Potsdam Pirschheide train station
| Potsdam Pirschheide | |
|---|---|
 Lower platform, 2005
|
|
| Data | |
| Location in the network | Crossing station |
| Design | Tower station |
| Platform tracks | 1 (formerly 6) |
| abbreviation | BPDP |
| IBNR | 8010279 |
| Price range | 6th |
| opening | January 18, 1958 |
| Conveyance | May 28, 1999 (upper platforms) |
| Profile on Bahnhof.de | Potsdam_Pirschheide |
| Architectural data | |
| architect | Wolfgang Dreßler, Walter Mempel |
| location | |
| City / municipality | Potsdam |
| country | Brandenburg |
| Country | Germany |
| Coordinates | 52 ° 22 '22 " N , 13 ° 0' 40" E |
| Railway lines | |
|
|
| Railway stations in Brandenburg | |
The Potsdam Pirschheide station opened in 1958 as the station Potsdam South , which was from 1961 to 1993 the main station of Potsdam and after the station Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld , the main station of Berlin outer ring .
Although the train station is far away from the city center on the edge of the Pirschheide in the south-west of the city, in its heyday as the main train station it was able to boast high passenger numbers and often reached its capacity limits. With the reunification , however, the station rapidly lost its importance and was almost completely shut down except for one platform track in the lower part of the station.
The preserved buildings of the station are under monument protection.
history
prehistory
Due to the four-power status of the former imperial capital and the deepening division between Berlin and Germany, the situation in rail traffic in and around West Berlin became more complicated for the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) in the GDR . To solve this problem, a bypass was planned, which should ensure the connection of the north-west, west and south-west Berlin area with the current capital of the GDR, Berlin (East) , bypassing West Berlin. Large parts of the new outer ring were completed by 1954, and on September 30, 1956, the last section of the Golm - Saarmund ring, crossing Lake Templin on the outskirts of Potsdam, was put into operation.
Construction and commissioning
The station at the intersection of the Berlin outer ring with the railway lines from Potsdam Stadt (today Potsdam Hauptbahnhof) - Seddin Güterbahnhof / Seddin - Michendorf and the Berlin outer ring with a branch to the line to Werder - Brandenburg was built in 1956/57 and on January 18, 1958 officially inaugurated under the name Potsdam Süd . It is located in the Pirschheide, about 0.8 km from the southern end of the urban development and 3 km from the city center.
The station was designed by the design office of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Wolfgang Dreßler and Walter Mempel are named as architects. The structure was designed as a tower station at the intersection of the two railway lines and had a platform with two tracks in the lower part of the station and two central platforms with four tracks and two through tracks for (very heavy) freight traffic in the upper part. All platforms were connected to one another by means of stairs and tunnels. A larger station building was built in the typical architectural style of the late 1950s. From its hall a tunnel led to the lower platform and another tunnel to the stairs for the upper platforms. In addition to the ticket issuing facility, the building housed typical railway station facilities for trade and gastronomy as well as rooms for railway employees.
Significance in the GDR
The station was renamed Potsdam Hauptbahnhof on October 2, 1960 . The old Potsdam train station , which was closer to the city center, was named Potsdam Stadt and, after the construction of the Berlin Wall, was only used for local transport with diesel trains until 1990. The entire long-distance traffic affecting Potsdam and also interzonal trains ( Aachen / Cologne - Görlitz and Rostock - Munich ) were handled here. The fast local traffic to Berlin (East), which was operated with initially dark green, later red-beige double-decker trains, became known under the unofficial name Sputnik . The upper tracks were often overloaded, so that it was not uncommon for trains to wait on the open track. Local trains ran from the lower platform to Babelsberg via Potsdam City and in the direction of Wildpark or Beelitz - Jüterbog.
A new line of the Potsdam tram with a terminus at the station forecourt was put into operation on January 11, 1958. In addition, a bus station , a taxi stand, a petrol station and parking spaces for bicycles were built.
Consequences of the reunification from 1990
With the reunification, the station lost its importance, as long-distance passenger traffic was again conducted via the Berlin Stadtbahn instead of the Berlin outer ring . Since 1991, no long-distance trains have stopped at the station, which was renamed Potsdam Pirschheide in 1993 . The station Potsdam city received its original function as a central railway station of the city and became in 1999 the main station Potsdam renamed. Pirschheide station initially remained important in regional traffic. In addition to the Sputnik trains to Werder (Havel) and Berlin-Schönefeld Airport - Berlin-Karlshorst every hour, there were trains on the western outer ring to Falkenhagen or at times on the continuous route Oranienburg - Ludwigsfelde until 1994 . In the mid-1990s there was a brief attempt to set up a regional express line from Potsdam to Finsterwalde and Cottbus . Despite a direct tram feeder in Pirschheide, this line was not a success and was discontinued in 1997. Trains run from the lower part of the station every two hours in the direction of Beelitz - Jüterbog or Potsdam Stadt. The ticket offices in the station were closed in 1994 due to a lack of demand, the shops even before that.
