Spittelmarkt underground station

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West entrance to the Spittelmarkt underground station

The Spittelmarkt underground station in Berlin is a station on the U2 line of the underground . It is located in the district of Mitte under the square of the same name or the adjoining Wallstrasse . The underground station went into operation on October 1, 1908. Particularly noteworthy is the window gallery made of round arches facing the Spree Canal , which lets in daylight.

The station, designated Sp in the BVG station directory, is 465 meters from the Märkisches Museum underground station and 620 meters from the Hausvogteiplatz underground station . The platform is 7.6 meters wide and 110.2 meters long, the hall is 2.6 meters high and is referred to as a sub-paving station due to its shallow depth below the road surface of 3.7 meters . An elevator system ensures accessibility .

history

Planning and construction

Route variants on the Leipziger Platz – Spittelmarkt route.
The continuous black line was realized

After the elevated railway company opened its main network between the Knie stations , today: Ernst-Reuter-Platz, Potsdamer Platz and Warschauer Brücke , and since 1906 and 1908 an underground connection to the city center of Charlottenburg, it was now planning a connection to the center of Berlin , which was previously only connected by the tram and the light rail. An extension of the existing line from Potsdamer Platz turned out to be beneficial in order to create a connection to the rest of the underground network. The construction was to take place in different stages, initially the completion of the Potsdamer Platz – Spittelmarkt section was planned, then the extensions to Alexanderplatz and Schönhauser Allee should follow.

Although the first section was only 2.3 kilometers long, there were still many pitfalls in Berlin's urban structure, geology and local politics. The first problem was the continuation of the line, as the city of Berlin prohibited the demolition and construction of the existing Potsdamer Platz underground station and requested a second station right next to it. This could only be stopped by a power word from the then acting police chief. The next problem was the alignment of the line. The city of Berlin prohibited a route under Leipziger Strasse because it feared road damage, noise pollution for residents and unnecessary competition with the tram. Therefore, the elevated railway company had to switch to an alternative route via Wilhelmplatz , Gendarmenmarkt and Hausvogteiplatz . The Berliner Hochbahngesellschaft only received the final approval for the Potsdamer Platz – Spittelmarkt route on November 10, 1906.

A pile foundation and sheet pile walls were necessary to stabilize the subsoil.

Another problem arose with the construction of the temporary Spittelmarkt terminus. This should be located directly on the Spree, but where the boggy and unstable subsoil made a pile foundation up to 15 meters deep necessary. In addition, a 16-meter-deep sheet pile wall was required between the station and the front of the house to protect the adjacent buildings. During the construction of the station, the still partially existing medieval city ​​fortifications as well as finds from old plague cemeteries made the work more difficult . The numerous remains of bones and skulls were buried in Friedrichsfelde .

Opening and architecture

On October 1st, 1908, the opening of the line between Potsdamer Platz and Spittelmarkt was celebrated with five new train stations. Since then, two elevated railway lines have run through the station, leading to Charlottenburg's Wilhelmplatz (today: Richard-Wagner-Platz ) and the Warschauer Brücke .

Architecturally, the station shone through its uniqueness. Only at the Stadtpark ( U4 ) station in Schöneberg was there a comparable system, even if it did not lead to the Spree. Three times 15 windows, each about three meters deep, offer a view of the nearby river. In order to increase the incidence of light even more, the elevated railway company had the reveals of the window galleries widened in a funnel-shaped manner so that the window openings reached about platform height. Even then, the water from the Spree could not penetrate, since the locks in and around Berlin kept the water level constant. The implementation of a window gallery facing the Spree was not new; a train station was supposed to provide a view of the river for the construction of an underground line to the Reichstag . The rest of the architectural design corresponded to the other, previous underground stations. The in-house architect of the elevated railway, Alfred Grenander , chose the color blue for the station's tiles, check-in houses and pillars. Behind the 110-meter-long and 7.6-meter-wide platform was a three-track sweeping system , the two outer tracks were later to be used for the route extension.

