Berlin Potsdamer Bahnhof - The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall

When the Berlin Wall was erected on 13 August 1961, it had a profound effect on rail services in and around the city, and on the U-Bahn and S-Bahn in particular. Essentially both were divided into two systems, with lines being physically severed where they crossed the border between East Berlin and West Berlin. It was imagined that trains on either side would simply run as far as the last stop before the border and then reverse back. This was partly the case with the U-Bahn line through Potsdamer Platz, as the former Kaiserhof station (renamed Thalmannplatz in August 1950, Otto Grotewohl Straße in April 1986, and Mohrenstraße in October 1991), operationally became a terminus for trains on the eastern side. On the western side however, the entire section all the way back to Wittenbergplatz was closed completely and at least partially dismantled. Indeed, two of the abandoned stations on this section, Bülowstraße and Nollendorfplatz, were converted into markets. The antiques market at the latter was housed in sixteen old wooden coaches lined up beside the platforms, while another coach even carried passengers back and forth to Bülowstraße where a Turkish bazaar was sited.

The S-Bahn North-South Link saw a more bizarre - though not unique - state of affairs. This line, plus two U-Bahn lines elsewhere in the city, suffered from a quirk of geography in that they briefly passed through East German territory en route from one part of West Berlin to another. This gave rise to the infamous "Geisterbahnhofe" (ghost stations), Potsdamer Platz being the most notorious, those unfortunate ones on the eastern side that were sealed off from the outside world and which trains ran straight through without stopping. They would generally slow down however, affording passengers the strange sight of dusty, dimly lit platforms patrolled by armed guards, there to prevent any East Berliners from trying to escape to the West by train. At the points where the lines passed directly beneath the actual border, concrete "collars" were constructed within the tunnels with just the minimum clearance for trains, to prevent people clinging to the sides or roof of the coaches.

After the fall of the Wall on 9 November 1989, both lines and all the ghost stations underwent a major refurbishment before re-opening - the S-Bahn first, on 1 March 1992. The U-Bahn line needed a lot more work, and finally re-opened on 13 November 1993, one month after enormous redevelopment projects in and around the Potsdamer Platz area were commenced.