Stadtmitte (City Centre) 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 U2 and U6, located in the Mitte district.

Overview

The U2 platform opened on 1 October 1908 with the new U-Bahn section from

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corn ...

Spittelmarkt Spittelmarkt is a Berlin U-Bahn station on line U2, located in Mitte at the eastern end of Leipziger Straße. History The station was opened on 1 October 1908, and was then the terminus of Berlin's second U-Bahn line, connecting it with Pots ...

. The station beneath the crossing of

Friedrichstraße The Friedrichstraße () (lit. ''Frederick Street'') is a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, forming the core of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood and giving the name to Berlin Friedrichstraße station. It runs from the northern pa ...

and

Mohrenstraße Mohrenstraße is a street in central Berlin. It runs from west to east between Wilhelmstraße and , and partially forming the southern edge of Gendarmenmarkt. The Berlin U-Bahn station Mohrenstraße is located at its western end, and is serve ...

was designed by

Alfred Grenander Alfred Frederik Elias Grenander (26 June 1863 – 14 March 1931) was a Swedish architect, who became one of the most prominent engineers during the first building period of the Berlin U-Bahn network in the early twentieth century. Biography Gr ...

and initially called ''

''.J. Meyer-Kronthaler, ''Berlins U-Bahnhöfe'', Berlin: be.bra, 1996 The second platform of the present-day U6 was finished on 30 January 1923, but was built about southwards at the intersection of Friedrichstraße and

Leipziger Straße Leipziger Straße is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte (locality), Mitte district of Berlin, capital of Germany. It runs from Leipziger Platz, an octagonal square adjacent to Potsdamer Platz in the west, to Spittelmarkt (Berlin U-Bahn), S ...

, the main east-west thoroughfare of the Friedrichstadt quarter. The platforms are connected by a pedestrian underpass colloquially called the ' ("mouse tunnel"). The station received its current name in 1936. This station was heavily damaged in World War II. On 7 May 1944, massive fire damage broke out in the entire station area. On 3 February 1945, there was heavy destruction in the entire station area involving gunshots, which was already badly damaged by fire. Several pillars were literally torn from their anchorage. A wall was pushed in by pure air pressure. The ceiling was later destroyed in the Battle of Berlin. The U6 station was closed from 13 August 1961 due to the construction of the Berlin Wall. This station was also once a border station, and it is well connected to the U2 station. It looks nearly identical to the Schwartzkopffstraße station, the only difference being the presence of the compound where the tracks have become storerooms. Rolls of barbed wire were also installed to prevent escapees from crawling, and the entrances and transfer linkways were all locked with baby-lock gates. Armed guards were stationed at the southern side of the entrance. All were eliminated by 29 June 1990, and the station reopened on 1 July 1990.

References

{{BU-BahnStations U2 (Berlin U-Bahn) stations U6 (Berlin U-Bahn) stations Buildings and structures in Mitte Railway stations in Germany opened in 1908