Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof

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Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof
South facade and platforms, 1881
South facade and platforms, 1881
Data
Location in the network Terminal station (long-distance train)
Separation station (S-Bahn)
Design End station (long-distance train)
through station and tunnel station (S-Bahn)
Platform tracks 4 (S-Bahn)
abbreviation BAHU (S-Bahn)
IBNR 8089002
Price range 3
opening July 1, 1841 (long-distance train station)
October 9, 1939 (S-Bahn station)
Conveyance May 18, 1952 (long-distance train station)
Architectural data
architect Franz Schwechten (long-distance train station)
Richard Brademann (S-Bahn station)
location
City / municipality Berlin
Place / district Kreuzberg
country Berlin
Country Germany
Coordinates 52 ° 30 '11 "  N , 13 ° 22' 55"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 30 '11 "  N , 13 ° 22' 55"  E
Railway lines
Railway stations in Berlin
i16 i16

Anhalter Bahnhof with Askanischer Platz , around 1910

Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof was one of the most important long-distance train stations in Berlin until the middle of the 20th century. Today the station of the same name of the underground north-south S-Bahn is still in operation.

Before the Second World War, the station was the most important station for connections to central and southern Germany, Austria and Italy . The imposing station building was badly damaged in the Allied air raids . The remains of the facilities were demolished in 1959 despite strong public protests. Today the fragment of the portico and the underground S-Bahn are reminiscent of the once famous long-distance train station.

location

The terminus was at Askanischer Platz on Stresemannstrasse near Potsdamer Platz in the west of the Berlin-Kreuzberg district . The first station building was built directly in front of the Anhalter Tor of the Berlin customs wall by the Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company as the end point of the Berlin – Halle railway line . The “Anhalter Bahn” connected Berlin with the Princely or Duchy of Anhalt , today part of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt .

The name Askanischer Platz for the place where the train station is located and a number of streets in the vicinity of the train station named after cities in Anhalt make a reference to Anhalt.

history

The Berlin-Anhalt Railway

The first Anhalter Bahnhof formed the northern end of the Berlin-Anhalt Railway, which was built in 1839 and opened in 1841 . The main line led via Jüterbog , Wittenberg , Roßlau and Dessau to Köthen (Anhalt) , where it met the existing Magdeburg-Leipzig railway . From Jüterbog a line branched off to Röderau (on the Elbe , north of Riesa ), which was also used in part by the trains to Dresden . During the construction of the station, for the first time in railway history, "a sharp separation of the facilities for passenger and freight traffic was carried out, which of course required a second bridge over the Landwehrgraben east of that for the main line."

The first Anhalter Bahnhof was built under the direction of the architect C. Gustav Holtzmann and inaugurated on July 1, 1841. Due to the increase in rail users, the station was expanded several times.

German Empire and First World War

Interior view of the new building in the year of commissioning, 1880
Track hall to the south, 1880
Track systems in the vicinity of the Anhalter Bahnhof, 1877

Although planning began as early as 1861, "the complete renovation of the Anhalter Bahnhof [...] was not decided by the company's shareholders until the spring of 1871 - after the German Empire was founded on January 18, 1871."

After initial drafts, the Berlin architect Franz Schwechten was commissioned to build the new station building. He planned an imposing station concourse with a reception building arranged across in front of it over a six-meter-high basement. The increase in the level of the track was necessary because the railway line coming from the south over the Teltow plateau crossed the Landwehr Canal on bridges, but the riverside roads crossed on the same level and constantly interrupted traffic there. Schwechten used the Greppin clinker brick and a large number of different terracotta molded bricks as material. The architectural structure of the hall wall on the plaza side was legendary. The arched gable wall was supported by a double-shell row of arches on narrow pillars. The hall construction made of half-timbered iron trusses was realized by Heinrich Seidel, a well-known writer . With a height of 34 meters and a truss length of 62 meters, the hall had the largest span on the continent at that time. "The roof spans a space of 10,200 m² freely and without any support, so that 40,000 people can stay under it at the same time." The construction time of the technically complex and complex structure was six years, from 1874 to 1880. The new building was called Berlin-Anhaltischer The railway station was inaugurated on June 15, 1880 by Kaiser Wilhelm I and Otto von Bismarck . While the Kaiser proclaimed “a new age, the great railway age” in his address, Bismarck had previously said: “These railways, they only hinder traffic!” Of course, there was also a separate, separate waiting area for the Kaiser and the “highest and most high lords ”. The archway of the entrance, which led to these rooms on the west side of the station, has been preserved and is shown in the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Transport and Technology .

From 1882, the trains of the Dresdener Bahn also departed from the Anhalter Bahnhof because the traffic flow became increasingly difficult due to the crossing of the two railway lines.

