The idea for an
S-Bahn North-South Link transversal rail line connecting the northern suburban lines terminating at
Stettiner Bahnhof ("Nordbahnhof" since the early 1950s) with the southern suburban lines terminating at
Potsdamer Bahnhof had first been mooted in 1892, ten years after the building east–west transversal line, the
Stadtbahn connecting the
Charlottenburg station and
Berlin Schlesischer Bahnhof, but it was not planned in detail until 1928, and then approval had to wait until 1933, as part of Hitler's public works projects (
Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahmen) to pacify workers by reducing the high unemployment. The line to Anhalter Bahnhof, which was begun in 1934, opened in two phases. First the northern section from
Stettiner Bahnhof to
Unter den Linden, was inaugurated on 28 July 1936, just in time for the
Berlin Olympic Games. But in 1937, construction work was paused for several months after Hitler proclaimed his plans for
Welthauptstadt (World Capital)
Germania on 30 January 1937. Part of the scheme was to remodel Berlin's entire railway system. As this included the North-South S-Bahn link, the northern end of the Anhalter S-Bahn station, already largely finished in 1936, had to be rebuilt to accommodate proposed new S-Bahn lines from
Görlitzer Bahnhof; as a result, the westernmost track (1) would no longer be built straight away to
Potsdamer Platz station, instead it would be built later. However, war and its outcome made Hitler's plans obsolete - the S-Bahn line to Görlitzer Bahnhof was never built, and the Görlitzer Bahnhof was demolished to make way for the
Berlin Wall.
Wartime use The second stage was the southern section from
Potsdamer Platz via the new underground Anhalter Bahnhof station with the
Wannseebahn which opened on 9 October 1939, shortly after the start of
World War II. The suburban lines to Zossen and Licherfelde-Ost via Papestraße and Priesterweg were connected to the tunnel on 6 November 1939, making the new north–south transversal line complete. This underground station was placed at the west side of the existing overground station. At Anhalter Bahnhof S-Bahn station a direct access route to the mainline terminus above was provided from 19 December 1940. At the S-Bahn station four platforms were provided to receive the
Wannseebahn and the trains from the two suburban lines coming from
Priesterweg station arriving via their separate tunnel mounds on opposite tracks of the receiving platform, and to provide the same for trains departing in the two directions. The station removed two siding tracks behind its south head. The
S-Bahn North-South Link, less than six years old, became the setting for one of the most contentious episodes of the final
Battle of Berlin, in late April and early May 1945. With Hitler already dead, the remaining Nazi leaders resorted to increasingly desperate measures to slow the Soviet advance, whatever the consequences for their own citizens. Fearful that the Soviets might try to storm the centre of Berlin by coming through the rail tunnels, on 2 May the Nazi leaders ordered
SS troops to blow up the bulkheads where the North-South Link passed beneath the Landwehrkanal. Altogether up to of tunnels and many stations were flooded by this action, most of which had been used as public shelters and also to house military wounded in hospital trains in underground sidings. The number of people drowned is unknown due to the large variations between estimates. According to Soviet propaganda up to 15,000 may have drowned, although a more conservative figure suggests 200–300.
Cold War 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 S-Bahn and U-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. In most cases trains on either side would simply run as far as the last stop before the border and then reverse back. 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 "Geisterbahnhöfe" (
ghost stations), those unfortunate ones on the eastern side that were sealed off from the outside world and which trains ran straight through without stopping. (One exception was the station
Bahnhof Friedrichstraße, where passengers could change trains to the western part of the east–west-S-Bahn and one line of the U-Bahn (today U6). The S Bahn station also served as a border checkpoint for people entering East Berlin. Trains 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. Anhalter Bahnhof station itself remained open; being in West Berlin, it was the last stop for northbound trains before they entered the "restricted section", and the first stop for southbound trains after they had left the section. However, of its four platforms just two (sometimes only one) saw regular use, and the station appeared to receive only a minimum of cleaning and maintenance.
Modern services After the fall of the Wall on 9 November 1989, Anhalter Bahnhof S-Bahn station and all the ghost stations underwent a major refurbishment before being re-opened on 1 March 1992. The S-Bahn station remains the only one open at the location, and still called "Anhalter Bahnhof" although it is over half a century since the great terminus aboveground closed. As for the terminus itself, today the centre portion of the façade still looks out over Askanischer Platz, having been restored several times since the demolition of the rest of the building. At the top, Ludwig Brunow's
Day and
Night sculptures, somewhat the worse for wear, still sat on either side of the now empty clock space until the most recent restoration of the structure in 2003–2004, but to avoid further corrosion they have now been replaced by copies (the originals can be seen in the
German Museum of Technology, close by on the south bank of the Landwehr Canal). The photograph on the right shows the façade remnant in 2005. The oddly-shaped white building faintly visible in the distance on the right is the
Tempodrom, a major new concert and event venue. ==Gallery==