Anhalter Bahnhof

View of the ruins of Anhalter Bahnhof station.

The Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin-Kreuzberg was an important long-distance train station in Berlin until it was damaged during the war. Today, only a fragment of the portico can still be seen.

Anhalter Bahnhof was built between 1839 and 1841 as the terminus of the Saxon (later Berlin-Anhalt) Railway between Hallesches and Potsdamer Tor. Until it was severely damaged during the war in 1945, Anhalter Bahnhof was a busy hub of metropolitan life in the area around Potsdamer Platz. In the course of the expansion and elevation of the station site between 1876 and 1880, the original building was replaced by a new building designed by Franz Schwechten, the ruins of which can be seen today.

Architecture of the Anhalter Bahnhof

The imposing façade, a timber-framed building with an entrance hall and high arched windows, led to the waiting rooms. The monumental platform hall, 170 meters long and over 60 meters wide, had six main tracks and an intermediate track on two side platforms and two central platforms. A side platform in front of the hall was added later. Function rooms and rooms for the imperial court were connected in a U-shape. In 1939, Anhalter Bahnhof was given an underground S-Bahn connection.

What remains of the Anhalter Bahnhof

In August 1946, the Deutsche Reichsbahn initially resumed operations following provisional repairs. However, the transfer of long-distance travel through the GDR in connection with the division of Germany meant that the terminus station, from which trains had been running from Berlin to Anhalt for over half a century, was no longer needed. It was finally closed in 1952 and the station building was demolished between 1959 and 1961, with only a fragment of the portico remaining as a reminder of its former importance.

Information

• Address:
  Askanischer Platz 6
  10963 Berlin
  City map
• Architekt: Franz Schwechten