Large state receptions were held at the Anhalter Bahnhof when Kaiser Wilhelm II received foreign state guests. May 21, 1913 was an outstanding event. On this day, the Russian Tsar Nicholas II arrived at the wedding of the Emperor's daughter Viktoria Luise at the Anhalter Bahnhof.

The railway connections to Halle (Saale) , Leipzig , Frankfurt am Main and Munich ran from Anhalter Bahnhof via the Anhalter Bahn and to Dresden via the Dresdener Bahn . Berlin was connected to Vienna , Budapest , Trieste , Marienbad , Karlsbad (in Austria-Hungary ), Rome , Milan , Genoa , Venice , Marseille , Nice , Cannes and Athens via the Anhalter Bahnhof . There was even a direct connection to Naples . It was also a possible starting point for trips to Africa, because the trains from Berlin to Trieste and Naples had a boat connection to Alexandria in Egypt , where there was a train connection to Cairo and Khartoum . In addition to express trains and express trains of Deutsche Reichsbahn , the wrong here luxury trains of CIWL , such as the Riviera Express . During the First World War , the Balkan train to Istanbul started in Anhalter Bahnhof. Around 1900 85 suburban trains as well as 27 passenger trains and 26 express and express trains were handled per day.

“During the First World War , troop transports drove directly to the front from the Anhalter Bahnhof. [...] Towards the end of the First World War, black marketeers and smugglers came [...] unemployed and starving. […] At no other place in Berlin was the chance of escaping a sudden police raid unrecognized as great as in the spacious corridors and underground halls of the Anhalter Bahnhof. "

Weimar Republic and National Socialism

Just a few years after the decline, “the old shine was back. [...] The luxury travel wave began in the twenties. The Central European Sleeping Car and Dining Wagon AG ( MITROPA ) developed the comfortable saloon cars of the new generation of passenger trains . “After the nobility , the upper middle class could increasingly travel to the popular holiday destinations on the Italian or French Riviera , the North Sea and Baltic Sea coast or in the Swiss Alps Afford.

Since 1928, the station was connected directly to the Hotel Excelsior by the Excelsior tunnel (known as the "longest hotel tunnel in the world") . There were five sales rooms under Königgrätzer Strasse, today's Stresemannstrasse. “In the twenties and thirties, the Berlin crowd met at Askanischer Platz [...]. [...] from the summer timetable 1935 [among] the trains running within Germany speed rail cars [...] for daily image of the pickup station. "On 28 July 1936, the station received a direct after two years of construction, light rail connection.

In 1929, according to the Bahn-Reise-Magazin, Beideits vom Eisenbahnbahn , 100 trains a day served around 20,000 passengers a day. During the Leipzig trade fair there were even 60,000.

In the days of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, a train is said to have departed or arrived at Anhalter Bahnhof about every two minutes. In the renovation plans for Berlin under the rule of the National Socialists , the large long-distance train stations should also give way. Two gigantic main stations in the north and south of the city as well as two huge freight stations were planned.

Paul Celan traveled - of all things - the day after the pogroms of November 9, 1938 through Berlin, on his way to study medicine in Tours, France . He described the scene, which heralded far greater disaster, in 1963: "Via Kraków / you came, at the hitchhiker's / train station / smoke streamed towards you, / it was from tomorrow."

Second World War

Stele in memory of the deportations of Jews

Until 1943, operations at the Anhalter Bahnhof remained unaffected by air raids . From 1942, however, the number of incoming and outgoing trains decreased significantly. The picture now determined the front vacationers , hospital trains and "the black-clad SS henchmen who spread out in the hustle and bustle of the Anhalter Bahnhof."

From June 1942 Jews were also deported from the Anhalter passenger station. These were so-called “Alterstransporte”, with which Berlin Jews were brought to the Theresienstadt concentration camp . The transports usually took place in the morning with scheduled trains to which one or two third-class passenger cars were attached. A total of over 9,600 people were deported from the Anhalter passenger station in 116 trains. Further deportations took place from the Grunewald train station and the Moabit freight station . A total of over 50,000 Jews were deported from Berlin. Since January 27, 2008, a stele behind the portal ruins has been commemorating the deportation of Jews from Anhalter Bahnhof.

As part of the immediate Führer program , bunkers for passers-by, travelers and residents were built at selected busy centers - including the high-rise bunker at Anhalter Bahnhof . It was intended for an occupancy of 3000 people.

After the station building was badly damaged by Allied air raids on February 3, 1945 and burned out, it was only cleared and made makeshift operational. The four hall walls were still standing and were classified as rebuildable on a damage map. The collapsed steel structure of the hall roof was cut up and removed.

"The population now only used the railways for [...] mass exodus from the devastated Berlin, which the supervisory authorities can no longer control [...]"

