The Anhalt suburban line (german: Anhalter Vorortbahn) is a suburban railway in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
. It originally ran from
Potsdamer Ringbahnhof
The Potsdamer Bahnhof is a former railway terminus in Berlin, Germany. It was the first railway station in Berlin, opening in 1838. It was located at Potsdamer Platz, about 1 km south of the Brandenburg Gate, and kick-started the transfo ...
in Berlin over the
Berlin–Halle railway
The Berlin–Halle railway, sometimes called the Anhalt railway (German: ''Anhalter Bahn''), is a twin-track, electrified main line found in the German city and state of Berlin, and the states of Brandenburg and Sachsen-Anhalt. The railway was or ...
(also called the ''Anhalter Bahn'' or Anhalt Railway). With the opening of the
Berlin Nord-Süd Tunnel
The North–South S-Bahn Tunnel (german: Nord-Süd-Tunnel) is the central section of the North–South transversal Berlin S-Bahn connection crossing the city centre. It is not to be confused with the , the central tunnel part of the North–South ...
in 1939, this service was abandoned. Subsequently, the electric services ran to the south parallel with the long-distance tracks of the Anhalt Railway. Its terminus was at
Berlin-Lichterfelde Ost until the 1940s. In 1943, it was extended to
Lichterfelde Süd for electric trains and to
Ludwigsfelde
Ludwigsfelde is a town in the north of the district Teltow-Fläming in Brandenburg.
Geography
Location
The town is located south of Berlin in the district Teltow-Fläming on the plateau of Teltow. In earlier times, it was part of the district Zo ...
for steam trains. The construction of the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
in 1961 stopped services at the outskirts of Berlin. In 2005, a new
Berlin-Lichterfelde Süd–Teltow Stadt S-Bahn line was opened.
History
The population of many towns and villages around Berlin grew significantly in the late 19th century.
Lichterfelde Lichterfelde may refer to:
* Lichterfelde (Berlin), a locality in the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in Berlin, Germany
* Lichterfelde West, an elegant residential area in Berlin
* Lichterfelde, Saxony-Anhalt, a municipality in the Stendhal Distric ...
(incorporated into Groß-Lichterfelde, meaning Greater Lichterfelde, from 1884) grew into a residential suburb from the 1870s. The number of commuter trains on the Anhalt Railway increased continually during the last decades of the 19th century. A convenient system of suburban fares was applied from 1891 on many lines into Berlin, among them on the Anhalt Railway to ''Groß Lichterfelde B. H.'' station (the acronym stood for Berlin and Halle; the station was called ''Groß Lichterfelde Ost'' from 1899). In 1893, a new
Groß-Lichterfelde-Süd station was opened, which was not, however, included in the suburban fare zone until 1943. Lankwitz-Victoriastraße (now:
Berlin-Lankwitz
Lankwitz () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Berlin. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Steglitz.
History
The locality was first mentioned in 1239 with the name of ''Lanko ...
) station was opened in 1895.
Because of the increasing volume of trains, it was decided to build a separate suburban railways and to raise the line to Lankwitz above street level. The original plans envisaged that the suburban tracks would initially run to the east of the long-distance tracks. It was, however, finally decided to move it to the west of the long-distance tracks. One reason for this was to facilitate the planned extensions to the
Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof
The Anhalter Bahnhof is a former railway terminus in Berlin, Germany, approximately southeast of Potsdamer Platz. Once one of Berlin's most important railway stations, it was severely damaged in World War II, and finally closed for traffic in 19 ...
(Anhalt station). That is why the suburban route did not start at this station but instead at the more westerly
Potsdamer Ring- und Vorortbahnhof (Ring line and suburban station) of the Potsdamer station. On 1 December 1901, the operation of the Anhalt suburban line was commenced to Groß Lichterfelde Ost. The new suburban station of Papestraße was opened with the line; it has been called
Südkreuz since 2006. 74 pairs of suburban trains a day now operated, more than double the number of the previous year.
Yorkstraße (now
Yorckstraße) station opened on 1 May 1903.