In 1998 the direct line to Schönefeld got a new route and has since operated through the lower part of the station, the connection to Jüterbog was omitted. A single pair of trains from Strausberg to Golm remained on the upper tracks until 1999 . This part of the station has been closed since 1999. Only the two through tracks are in operation.
Development after the closure of the upper platforms
After years of closure, the facility became a ghost train station abandoned to disrepair . Wild growth on the platforms, smashed panes of the sealed-off stairwells and boarded-up waiting rooms characterize the picture, all walls are painted with graffiti , only the platform roof is still intact. The tracks on the platforms of the "upper station" and all switch connections have been removed. Only the two continuous main tracks still exist. The old information displays from Czechoslovak production on the upper platforms are still there, even if they are no longer functional and without windows. Since the electrification of the lower track in 1999, only one track (track 1, the former track 7) has been in operation. The exit signals of the crossing track are darkened, but operational. The course is set, but still there.
The lower platform is used by regional traffic. From 1998 to 2011 the RB 22 line ran there from Potsdam via Caputh to Schönefeld, and the RB 23 regional train line from Potsdam to Michendorf has stopped in Pirschheide since December 2011. Since then, line RB 22 has been running again via the Berlin outer ring, but without stopping through the facilities of the former upper part of the station in Pirschheide.
In the immediate vicinity of the train station are the Sparkasse Academy, several hotels and the Templiner See and Pirschheide recreational areas, which are interesting for day trippers . A restart of the upper platforms has been investigated since 2008 in order to link the lines RB 22 and RB 23 and thus enable a transfer from Caputh and Michendorf in the direction of Schönefeld (BER airport). Furthermore, there would then be a transition from the RB 22 to bus and tram traffic to Potsdam and Werder. In 2017, demolition work took place on the roofs of the upper platform.
Both parts of the station are to be completely renewed and modernized by 2021 and 2022 respectively. The old platforms in the upper part of the station are no longer to be put into operation, but platforms are to be built on the existing through tracks. Work is not planned to start until 2020 at the earliest. The development of a new city quarter with several hundred new apartments is also being planned in the vicinity of the station.
Station building
The station building from 1958 was closed at the turn of 2006/07. Since then, the lower platform can be reached from the station forecourt directly via the former platform 8 and from the bridge at the southern end of the platform. The tunnel from the upper station to the reception building was demolished in 2012. The stairs from the upper to the lower train station have also been locked. A bowling inn located in the building remained open. Other parts of the building fell into disrepair. Demolition plans that have already been brought into play were opposed to the architecture in the functional architectural style of the late 1950s, a listed building since 2013, which would justify preservation in the event of new use.
In 2012 an entrepreneur from Werder (Havel) acquired the station building. He originally planned to use the site for his company. After a different solution arose for the company premises, he planned to use the building as a cultural center. The bowling inn is to remain in the building. In the following year, the "Potsdam-Pirschheide station with paved forecourt" was added to the list of monuments of the state of Brandenburg. In spring 2017 the event location “Pirschheide” opened in the former entrance hall of the building.
traffic
The station is only served by regional line 23 (lower part of the station), the RB 22 passes through the former upper part of the station without stopping.
The tram lines 91 and 98 as well as the bus line 695 of the Potsdam transport company stop at the station forecourt, as well as the overland bus lines 580, 631 and the night bus line N31.
| line | route |
|---|---|
| RB 23 | Potsdam main station - Potsdam Pirschheide - Ferch-Lienewitz - Seddin - Michendorf |
Web links
- Entry in the monument database of the State of Brandenburg
- Current pictures of the condition of the station
- Disused train stations on the Berlin outer ring
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Erich Preuß, Reiner Preuß: Chronicle of the Deutsche Reichsbahn 1945-1993, Railway in the GDR. GeraMond, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-7654-7094-3 , p. 54.
- ^ Bahn-Report , Issue 4/2008, pp. 43–44
- ↑ Traffic study of railway infrastructure measures in the Potsdam and Michendorf area. (PDF; 4.4 MB) Ministry of Infrastructure and Agriculture Brandenburg and Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg, June 30, 2011, accessed on April 22, 2012 .
- ↑ Start work at the Pirschheide station In: [Potsdamer Latest News], April 18, 2017, online .
- ↑ New platforms for Pirschheide. In: [Potsdam Latest News], December 13, 2016, online
- ^ Wohnquartier am Templiner See In: [Potsdamer Latest News], February 22, 2018, online .
- ↑ Step by step. Werderan entrepreneur wants to establish a cultural center in the counter hall of the old main station. In: Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung , March 12, 2013, online .
- ↑ List of monuments of the state of Brandenburg, status: December 31, 2013, City of Potsdam, online ; for comparison, see the list as of December 31, 2012
- ↑ [Bahn-Report], 4/2017, p. 40.