Battle for the Anhalter Bahnhof in 1945

After the start of the bombardment of the city center in the Battle of Berlin , the residents of southern parts of the city sought protection in the facilities of the Anhalter Bahnhof, the only monumental building freely accessible to the population. The roof was already badly damaged by air raids, but the walls offered protection against the artillery.

An officer of a German tank unit reports:

“New command post at Anhalter Bahnhof. Platforms and counter rooms resemble an army camp. Women and children crowd into niches and corners. Others sit on their folding chairs. They listen to the noise of the fighting. The impacts shake the tunnel ceiling. Pieces of concrete break off. The smell of powder and billows of smoke in the shafts. Hospital trains of the S-Bahn that slowly roll on. "

- Diary of the Müncheberg Panzer Division : April 26, 1945
Berlin 1947: in the middle today's Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus , at the bottom right the station hall
The small porch on the right of the ruin is the still preserved portal

The underground floors and the S-Bahn station were also filled with people and the Anhalter bunker next door was three to four times overcrowded. The Anhalter freight yard  - the warehouses, workshops, rows of wagons and locomotive sheds - provided good conditions for the defense. The inner defense line of Berlin ran along the nearby Landwehr Canal.

On April 25th, the Soviet troops in Neukölln moved over Hermannplatz ( Karstadt blown up ) and over Hasenheide to Mehringplatz .

The German troops now gathered behind the Landwehr Canal and on the evening of April 26th a mobile Wehrmacht command blew up the bridges from the Reichsbahndirektion building to over Hallesche Tor .

A little later - on the night of April 27, 1945 - the first tanks of the Red Army under the leadership of Colonel General Tschuikow arrived at the Landwehr Canal. However, the destroyed bridges and the well-positioned defense on the north bank had stopped the advance for the time being.

According to unanimous reports, April 27 was a kind of "day of rest for the troops" on this section, on which the bombardment was only sporadic. On April 28, “the whole day [...] the Soviet reconnaissance activity stopped in order to investigate the tunnels that led under the canal [...]. It turned out that the narrow tunnels had all been barricaded and manned at regular intervals so that they could not be used for the advance. "

On April 29, the attack began, which succeeded in the course of the day over the rubble of the Möckernbrücke high station :

A unit of the 39th Guards Division, a company of the 12th Guards Rifle Regiment, used the path along the canal via the accesses to the Siele, “in order to cover the destroyed pedestrian bridge that led over the canal to the high-lying underground station Möckernbrücke on the north bank to reach. She managed to cross the debris of the bridge and capture the station so that the rest of the battalion could follow. Further east at Hallescher Tor, the pioneers succeeded in launching pontoons so that the tanks could advance to Belle-Alliance-Platz [since 1947: Mehringplatz ]. "

The ruin of the station was not contested, but in the above-ground completely walled and inaccessible bunker the situation seemed hopeless to the people. The dramas now took place underground. After the last water pump at Askanischer Platz was shot down and electricity and ventilation systems failed in the Anhalter bunker, the 10,000-13,000 people crowded together were evacuated to the S-Bahn station on May 1, 1945. Wehrmacht soldiers with torches and - at one station - Red Cross sisters led the “Elendstreck” through the north-south tunnel to the Szczecin train station . According to eyewitness reports, the organized "trek" of the bunker occupants preceded the blasting of the tunnel ceiling under the Landwehr Canal on the morning of May 2, 1945, which flooded the north-south tunnel of the S-Bahn. Large parts of the subway network were also flooded via a connecting corridor at Friedrichstrasse station (see: History of the Berlin subway ).

After overcoming the Landwehr Canal and storming the outer areas, the Anhalter Bahnhof no longer had any special military significance for both sides - the Russian attack troops were only stopped again at the nearby building of the Reich Aviation Ministry (today: Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus / Federal Ministry of Finance ). As a result, the station was already back in the 'hinterland' and its nests of resistance were left to the following infantry.

post war period

Ruins of the Anhalter Bahnhof, 1951

In the post-war period , the Anhalter Bahnhof was in the western part of Berlin due to the creation of sectors . The Allies, however, reached an agreement in principle that "without prejudice to the division into sectors, in the interests of safety and the maintenance of transport, the entire railway system within the [...] borders of the city of Berlin [is subject] to the Soviet military administration." the railway network - in Berlin the Schlesische Bahnhof was renamed Ostbahnhof and expanded to the new central station - while the Western Allies shifted to the establishment of airlines. But "the Berliners were firmly convinced that the [Anhalter] train station would regain the importance it once had for traffic." On March 15, 1948, the roof structure of the Anhalter train station was blown up, which was still considered a measure for the reconstruction. On June 16, 1948, the 24/7 waiting room was reopened, but on June 24, 1948, “the Soviets imposed the blockade on the western sectors of Berlin. All land, sea and rail traffic will be suspended. […] Once the blockade has ended, no more trains will run from the Anhalter Bahnhof to the western occupation zones. The traffic will […] even decrease. [...] The construction work will not be continued. "