Electrical operations
In 1903 electric operations was trialed for suburban trains between the Potsdamer Ring station and
Lichterfelde Ost using a 550 volts
DC system. After that the trains ran most of the day at 10-minute intervals. In 1929 the line was converted to the system adopted for the
Berlin S-Bahn
The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under this name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff area ''Berliner Stadt-, Ring ...
in 1924.
Groß-Lichterfelde-Ost station was placed on an embankment and upgraded in 1915. After the power supply of the line was greatly improved between 1936 and 1938, electrical operations commenced on the
Dresden railway to
Mahlow
Blankenfelde-Mahlow is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated approximately south of Berlin.
History
The municipality shared its borders with the former West Berlin, and ...
on 15 May 1939. This ended the previous mixed operation of steam and electric trains between Potsdamer Ring station and Priesterweg. On 9 October 1939, the suburban line was connected to the new Nord-Süd Tunnel by a ramp from Yorckstraße station and the connection from there to Potsdamer Ring station was abandoned.
Extension to Ludwigsfelde
Plans of the 1930s envisaged a series of major rail projects especially in southern Berlin, but these could only be partially realised due to the war. This included the extension of the S-Bahn to
Trebbin
Trebbin (; Polish ''Trzebin''Thomas Kantzow "Pomerania", tom 1, Szczecin 2005, ) is a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Nuthe, 14 km north of Luckenwalde, and 36 km southwest of Be ...
, where a new S-Bahn depot was to be built. Separate suburban tracks were actually built to Ludwigsfelde station, which went into operation on 9 August 1943. This line ran on an embankment as far as Genshagener Heide and after that at ground level. In Ludwigsfelde a separate terminal station was built for the suburban line. New stations were opened in Birkengrund Nord (north) and
Birkengrund Süd (south). These were initially intended for traffic to the
Daimler aircraft engine factory, but were opened to the public a short time later. In 1944, the suburban trains ran between Lichterfelde Süd and Ludwigsfelde every 10 to 20 minutes in the peak hour and every 30 or 60 minutes during the day. The long-distance tracks were built on an embankment past Teltow station.
Towards the end of the Second World War, there was severe damage to the Anhalt Railway and the bridges over the
Teltow Canal
The Teltow Canal, also known as the in German, is a canal to the south of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. The canal lies in both the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, and at points forms the boundary between the two. It takes its name from ...
were blown up by German troops.
Development after the Second World War
After the war, traffic on the line was restored to operation a section at a time. Services were restored between Yorckstraße and
Südende on 8 June 1945 and to Lichterfelde Süd on August 17, originally as a single track. The second track south of the Teltow Canal Bridge was taken back into operation on 18 July 1946; in contrast the S-Bahn line near the bridge still remains single-track. The southern part of the Nord-Süd tunnel was reopened in the summer of 1946, but traffic on the ramp between Anhalter Bahnhof and Yorckstraße only resumed on 15 August 1946.
In subsequent years, the effects of the
division of Germany
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
* Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
* Division (military), a formation typically consistin ...
on the line became more and more noticeable. The suburban line to Großbeeren was still used until 1952. Electric S-Bahn operations between Lichterfelde Süd and Teltow were restored in 1951. Train services from the south ended in Teltow, where passengers had to switch to the S-Bahn to reach Berlin. The tracks of the suburban railway between Teltow and Ludwigsfelde were removed and have not been restored. After the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
was built on 13 August 1961, the S-Bahn ceased operations south of Lichterfelde Süd.
Parts of the embankment of the suburban railway can still be seen between the Berlin city limits and the south of Großbeeren. Some other relics, such as the stairs to the suburban platform in Großbeeren, were removed during railway reconstruction after 1990.
Operation and closure after 1980
After a strike by
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
employees of the
East German Railways in September 1980 the Anhalt suburban line continued operating, unlike some other lines. On 8 January 1984 it was closed down after its takeover by the
Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe
The (German: 'Berlin Transport Company') is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's underground railway, tram, bus, replacement services (, EV) and ferry networks, but not the urban ra ...
(''Berlin Transportation Company''), because the
West Berlin Senate (government) did not consider the operation of the line as economically viable. North of Priesterweg the line continued to be used for trains on the Dresden railway to
Lichtenrade
Lichtenrade () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Berlin. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Tempelhof.