The Spittelmarkt underground station in its opening state
A water ingress during the construction work on the Spree tunnel also flooded the Spittelmarkt station

The train station was very busy back then, as the Spittelmarkt was much busier than it is today. Numerous shops, tram lines and carriages created urbanity on the square. But the actual center of Berlin around Alexanderplatz had not yet been reached, and building in this direction was not continued until March 1910. The most difficult construction site was the Spree tunnel on Klosterstrasse . During the work on the river underpass, an industrial accident occurred on March 27, 1912: water penetrating the Spree forced the elevated railway company to temporarily withdraw the train service to Leipziger Platz station . The entire route between the train station and the construction site was flooded. Only on April 2, 1912 did the trains return to the Spittelmarkt. After this accident were taken before and after all the water crossings defensive gates and - chambers installed so that a flooding of the subway system could be avoided. Only since July 1, 1913, the Spittelmarkt station was no longer a terminus, the trains now continued to Alexanderplatz, and from July 27 even to Schönhauser Allee on the Ringbahn .

After that, hardly anything changed at the station, only the route destinations changed from time to time. Since 1913 the Dahlemer Thielplatz could also be reached directly by underground, as well as the German Stadium , from 1930 the Pankower Vinetastraße and the Ruhleben district . The elevated railway company had plans to build a steamboat landing directly at the subway station, but that never happened. The plans to equip the window gallery with light marble in order to increase the light reflection were not implemented either.

Second World War

Structural changes were not made until 1941. As part of the general blackout campaigns since 1940, the BVG had the 45 windows of the station walled up on the instructions of the Reich Ministry of the Interior due to the risk of bombs . Even decades later, the contours of the old windows could be seen. But it was not only in this way that the effects of the Second World War were felt. Numerous business interruptions due to bomb damage were everyday occurrences on the subway, so that there were often no trains at Spittelmarkt station. On February 3, 1945, an aerial bomb hit the station itself and caused enormous damage to the platform area. The northern side facing the Spree was not damaged, so that no water could flow into the subway area. However, three months later, in May 1945, a flooded S-Bahn tunnel submerged the Berlin subway network - including the Spittelmarkt station. At that time the station was no longer in operation because there was no electricity.

On May 14, 1945, the underground trains first ran again in the area around Hermannplatz . On the route of today's U2 line, trains ran again between Ruhleben and Knie station from May 17th . The reopening of the Spittelmarkt station was delayed due to the enormous damage until July 31, 1945, there was now a shuttle service between the city ​​center and the Märkisches Museum , and other connecting shuttle services also existed. It was not until September 15, 1946, that the entire route of the underground line A, today the U2, was again passable.

Changes in GDR times

In the 1960s, the Spittelmarkt train station received new tiles

In 1961, Spittelmarkt station lost its train connections to western Berlin ; now it was over at Thälmannplatz station (today: Mohrenstrasse). A period of calm returned to the Spittelmarkt train station, the relocation of the city center of East Berlin to Alexanderplatz and the closure of the function of the square due to the widening of Leipziger Straße made the train station less important.

Despite the end of the war and a renovation that took place in the 1960s, the window gallery facing the Spree remained closed. The station itself received new, light blue tiles from Boizenburg , the billboards disappeared. Even during the later renovation in 1986 on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of Berlin , the windows remained closed because of the unsafe state of construction of the station.

Complete renovation of the train station and opening of the window gallery

In 1998 the BVG opened the first windows

After German reunification , the U2 subway line was put back into operation along its entire length between Vinetastraße and Ruhleben in 1993 . The East Berlin train stations had suffered considerably during the GDR era and needed a thorough renovation.

But it was not until 1998 that work at the station began again. The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe carried out test drillings for the reopening of the window gallery. The BVG then opened three windows. The project could not be completed due to financial problems. Nevertheless, the construction machines remained at the station. By the fourth quarter of 1999, the western exit of the station was given a new look.

The station after its renovation: new asphalt floor, open windows, new lighting, newly tiled walls
The western entrance with a view of Leipziger Strasse, 2011

Another part of the window gallery was opened in October 2003.

In March 2005, the BVG announced a reconstruction of the Spittelmarkt – Stadtmitte section, with the subway stations being returned to their original state. By May 2006, the BVG and the federal government invested as financiers in a 2.5 million euro basic renovation, which included a complete opening of the window gallery, new tiles for the walls behind the tracks, new lighting and platform slabs, the renovation of the eastern exit and a color revision of the station included. In addition, the BVG equipped the unused advertising space with various images by the city photographer Friedrich Albert Schwartz , the main topic being “Berlin and water” for the train station directly on the Spree. Since its completion, the window gallery has been illuminated in blue at night. Due to the major changes after 1945, the station is not a listed building .