For operational reasons, but mainly for political reasons, train traffic was limited to a few long-distance and passenger trains to the Soviet occupation zone / GDR . From 1951 there were only a few local trains to Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt . In the same year, the S-Bahn from Lichterfelde Süd was extended to the new terminus Teltow / Anhalter Bahn, which at the same time became the new terminus for most of the continuing local trains on the Anhalter Bahn. The suburban traffic between Anhalter Bahnhof and Teltow was discontinued. In the run-up to the barrier measures of the GDR to isolate the western part of Berlin and after the construction of the southern outer ring around West Berlin, the train service to the Anhalter Fernbahnhof was finally stopped on May 18, 1952. The station facilities, which were still largely destroyed, were now left to decay.

Fragment of the train station portico in 2005, street side, with allegorical figures day and night

Despite strong resistance from the professional world and the architects and construction chambers, the station building, which has been a listed building since the 1930s, was to be cleared for demolition at the instigation of the then building senator Rolf Schwedler . The reason for the demolition was in part with the need to build a new larger train station at the same location, for which there were already architectural designs, and with the risk of collapse of the free-standing hall walls. However, due to the very stable and hard masonry association, the demolition turned out to be such a difficult undertaking that several demolition companies miscalculated economically and had to file for bankruptcy as a result. The terracotta molded parts of the Kaiser portal were secured and later rebuilt in the entrance area of ​​the railway department of the German Museum of Technology in Berlin .

After the hall was blown up in 1959, initiated by the Senate , only the portico with part of the covered, brick-built driveway remained. Citizen protests prevented the remaining torso from being torn off. It remained in memory of the famous Berlin train station building. The two figures by Ludwig Brunow on either side of the former clock above the entrance portal symbolize day (looking into the distance) and night (eyes closed). From 2003 to 2005 the portico ruin was renovated and secured. The rusted iron supporting structure inside the figures day and night could no longer be restored, which is why the two sculptures were replaced in 2004 by copies made of cast bronze. The originals have since been in the German Museum of Technology.

The side walls of the former station hall were marked by the planting of long-stemmed oaks , in the middle of which ball fields were set up. After the deedication of the railway site in 2002, the Tempodrom event location was built as a "permanent tent" according to plans by the architects Gerkan, Marg and Partner, right next to the foundations of the former south portal . The Liquidrom wellness temple is located in the basement .

Remains of the platforms

Since the shutdown of rail operations, nature has recaptured the track compartment at the station entrance on the high plateau (see Elise-Tilse-Park ).

Bridges of the elevated railway and the Anhalter Bahn over the Landwehr Canal , around 1900

The bridges over the Landwehr Canal were often depicted on postcards as a special technical masterpiece. At this point the traffic routes crossed on six levels: below the tunnel of the north-south S-Bahn (from 1939), above the Landwehr Canal, the accompanying canal bank roads, the long-distance railway bridge, the bridge of the elevated railway (from 1902) and finally the air traffic which was often depicted with an airship . It was precisely at this point that the ceiling of the north-south tunnel was blown up at the beginning of May 1945 , flooding the entire tunnel.

The four bridges of the Anhalter Bahn were demolished in the 1960s, the bridge abutments stood for a few years. In 2001 a pedestrian bridge was built at this point, the Anhalter Steg , which connects the park with the grounds of the German Museum of Technology Berlin (DTMB). The words "BERLIN" and "ANHALT" are attached to the bridge abutments in large stone letters.

Model of the Anhalter Bahnhof in the German Museum of Technology in Berlin

The German Museum of Technology Berlin, which is largely located on the site of the former depot of the Anhalter Bahnhof, shows an extensive model of the Anhalter Bahnhof as it was in 1939, including the freight depot and the depot and some surrounding buildings. The 1:87 scale model ( H0 ) gives an idea of ​​the size of the former track system.

From 2017: Exile Museum in planning

The Exilmuseum Foundation is planning to build a new museum next to the station building , which will be devoted to the subject of exile . Anhalter Bahnhof was chosen as the location because a large number of Germans left their homeland from here. An international architectural competition was organized for the construction in 2019/20, in which nine offices took part.

The jury's decision was made on August 13, 2020 and the results of the first three ranks were presented to the public on the following day. The winning design by Danish architects Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter A / S envisages a curved structure with a brick facade that keeps a distance from the fragment of the portal. The opening of the museum is planned for 2025.

S-Bahn station

S-Bahn station, 2012

Opening of the S-Bahn tunnel station

After the completion of the north-south tunnel , the underground S-Bahn Anhalter Bahnhof was opened on October 9, 1939, which was built according to plans by the Reichsbahn architect Richard Brademann . It picks up trains coming from the south ( Südkreuz and Schöneberg ) on the eastern platform, and trains coming from the north-south tunnel on the western platform. There are two sidings at the south head.