History
The locality was first mentioned in 1375, named ''Lichtenrode' ...
.
As a result, plans were discussed for S-Bahn operations on the Anhalt line to be partly replaced by a
guided bus
Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike trolleybuses or rubber-tired tra ...
system developed by
Daimler-Benz
The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
. The Senate hoped to benefit from substantial Federal funding for the project. This project would have required the complete replacement of the railway by a concrete busway. Entrance and exit ramps would also have been necessary. Its construction required the total demolition of the railway infrastructure on the Anhalt line. The plan proved to be politically and technically unfeasible.
Reopening after 1990
After the
reunification of Germany
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, the S-Bahn on the Anhalt Railway was restored in several stages. The section from Priesterweg to Lichterfelde Ost was restored on 28 May 1995 and the route to Lichterfelde Süd was reopened on 27 September 1998.
Osdorfer Straße station
Berlin Osdorfer Straße station is a Berlin S-Bahn station on the Anhalt Suburban Line in Lichterfelde in the Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, which is served by S-Bahn line S25 and S-Bahn line S26. It was put into operation in 1998 and ...
was built between Lichterfelde Ost and Lichterfelde Süd.
The new
Berlin-Lichterfelde Süd–Teltow Stadt railway was opened on 24 February 2005. This line was based on old plans. The idea of connecting the
Stahnsdorf Cemetery Railway with the Anhalt S-Bahn line at Teltow dates back to the 1930s. The first earthworks were begun during the Second World War. The original plans for further construction to Stahnsdorf are not being pursued and the route is not being protected.
[ ] Teltow Stadt station is near the centre of Teltow. The route planning from the 1930s was used in the new construction despite the delays. The S-Bahn line branches to the west from the Anhalt line at Berlin-Lichterfelde Süd station, shortly before the Berlin city limits.
Teltow station on the Anhalt line is now only served by regional services. The platforms of the suburban tracks were demolished after 2000 during the upgrade of the Anhalt line. The embankment of the suburban line to Großbeeren has been preserved, but it is no longer used. In the Birkengrund area trains operate over both the former long-distance tracks and the former suburban tracks.
In February 2014, the new
Zugbeeinflussungssystem S-Bahn Berlin
The Berlin S-Bahn Train Control System - (ZBS) - is a train protection system based on Eurobalises that is designed for the specific requirements of the S-Bahn Berlin rapid transit rail network. It is able to gradually replace the old system based ...
(Berlin S-Bahn train control system) was put into operation on the section between Yorckstraße and Lichterfelde Süd (and continuing to Teltow Stadt). This replaced the old system based on
train stop
Part of a railway signalling system, a train stop, trip stop or tripcock (sometimes called a tripper) is a train protection device that automatically stops a train if it attempts to pass a signal when the signal aspect and operating rules proh ...
equipment.
Passenger services
S-Bahn services operated as follows on the Anhalt suburban line after the completion of the
North-South tunnel:
*6 November 1939:
Lichterfelde Ost–
Berlin Friedrichstraße–
Velten
Velten is a town in the Oberhavel district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 10 km southwest of Oranienburg, and 24 km northwest of Berlin.
History
In 1905 Velten had 38 stove factories that delivered 100,000 tiled stoves to Berl ...
*9 August 1943: an extension was opened from Lichterfelde Ost to
Lichterfelde Süd
*1945: Lichterfelde Ost–
Bernau bei Berlin
Bernau bei Berlin (English ''Bernau by Berlin'', commonly named Bernau) is a German town in the Barnim district. The town is located about northeast of Berlin.
History
Archaeological excavations of Mesolithic-era sites indicate that this area has ...
*1951:
Teltow
Teltow [] is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.
Geography
Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is .
The Teltow Canal links the ...
(suburban line, Anhalter Railway)–Bernau.
*13 August 1961: Lichterfelde Süd–
Gesundbrunnen
References
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
{{coord missing, Berlin
Railway lines in Berlin
Railway lines opened in 1901
1901 establishments in Germany
Berlin S-Bahn lines
Buildings and structures in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Buildings and structures in Tempelhof-Schöneberg
Buildings and structures in Steglitz-Zehlendorf