Originally, an elevator was to be installed when the station was completely renovated . In 2000 the Senate and the BVG assumed installation costs of around 2.5 million marks (adjusted for purchasing power in today's currency: around 2 million euros). Ultimately, the elevator, which is located in the western half of the platform, was installed in 2008. The cost was 290,000 euros.

Connection

At the underground station you can change from the U2 line to the M48, 248 and 265 bus lines operated by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe.

line course
Berlin U2.svg Pankow  - Vinetastraße  - Schoenhauser Allee  - Eberswalde road  - Senefelderplatz  - Pink-Luxembourg-Platz  - Alexanderplatz  - Abbey Road  - Märkisches Museum  - Spittelmarkt  - Hausvogteiplatz  - City Center  - Mohrenstrasse  - Potsdamer Platz  - Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park  - Gleisdreieck  - Bülowstraße  - Nollendorfplatz  - Wittenbergplatz  - Zoological Garden  - Ernst-Reuter-Platz  - German Opera  - Bismarckstraße  - Sophie-Charlotte-Platz  - Kaiserdamm  - Theodor-Heuss-Platz  - Neu-Westend  - Olympic Stadium  - Ruhleben

Web links

Commons : U-Bahnhof Spittelmarkt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Jürgen Meyer-Kronthaler: Berlin's subway stations - the first hundred years. be.bra Verlag, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-930863-16-2 , p. 256
  2. ↑ a b U2 - story (s) from the underground. Berlin Heritage Preservation Association, GVE, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-89218-032-6 , pp. 30 f., 84 f.
  3. ↑ a b c Sabine Bohle-Heintzenberg: Architecture of the Berlin elevated and subway / planning - drafts - buildings . Verlag Willmuth Arenhövel, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-922912-00-1 , pp. 26, 80
  4. ↑ a b On the opening of the extension line across Alexanderplatz to Schönhauser Allee. Hochbahngesellschaft Berlin, July 1913, p. 3
  5. ↑ Documentation of the underground events of the 1910s ( memento of the original of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.berliner-untergrundbahn.de
  6. ↑ Documentation of war damage ( Memento of the original from August 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.berliner-untergrundbahn.de
  7. ↑ Documentation of the underground events of the 1940s ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.berliner-untergrundbahn.de
  8. ^ Spittelmarkt (underground station) . In: District lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
  9. ↑ Peter Neumann, Stefan Ehlert: A clear view for subway passengers: Spittelmarkt station has a window facing the Spree Canal . In: Berliner Zeitung , April 21, 1998
  10. ↑ Heiner Hein: New tiles for the Spittelmarkt underground station - access will be given a friendly look in the coming year . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 21, 1998
  11. ^ Peter Neumann: Spittelmarkt underground station receives windows . In: Berliner Zeitung , October 21, 2003
  12. ↑ Thomas Fülling: With the U2 through history . ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: Berliner Morgenpost , March 14, 2005
  13. ↑ History lesson in the underground station . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 14, 2005
  14. ^ Rainer L. Hein: Bright spots in the underground station . In: Berliner Morgenpost , March 11, 2004
  15. ↑ Blue and yellow hour in the Spittelmarkt underground station . ( Memento from May 24, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) In: Berliner Morgenpost , April 12, 2006
  16. ↑ Hubert Staroste, Berlin State Monument Authority
  17. ↑ Written request from the Green MP Michael Cramer regarding the installation of lifts in underground stations. List of priorities in the appendix (PDF; 166 kB), Senate Department for Urban Development, December 1, 2003
  18. ↑ Written request from the Green MP Michael Cramer regarding the elevator installation (PDF; 83 kB), Senate Department for Urban Development, February 2, 2000
  19. ↑ Spittelmarkt underground station has an elevator . In: Berliner Morgenpost , August 30, 2008
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on August 2, 2006 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 40 ″  N , 13 ° 24 ′ 13 ″  E