Schlesisches Tor is a

Berlin U-Bahn The Berlin U-Bahn (; short for , "underground railway") is a rapid transit system in Berlin, the capital and largest city of Germany, and a major part of the city's public transport system. Together with the S-Bahn, a network of suburban train li ...

station on lines U1 and U3. Many Berliners use the affectionate term ''Schlesi'' (see Berlin dialect).

Overview

The station is located in eastern

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it ha ...

, near

Oberbaumbrücke The Oberbaum Bridge (german: Oberbaumbrücke) is a double-deck bridge crossing Berlin's River Spree, considered one of the city's landmarks. It links Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, former boroughs that were divided by the Berlin Wall, and has ...

, in the

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

quarter commonly known as '' SO36'' (named after its former postal code). The station is named after one of the former city gates of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, built in the early 18th century; the road that ran through it led southeastward to the province of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. The exceptionally richly designed station opened on 18 February 1902, on the first U-Bahn line erected by the

Siemens & Halske Siemens & Halske AG (or Siemens-Halske) was a German electrical engineering company that later became part of Siemens. It was founded on 12 October 1847 as ''Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske'' by Werner von Siemens and Johann Ge ...

company (the ''Stammstrecke''). On 11/12 March 1945, this station was directly hit, and the track area was severely damaged. During the

division of Berlin 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 governmen ...

after 13 August 1961, the station was the eastern terminus of the U1, as the final station, Warschauer Straße, was in East Berlin. The link was reopened in 1995. An intermediate station at 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' ...

river, Stralauer Tor, had been destroyed in 1945 and never reopened. Schlesisches Tor was an atmospheric location in the 1966 espionage film ''

The Quiller Memorandum ''The Quiller Memorandum'' is a 1966 British neo noir eurospy film filmed in DeLuxe Color, Deluxe Color and Panavision, adapted from the 1965 spy fiction, spy novel ''The Berlin Memorandum'', by Elleston Trevor under the name "Adam Hall", screen ...

'', starring George Segal and Alec Guinness.

References

External links

U1 (Berlin U-Bahn) stations U3 (Berlin U-Bahn) stations Berlin U-Bahn stations located above ground Railway stations in Germany opened in 1902 Buildings and structures in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg {{Berlin-UBahn-stub