The implementation of Hitler's plans for the gigantic transformation of Berlin into the “ world capital Germania ”, which began in 1937 , also led to significant changes for the north-south connection of the S-Bahn, which is currently under construction. Construction work on the southern section was suspended for several months in order to change the construction plans.

After that, the north head of the underground S-Bahn station, which was already well advanced in 1936, was rebuilt, and tunnels and an underground overpass structure for the east-west S-Bahn to Görlitz station , which was part of the “Germania” plans, were built. Platform edge 1 can only be used for trains coming from Görlitz station, but no longer for trains from Potsdamer Platz. Only in 1986 was the BVG laid a stump track there in order to be able to park construction vehicles or other vehicles.

The opening of the branches at the underground S-Bahn station Anhalter Bahnhof:

  • 0October 9, 1939: Inauguration of the line to Wannsee.
  • 0November 6, 1939: The line to Papestrasse (Südkreuz) is put into operation.
  • December 19, 1940: Opening of a crossing between the underground station and the Anhalter long-distance station.

Richard Brademann's design shows modern design features despite the time it was created in the 1930s . The underground station is designed as a four-aisled hall with a flat ceiling. The square steel supports are arranged in three rows, each on the platform center axes and between the inner tracks. The side walls were clad with white opaque glass (plate format 53 cm × 32 cm), the supports with green glass plates. A total of around 4000 m² of glass was built into the hall.

post war period

When the tunnel ceiling at the height of the Landwehr Canal was blown up in May 1945, the north-south tunnel was flooded and the S-Bahn had to be stopped by June 2, 1946. The S-Bahn trains temporarily ended at the Potsdam Ringbahnhof . After several damaged areas in the S-Bahn tunnel had been repaired, the trains from Friedrichstrasse returned to the underground Anhalter Bahnhof.

Timeline of the restart of the underground S-Bahn Anhalter Bahnhof after the end of the war:

  • July 27th: The trains to Wannsee are running again
  • August 15: The trains to Lichterfelde Süd are running again
  • September 21: The trains to Rangsdorf are running again
  • November 15, 1947: Continuous operation in the north-south tunnel is resumed.

Takeover of the S-Bahn operations by the BVG

When the BVG took over the operating rights of the S-Bahn for West Berlin from the Reichsbahn on January 9, 1984, the S-Bahn was again the terminus for trains from Lichtenrade. After violent public protests , which called for the resumption of the S-Bahn service in Berlin and which had been supported by the Berlin Passenger Association IGEB , operations were resumed on May 1, 1984 via Friedrichstrasse to Gesundbrunnen.

On February 1, 1985, the S-Bahn was reopened from Anhalter Bahnhof to Wannsee. The Wannseebahn was still used for transfer trips to the Wannsee depot when this line was closed after the Berlin S-Bahn strike in 1980 .

Since May 28, 1995, the S-Bahn has been running again between Lichterfelde Ost and Anhalter Bahnhof. In 2005 the route via Lichterfelde Süd to Teltow Stadt was extended.

Renovation of the S-Bahn station

In the mid-1950s, the S-Bahn station was completely renovated. The walls were re-tiled, the ceiling painted and the lighting renewed. On August 18, 1991, the station became the terminus again because the north-south tunnel had to be substantially and thoroughly renovated. The reopening of the S-Bahn tunnel took place on March 1, 1992.

On August 10, 2004, a burned motor coaches of the series 480 (now Toaster called) of the Berlin S-Bahn in the track 2 of the pickup station completely out. Thanks to the intervention of the railcar driver, the station staff and an accompanying volunteer firefighter, all passengers were able to be brought to safety and a disaster prevented.

As a consequence of this incident, Deutsche Bahn extended the existing staircase at the southern end of the platforms by adding a staircase to the open area in front of the Tempodrom. The station was closed for clean-up work until December 23, 2004, the S-Bahn went through without stopping. After the installation of fire protection cladding, the directional platform to the north was reopened to traffic. The work on the southern direction platform dragged on for another twelve months.

The station was fully operational again 16 months after the fire on December 20, 2005. The original plans to complete the renovation by July 2005 had stalled due to the bankruptcy of the lead planning office.

From spring 2007 the ceiling cladding was installed and the entrance area repaired. According to information from the railway, the costs for the fire protection technology amounted to 2.5 million euros; 1.5 million euros went to the 5000 m² ceiling and 510,000 euros for the new exit to the Tempodrom.

Since August 2016, train handling has been carried out by the driver using the driver's cab monitor (ZAT-FM).

