but if you miss a connection due to a delay you just take the next one. If you have a ticket the railways must bring you to your destination. If not with your booked train, then with another.

But on my last 4 trips through Germany I only missed one connection. And that was the last one (in Basel) which in my case meant only half an hour later than expected home, so not a tragedy. Central European railways run a frequent "everywhere to everywhere" network, where there will always be a train to get you to where you need to be.

Look at the Track information on the DB website or Navigator app. Occasionally you will see that the arrival track and the connection track is the same. That means your arriving train will stop, you get off, then the train departs and 5 minutes later, your connecting train arrives on the same track and you board. You don't have to move. At other times, your connecting train will be on an adjacent track on the same platform, meaning you just have to walk a few meters across the platform for your connection. You really need to look at the station diagram MarkK showed to determine if this is the case. The larger station diagram is often also shown with a link to the pdf on the DB website.

"It really depends on the station." How true.

The worse Hbf. to do a transfer in the summer is Hamburg Hbf. I can't think of any other train station summer time in Germany where it is more taxing to change with luggage in tow under a time pressure. Maybe Rostock?

As noted there can be an issue with trains running late. 5=10 minutes is usually a reasonable amount of time in smaller stations, where often all you need to do is walk across the platform. The issue when your train is 7 minutes late for a 5 minute connection, and the next train on the same route is an hour later. There's nothing quite the same as sitting on a small concrete pad without a shelter in a rain waiting for a train. (Cue country western song...)

It is really good to learn the alternate routings if you can. I missed a connection (with a dozen other riders) a couple weeks ago traveling to Frankfurt. Instead of waiting an hour most of us jumped on the train to Mainz 10 minutes later, because there are trains to FRA from MAZ every 15 minutes. So instead of standing around for an hour we took a half hour detour. Try not to have to make changes is the smaller hubs if you can avoid it.

Great info everyone, thanks.