Museumsinsel is a subway station in Berlin's Mitte district. It is part of the extension of the subway line
U5 from
Alexanderplatz
() ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...
to
Brandenburger Tor
The Brandenburg Gate (german: Brandenburger Tor ) is an 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II after restoring the Orangist power by suppressing the Dutch popular unrest. One ...
, with groundbreaking occurring in 2010. The station opened on 9 July 2021.
Design
The Museumsinsel station has a single central platform at the eastern end of
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden (, "under the linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden (lime in England and Ireland, not re ...
, between
Zeughaus
The Zeughaus (English: Arsenal) is a listed building and the oldest structure on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic centre of Berlin. Erected from 1695 to 1706 according to plans by Johann Arnold Nering, Martin Grünberg, Andreas Schlü ...
and
Berlin Palace
The Berlin Palace (german: Berliner Schloss), formally the Royal Palace (german: Königliches Schloss), on the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin, was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order of ...
. Part of the station is located just south of the
Schlossbrücke
Schlossbrücke is a bridge in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. Built between 1821 and 1824 according to plans designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, it was named after the nearby City Palace (''Stadtschloss''). The bridge marks the ...
under the
Spree
Spree may refer to:
Geography
* Spree (river), river in Germany
Film and television
* ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
* ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery
* "Spree" (''Numbers' ...
, at a depth of 16 meters below the upper edge of the street.
Entrances lead to the station from both ends, with distribution levels below the road surface. The station can be accessed from the west by an entrance in front of the
Kronprinzenpalais
The Kronprinzenpalais (English: ''Crown Prince's Palace'') is a former Royal Prussian residence on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built in 1663 and renovated in 1857 according to plans by Heinrich Strack in Ne ...
and east of the
Zeughaus
The Zeughaus (English: Arsenal) is a listed building and the oldest structure on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic centre of Berlin. Erected from 1695 to 1706 according to plans by Johann Arnold Nering, Martin Grünberg, Andreas Schlü ...
. On the east side of the station, two entrances lie at the northwest corner of the
Berliner Schloss
The Berlin Palace (german: Berliner Schloss), formally the Royal Palace (german: Königliches Schloss), on the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin, was the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern from 1443 to 1918. Expanded by order of ...
. Both ends are equipped with escalators, and near the east entrance is an elevator leading from the surface directly to the platform.
The platform occupies the space between the two tunnels, under a flat ceiling supported by two rows of columns. The design by
Max Dudler was inspired by a stage design by
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassica ...
for the opera
The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...
''(Die Zauberflöte)'' from 1816 and features a starry sky on a dark blue
barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
with points of light over the tracks.
Construction
Excavations for the two entrances required different methods. The eastern entrance used open construction while the western entrance was built using a
cut-and-cover
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube constr ...
process. Both were built using
slurry wall
A slurry wall is a civil engineering technique used to build reinforced concrete walls in areas of soft earth close to open water, or with a high groundwater table.
This technique is typically used to build diaphragm (water-blocking) walls surro ...
s due to the proximity to the river. Since the eastern excavation pit was located partly in the river, a
cofferdam
A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for construction or re ...
was first created. Unlike other stations on this new U5 extension, the station area was built only after the
tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...
had passed through the site, aided by
ground freezing
Ground freezing is a construction technique used in circumstances where soil needs to be stabilized so it will not collapse next to excavations, or to prevent contaminants spilled into soil from being leached away.
Ground freezing has been used f ...
techniques. This icing process was also used during the construction of the
Brandenburger Tor
The Brandenburg Gate (german: Brandenburger Tor ) is an 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II after restoring the Orangist power by suppressing the Dutch popular unrest. One ...
station. Glaciation under the Spree was accomplished with a total of 95 holes, each 105 meters long. A cooling liquid consisting of minus 37 °C cold calcium chloride solution was pumped into these holes, freezing the soil so that the future platform area could be broken up.
At the western end of the station, a
weir chamber was built to protect the station from the Spree. All equipment for the operation, such as power supply, telecommunication and air conditioning systems have been installed in the underground station building.
From mid-2010 to the end of 2011, extensive utilities relocations were made in the future station and tunnel areas. In 2011, archaeological excavations were carried out in the area around the eastern entrances. Until 1894, 17th and 18th century houses within the Schlossfreiheit stood here, the foundations and cellars of which were still partially preserved.
At the end of January 2012, 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 ...
awarded the first contract for the manufacture of the station shell. It included the launch shaft for the tunnel boring machine, tunnels, the
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden (, "under the linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden (lime in England and Ireland, not re ...
and Museumsinsel stations, and a track change system. The contract value was approximately 190 million euros. The cost of the shell of the Museumsinsel station was estimated at 65 million euros.
The actual start of construction began at the end of April 2012.
See also
*
Museumsinsel
The Museum Island (german: Museumsinsel) is a museum complex on the northern part of the Spree Island in the historic heart of Berlin. It is one of the most visited sights of Germany's capital and one of the most important museum sites in Euro ...
, the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river which the station is named after
References
External links
*
{{BU-BahnStations
Berlin U-Bahn stations located underground
U5 (Berlin U-Bahn) stations
Buildings and structures in Mitte
Railway stations in Berlin
2021 establishments in Germany
Railway stations opened in 2021