Connection

The station is served by several lines of commuter trains and provides transfer options to bus lines of the BVG .

line course
Berlin S1.svg Oranienburg  - Lehnitz  - Borgsdorf  - Birkenwerder  - Hohen Neuendorf  - Frohnau  - Hermsdorf  - Waidmannslust  - Wittenau (Wilhelmsruher dam)  - Wilhelmsruh  - Schönholz  - Wollankstraße  - Bornholmer Strasse  - Gesundbrunnen  - Humboldt Park  - North Station  - Oranienburgerstraße  - Friedrichstrasse  - Brandenburg Gate  - Potsdamer Platz  - pickup Train station  - Yorckstraße (Großgörschenstraße)  - Julius-Leber-Brücke  - Schöneberg  - Friedenau  - Feuerbachstraße  - Steglitz town hall  - Botanical Garden  - Lichterfelde West  - Sundgauer Straße  - Zehlendorf  - Mexikoplatz  - Schlachtensee  - Nikolassee  - Wannsee
Berlin S2.svg Bernau  - Bernau-Friedenstal  - Zepernick  - Röntgen Valley  - Buch  - Karow  - Blankenburg  - Pankow-Heinersdorf  - Pankow  - Bornholmer Straße  - Gesundbrunnen  - Humboldthain  - Nordbahnhof  - Oranienburger Straße  - Friedrichstraße  - Brandenburg Gate  - Potsdamer Platz  - Anhalter Bahnhof  - Yorckstraße  - Südkreuz  - Priesterweg  - Attilastraße - Marienfelde  - Buckower Chaussee  - Schichauweg  - Lichtenrade  - Mahlow  - Blankenfelde
Berlin S25.svg Hennigsdorf  - Heiligensee  - Schulzendorf  - Tegel  - Eichborndamm  - Karl-Bonhoeffer-Nervenklinik  - Alt-Reinickendorf  - Schönholz  - Wollankstrasse  - Bornholmer Strasse  - Gesundbrunnen  - Humboldthain  - Nordbahnhof  - Oranienburger Strasse  - Friedrichstrasse  - Brandenburg Gate  - Potsdamer Platz  - Anhalter Bahnhof  - Yorckstrasse  - Südkreuz  - Priesterweg  - Südende  - Lankwitz  - Lichterfelde Ost  - Osdorfer Straße  - Lichterfelde Süd  - Teltow Stadt
Berlin S26.svg Waidmannslust  - Wittenau (Wilhelmsruher dam)  - Wilhelmsruh  - Schönholz  - Wollankstraße  - Bornholmer Strasse  - Gesundbrunnen  - Humboldt Park  - North Station  - Oranienburgerstraße  - Friedrichstrasse  - Brandenburg Gate  - Potsdamer Platz  - Anhalt station  - Yorckstraße  - Southern Cross  - Priesterweg  - south end  - Lankwitz  - Lichterfelde Ost  - Osdorfer Strasse  - Lichterfelde south  - Teltow city

Freight yard area

Elevation of the freight yard by Franz Schwechten
Eastern end of the freight yard today

Location in the city area

The grounds of the Anhalter Güterbahnhof were located south of the long-distance train station on an area bounded by the Potsdamer Güterbahnhof to the west, by the Gleisdreieck and Landwehr Canal to the north, by Möckernstrasse to the east and by Yorckstrasse to the south .

Together with the Potsdam freight station, this large area forms an inner-city break, similar to the former Tempelhof Airport . The area has a maximum extension of 800 meters in an east-west direction and 800 to 1200 meters in a north-south direction. Originally, James Hobrecht wanted to create a straight boulevard between Kreuzberg and Charlottenburg with his development plan in 1862, the so-called “ General Train ” based on the Parisian model along the Bülow and Gneisenaustrasse. The rapid expansion of the railway system south of the Landwehr Canal in the 1870s and 1880s made it necessary to change these plans. The railway systems had to be bypassed by the Yorckstrasse system around 400 meters further south. Here, too, it was still necessary to build around 45 steel railway bridges over a length of around 500 meters, which were supported on the well-known cast-iron Hartung columns with their typical capitals . Even today one speaks of the " Yorckbrücken " when one wants to describe this section of the Yorckstrasse . The "elevation" of the Anhalter Bahn and the construction of the Yorckbrücken took place parallel to the construction of the new Anhalter Bahnhof, which opened in 1880.

Freight depot

Anhalter Güterbahnhof, on the left the track to the Museum of Transport and Technology (now: Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin ), 1986
Siding of the former Anhalter freight yard at the German Museum of Technology

The Berlin-Anhaltische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft had the buildings of the Anhalter Güterbahnhof built from 1871 to 1874, also according to the plans of the architect Franz Schwechten, who also designed the long-distance train station. The two three-storey head buildings to the north of the two 320-meter-long storage and shipping stores were connected by a bridge-like connecting structure on three large brick arches with a connecting passage. As with the long-distance train station, molded bricks and terracottas formed the clinker brick façade - corresponding to the minor importance of the freight station, fewer numerous and less complex.

