Steglitz depot

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Former wagon hall, 2015

The Steglitz depot , known as depot L from 1963 to 1988 , is a former depot for trams , trolleybuses and omnibuses on Hindenburgdamm in the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district of Berlin . While the site is in the Lichterfelde district, the access road is already in the Steglitz district . The facility was opened in 1913 as a tram station for the Western Berlin Suburban Railway (WBV) and served Berlin tram traffic until 1962 . This was followed by a conversion for the future home of buses . The trolleybuses of the Steglitz branch of the (West) Berlin trolleybus network were also based in the depot between 1935 and 1965. In 1988 the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe gave up the area as a depot and used the halls as a spare parts store until 1997. After a temporary use as a fire station, a car dealer has been managing the site since 2004.

Location and structure

Former administration building on Hindenburgdamm, 2015
Side wall of the wagon hall in Resedenstrasse, 2015

The depot is located at Hindenburgdamm 68 and comprises a plot of 24,433 square meters, which is bordered by Hindenburgdamm, Resedenstraße, Nelkenstraße and Geranienstraße. With a floor area of ​​11,746 square meters, the carriage hall takes up about half of the property. It measures 192.38 meters in length and 59.48 square meters in width with a height of around six meters. The halls, a larger wagon hall and a smaller workshop hall next to it, are filled in as an iron framework with red brickwork. The halls are covered by a gently sloping gable roof over iron trusses. Several transverse skylights are used for lighting . To the north of the 1913 halls is another hall built in 1941/42. It measures 85.35 × 16.86 meters and is made of masonry. The roof structure consists of wooden trusses and is covered by a flat gable roof. A skylight caterpillar runs alongside the hall.

There were three facing brick buildings facing Resedenstrasse, which served as stone and sand stores and as a drying room. In its place a new administration building was built in 1977/78. This is followed by a single-storey porter's building with a flat roof. The four-storey administration building from 1913 is on the northeast corner. It is connected to a two-story residential building via a single-storey connecting building.

history

As early as 1889, the Berlin steam tram consortium opened a first depot on the neighboring property at the corner of Lichterfelder Chaussee at the corner of Schloßstraße with space for around 50 cars on a plot of around 9,000 square meters. In 1898 the Westliche Berliner Vorortbahn (WBV) took over the operating equipment and infrastructure of the steam tram and electrified the network. With the further expansion of the route network, this farm quickly reached its capacity limit. The new property, more than twice as large, was acquired by the WBV from the Terrain Society at the Botanical Garden, which was awarded the old property on Schloßstraße in exchange for financial compensation. By relocating the adjacent Geranienstraße to the north, the area could be increased again. The location turned out to be extremely favorable, as several lines ended at the nearby Handelplatz , thus ensuring short supply routes. The design came from the technical department of the Great Berlin Tram (GBS) under the direction of chief engineer Arthur Busse, and the WBV was the client. The farm went into operation on November 21, 1913. Although it was assigned to the WBV, it was given the short name Hof XI according to the GBS numbering scheme.

The car hall offered space for 275 tram cars. Next to it were the two-track workshop hall and two other sidings outside the hall. In the workshop shed more rooms were locksmith , paint shop , forge and teaching and lounges decorated. The courtyard was characterized by a spacious track field. In between there were lawns bordered by low hedges.

After the BVG was founded in 1929, the farm was initially called Lichterfelde at the beginning of the 1930s and, from the mid-1930s, the name Steglitz with the short form Steg . For the start of operation of the A32 trolleybus line on July 7, 1935, two hall tracks were shut down and the space gained was used as a storage and workshop area for trolleybuses. The conversion of line A97 to trolleybus operation and the start of trailer operation required the construction of a separate car hall from 1941. This was built instead of the two open-air tracks and was usable from October 1942. The hall was designed as a transit hall with four pairs of overhead lines and space for 24 trolleybuses. At the same time as the construction of the new hall, a ramp was built from the rear wall of the old wagon hall to Resedenstrasse, so that the wagons drove through the hall in a loop. After 1945 the trolleybus operation was suspended until 1948, the BVG gave up trailer operation three years later.

The decision made in 1953 to give up tram operations in favor of the expansion of the underground and omnibuses led to the closure of the courtyard to tram traffic on May 2, 1962, while the Hindenburgdamm was still used by trams until May 2, 1963. After the closure, the BVG began converting it into a bus depot. The most noticeable innovation was the removal of the tracks in the construction of a gas station . The expiring trolleybus operation was maintained during the renovation. On October 1, 1962, the facility was put into operation as depot L (for Lichterfelde). It initially offered space for 90 buses and 24 trolleybuses. Around 600 men were on duty on the farm at that time. The trolleybus operation ended three years later and the halls were then also used by the diesel buses. In 1966, a single-storey porter's building was built at the approach to Hindenburgdamm. In 1977/78 a new administration building followed instead of the old sand and stone warehouse. At that time, the courtyard was home to around 160 buses, including 60 double-deckers and 100 single-deckers.

The decline in the number of passengers and the increased importance of the S-Bahn caused the BVG to close the depot on February 1, 1988. Most of the 143 buses that were located at home were relocated to the Zehlendorf depot , with a small part going to the Cicerostraße depot . However, the buses that were previously located there were not equipped with matching brooches for the Lichterfeld lines, so that the converted Lichterfeld buses remained on their traditional lines for the first few years.

After the closure, the wagon hall initially served as a spare parts store for the diesel buses, later the department for repairing the ticket machines was added. In 1997, the BVG withdrew completely from the site and transferred it to the Munich-based DIBAG Industriebau in leasehold . This wanted to set up a hardware store in the halls , which failed due to the resistance of the Steglitz district council meeting . From the spring of 1999, the Berlin fire brigade used the halls as alternative quarters for 18 months during the renovation of the Südendstrasse fire station. A vehicle dealer for BMW and Mini has been using the depot as a sales area since 2004 . The courtyard serves as a parking lot for visitors. The administration building was used by a specialist wine shop from 2004 to 2012, and since then the Berlin sales point of the Rolls-Royce car brand has been located here .

literature

Web links

Commons : Depot Steglitz / Lichterfelde  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Christian Winck: Opened 100 years ago: Depot in Steglitz . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . No. 2 , 2013, p. 30-37 .
  2. ^ A b c Heinz Jung: Depot "L" . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . No. 1 , 1988, p. 2-3 .
  3. ↑ a b c Berliner Verkehrs-Betriebe (Ed.): Documentation. Lichterfelde depot . Berlin 1988, p. 8-11 .
  4. ↑ Berliner Verkehrs-Betriebe (Ed.): Documentation. Lichterfelde depot . Berlin 1988, p. 15-16 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 27 '4.4 "  N , 13 ° 18" 49.9 "  E