The facilities were severely damaged in the Second World War. The ruins of the western end building had already been demolished by 1959 and the connecting structure disappeared in 1963 when the U-Bahn line 7 was extended between the Möckernbrücke and Yorckstrasse subway stations . The eastern head structure has been preserved as the torso of the formerly symmetrical complex.

Few of the freight yard's tracks were still in use until the end of the 1980s, after which the site lay fallow and overgrown. Even today, among other things, the numerous Yorck bridges over Yorckstrasse remind us of the time when the freight station was very important for Berlin.

After the technology museum had the head building converted into the spectrum , and the loading ramps and sheds are to be used in the future for the automobile collection and other modern topics, the reconstruction or construction of a second head building on the site of the former twin structure with a connecting bridge to the spectrum was also considered. At the beginning of September 2009, the German Museum of Technology invited to an open day in the former loading street to draw attention to the start of the renovation of a first section of the eastern storage halls.

Between 2001 and 2007 the Pomp, Duck & Circumstance experience restaurant was a guest on a part in the center of the site, this area has since been cleared.

After 2006, a landscape planning competition for the so-called southern section had been advertised and decided to visit the site of the former Anhalter and Potsdamer freight station since August 26, 2006 in the 26 was  hectares of parkland Park at Gleisdreieck redesigned. At the same time, a cross connection between Hornstrasse and Bülowstrasse was established in the course of the originally planned general train. The east part of the park was opened on September 2, 2011, the west part on May 31, 2013.

Railway depot "Bw Berlin Ahb"

The depot Bw Berlin Ahb was located on the site of the freight station, immediately south of the Landwehr Canal west of the long-distance tracks . It was responsible for covering the long-distance trains of the Anhalter and the Dresden Railway. The system consisted of two turntables with roundhouse and outbuildings and was constantly expanded until the beginning of the Second World War in order to be able to accommodate and supply the ever-growing locomotives. The shed stalls had to be lengthened several times and the turntables enlarged.

In Bw Berlin Ahb still relatively efficient and modern locomotives were seen. Numerous locomotives of the well-known express train locomotive series BR 17 and BR 01 as well as the heavy quadruple coupled passenger locomotive BR 39 were stationed here. Other express locomotives from other home depots and railway departments (e.g. the Saxon BR 18.0 or the BR 03 ) arrived here regularly and were prepared for their return journey. From 1936 the streamlined steam locomotives of the BR 61 operated here with the Henschel-Wegmann train , which ran between Berlin and Dresden with a journey time of 100 minutes.

The trains of the suburban traffic of the Anhalter and Dresdener Bahn (to Teltow and Ludwigsfelde as well as to Zossen ) did not begin in the Anhalter Bahnhof, but in the Potsdam ring and suburban train station. The locomotives for this were provided by the Berlin Pog depot (at the Potsdam freight yard). At the Anhalter Bahnhof, however, accelerated passenger trains and express trains to Jüterbog , Lutherstadt Wittenberg , Halle , Leipzig and Dresden also started , which were often hauled by the Prussian P 8 (BR 38.10).

In the mid-1930s, halls south of Yorckstrasse or on Monumentenstrasse were rebuilt or built for the new express railcars (SVT). The halls on Monumentenstraße now house the local transport collection of the German Museum of Technology.

Use by the German Museum of Technology in Berlin

Prince portal in the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Transport and Technology
Figures on the portico: night and day , now in the German Museum of Technology

Site of the depot

The Museum of Transport and Technology , today: German Museum of Technology in Berlin, opened in 1982 in the northern part of the site and on the adjacent site of the former depot of the Anhalter Bahnhof . The two roundhouse sheds at Bw Ahb were rebuilt - with the exception of three track segments, which were left in a dilapidated state with the ruderal vegetation - and house the museum's publicly accessible rail transport collection. Other rail vehicles and the municipal transport collection are kept in the monument hall (the former SVT hall) and are only accessible there on the weekends in September. On these days there is a rail shuttle service between the old depot and the monument hall with historical cars.

Other departments of the museum are housed in the building behind the two roundhouse - the former civil servants' residence - and in the old building on Trebbiner Strasse. At the confluence of Trebbiner Straße with Kanaluferstraße, not far from Anhalter Steg, a new museum building for the topics of aviation and shipping was built. Here a “ cherry bomber ” of the type C 47 (military version of the DC-3 ) is hung above the building as an eye-catcher . The Spectrum , the Science Center of the German Museum of Technology in Berlin, moved into the eastern end of the freight yard .

The museum park was set up in the open-air area east of the old railway depot. In addition to the installation of individual exhibits, in particular some historical windmills, the remains of the railway systems and the ruderal vegetation were left.

Remnants of the reception building

The most striking remnant and the only part of the reception building of the Anhalter Bahnhof that has been preserved in situ is its portico on Askanischer Platz . In the Museum of Transport and Technology, the "Prince Portal" was translocated , the entrance to the waiting area for the "highest and supreme lords". It is shown in the museum's permanent exhibition. The originals of two electroplating , day and night , which were designed by Ludwig Brunow and used to adorn the portico, can also be seen here . Copies were made there after the renovation.

La Tortuga

Locomotive 52 2751 La Tortuga from the exhibition “Mythos Berlin” before it was turned upside down, July 1987

In 1987/1988 the action artist Wolf Vostell erected the upside down locomotive 52 2751 as a sculpture in front of the train station as part of the exhibition “Mythos Berlin” . The locomotive was intended as a memorial to the misuse of industry and technology for the war and also represented a symbol for the decline of old branches of industry. In 1991 the sculpture was brought to the Marl Theater .

See also

literature

Movies

  • The Anhalter Bahnhof. Documentary, Germany, 2016, 44:05 min., Script and director: Eva Röger, production: astfilm productions, rbb , series: Mysterious Places , first broadcast: May 24, 2016 on rbb television , summary by rbb.

Web links

Commons : Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Picture galleries

Individual evidence

  1. Station price list 2020. In: Deutsche Bahn. Deutsche Bahn, January 1, 2020, accessed on July 10, 2020 .
  2. ^ Peter G. Kliem / Klaus Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof . Ullstein, Frankfurt / Main Berlin Vienna 1984, ISBN 3-550-07964-8 , p. 15.
  3. ^ Uwe Kieling: Berlin building officials and state architects in the 19th century . Society for Local History and for Monument Preservation in the Kulturbund der DDR, Berlin 1986, p. 48
  4. The population of Berlin grew during this period from just under 330,000 (1840) to over 1.1 million (1880). See: Population development in Berlin .
  5. ^ Kliem / Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof. P. 17.
  6. ^ Weekly newspaper for architects and engineers in: Kliem / Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof. P. 24.
  7. Quoted in; Kliem / Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof. P. 22 f.
  8. Koesling et al. a., p. 128 ff.
  9. ^ Kliem / Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof. P. 36.
  10. ^ Kliem / Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof. Pp. 36, 38.
  11. ^ Kliem / Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof. P. 39 ff.
  12. ^ Paul Celan in: Die Niemandsrose , S. Fischer, Frankfurt / Main 1963.
  13. ^ Kliem / Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof , p. 44.
  14. Press release no. 08/2008: Public handover of two memorial plaques by Berlin designer Helga Lieser: “Commemoration of the deportations to Theresienstadt” and “Wieland Herzfelde and the Malik publishing house”. In: Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district , January 24, 2008.
  15. ^ Kliem / Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof. P.56.
  16. Observed by Waltraut Weise. The witness experienced the blasting of the Großbeerenbrücke, the bridge at Halleschen Tor, and heard another detonation. In: Waltraut Süßmilch: Im Bunker , Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin 2004, p. 110 f. ISBN 3-548-25870-0 .
  17. Tschuikow in: Tony Le Tissier: Der Kampf um Berlin 1945 , Ullstein Verlag, Frankfurt / Main - Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-550-07801-3 , original edition: Tony Le Tissier: The battle of Berlin 1945 , Jonathan Cape, London 1988 , P. 156. Civilian eyewitnesses also confirmed the relatively quiet day in the south of Berlin.
  18. ^ Tony Le Tissier, p. 168.
  19. Chuikov: The End of the Third Reich , p. 202. In: Tony Le Tissier, p. 180 f. and note 21, p. 281.
  20. The fate of the Anhalter Bahnhof. In: Neues Deutschland , May 9, 1946, beginning of the article. Quoted in: Kliem / Noack: Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof. , P. 66 f.
  21. Waltraud Süßmilch: In the bunker . Ullstein Verlag, Berlin 2004, pp. 189 and 207 ff.
  22. Kliem / Noack, p. 61.
  23. Kliem / Noack, p. 64 f.
  24. Kliem / Noack, pp. 73 ff.
  25. Nine designs for exile Museum received. In: Berliner Zeitung , June 25, 2020, p. 9.
  26. Foundation Exile Museum Berlin: The architecture. Retrieved August 15, 2020 .
  27. ^ Hans D Reichardt: Berliner S Bahn , Alba, 1975, p. 47.
  28. ↑ Permanent construction site Anhalter Bahnhof. In: Die Welt , December 1, 2006
  29. News in brief - S-Bahn . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . No. 10 , 2016, p. 203 .
  30. Koesling et al. a., p. 130.
  31. Koesling et al. a., p. 130.
  32. ^ Gerd Böhmer: Berlin in November 1989. Retrieved on April 1, 2010 .
  33. Susanne Schäfer: La Tortuga. January 30, 2008, accessed April 1, 2010 .