Berlin Hermannstraße Station
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Berlin Hermannstraße is a
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
in the
Neukölln Neukölln (), officially abbreviated Neuk, is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located south-east of Berlin's center and stretches from the inner city southward to the border with Brandenburg, encompassing the eponymous quarter of Neu ...
district of
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. It is served by the
S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...
lines , , , and and the
U-Bahn Rapid transit in Germany consists of four systems and 14 systems. The , commonly understood to stand for ('underground railway'), are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the or ('city rapid railway') are c ...
line , of which it is the southern terminus. It was formerly also possible to transfer there to the Neukölln-
Mittenwalde Mittenwalde () is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 30 km southeast of Berlin (centre). On May 28, 1562, the town of Mittenwalde lent Berlin 400 guilders, a debt which has never been repaid, tho ...
railway line, which is now only used for
goods In economics, goods are anything that is good, usually in the sense that it provides welfare or utility to someone. Alan V. Deardorff, 2006. ''Terms Of Trade: Glossary of International Economics'', World Scientific. Online version: Deardorffs ...
traffic.


S-Bahn station


Berlin Ringbahn

Hermannstraße was on the route of the first segment of the
Berlin Ringbahn The Ringbahn (German for circle railway) is a long circle route around Berlin's inner city area, on the Berlin S-Bahn network. Its course is made up of a pair of tracks used by S-Bahn trains and another parallel pair of tracks used by various ...
which opened on 15 November 1877 (with passenger service beginning on 1 January 1878). At that time the closest station was Rixdorf, which today is called Berlin-Neukölln because the locality changed its name in 1912. The Hermannstraße station opened on 1 February 1899, as one of several suburban stations added during the enlargement of the ring line to 4 tracks. Initially the only access was at the east end of the station, via a small building with a red-tiled roof. In 1910 a second entrance on Siegfriedstraße was added. For 29 years the station was served by steam trains. After the creation of
Greater Berlin The Greater Berlin Act (), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (), was a law passed by the Prussian state government in 1920, which greatly expanded the size of the Prussian and German capital of Berlin. Hist ...
in 1920, electrification to create the S-Bahn system began in 1924; the Ringbahn was fully incorporated on 6 November 1928.


Rixdorf - Mittenwalde Railway

In 1895 a committee of residents of
Mittenwalde Mittenwalde () is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 30 km southeast of Berlin (centre). On May 28, 1562, the town of Mittenwalde lent Berlin 400 guilders, a debt which has never been repaid, tho ...
formed a committee to construct a railway from Mittenwalde to Rixdorf, since existing rail routes were not conveniently located. Finding the cost prohibitive, they partnered with Vering & Waechter, a company which was at the time developing rail lines throughout Germany. On 23 February 1899, the ''Rixdorf-Mittenwalder Eisenbahn Aktiengesellschaft'' was founded; it still exists today. Vering & Waechter, given the responsibility for planning and construction, mapped out a route from North Mittenwalde to Hermannstraße with 7 intermediate stations: Brusendorf, Groß Kienitz, Selchow,
Schönefeld Schönefeld (, meaning ''beautiful field'') is a suburban municipality in the Dahme-Spreewald district, Brandenburg, Germany. It borders the southeastern districts of Berlin. The municipal area encompasses the old Berlin Schönefeld Airport (SXF) ...
,
Rudow Rudow () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Neukölln. History The village was founded in 1373. Until 1920 it was a municipality of the former Teltow district, merged into Berlin with the "Greater Berlin Act ...
,
Buckow Buckow ( or ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, town in the Märkisch-Oderland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. The Hydrotherapy, water cure resort is the administrative seat of the ''Amt (country subdivision), Amt'' (municipal associa ...
and
Britz Britz () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Neukölln. History The village of ''Britzig'' was first mentioned in 1273. It was incorporated by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act. It is known for being the sit ...
. After the Ringbahn station was built, the plans were changed and the Hermannstraße terminus of the line became a transfer point and the Britz station the operating centre. The operating licence for the line was granted on 21 July 1899, and it opened on 28 September 1900. 4 years later it was extended southwards to Schöneiche Plan. When Rixdorf became Neukölln in 1912, the line became the ''Neukölln-Mittenwalder Eisenbahn'' (Neukölln - Mittenwalde Railway).


During and after World War II

During World War II the Mittenwalde line was heavily used for transporting both munitions and passengers, reaching a peak of over 1 million
tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...
s and 3 million passengers in 1942/43. The Hermannstraße S-Bahn station was not damaged during the bombing of Berlin, but the entrance was severely damaged during the
Battle for Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...
and that stretch of the Ringbahn was closed from April 1945 until 18 June 1945. The Mittenwalde line was closed until 17 May 1945, when the bridge 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 ...
was repaired by the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
. In September 1946, the Soviet occupying administration took possession of the portion of the line outside Berlin under
eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...
and transferred its operation to the Brandenburg State Railways, and in the
Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...
of 1948/49, the line was severed at the boundary with the American sector. of line with some
siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) In rail terminology, a siding is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch lin ...
s within Berlin remained unaffected, and the company had constructed a extension to Tempelhof Airfield which could then be used to transport coal flown there in the
Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...
, avoiding the
East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
-controlled Deutsche Reichsbahn. S-Bahn operation continued under the control of the Deutsche Reichsbahn during and after the blockade, but was boycotted in
West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...
in protest against this East German body operating in the Western sectors of the city. In 1961, the year Berlin wall was erected, the Siegfriedstraße entrance to the Hermannstraße station was closed. The destroyed main entrance was under restoration until 1968/69, but in 1971 was demolished and replaced with a modern building, which opened in June 1973; the Siegfriedstraße entrance, reopened during this work, was then closed and it was demolished 3 years later. After the September 1980 strike of West Berlin S-Bahn workers, the Reichsbahn almost completely closed the S-Bahn in West Berlin, including the Ringbahn. The Neukölln - Mittenwalde line, in contrast, profited from increased goods traffic after the West Berlin power company, Bewag, built a power plant at Rudow. Within the city, its passenger stations were demolished, while outside the city, in the
GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...
, the rails were taken up but the station buildings remained.


Reopening after reunification

The Reichsbahn transferred the S-Bahn to
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), trams in Berlin, tram, bus transport in Berlin, bus, replacement services (EV) and fe ...
(Berlin Transport) in 1984, and after public enthusiasm for it increased, preparations began in 1989 for gradually reopening the Ringbahn beginning in 1992. The fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
that November and the ensuing
German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
changed the plans: the stretch of Ringbahn to be initially reopened was extended into the former East Berlin and the reopening deferred to 1993. The Hermannstraße station was completely rebuilt in a new position under the bridge where Hermannstraße crosses the S-Bahn
cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the sca ...
, so that hardly any traces of the historic station remain. The new station has two entrance buildings on Hermannstraße, which were painted blue and green to draw attention to the connection between the S-Bahn and U-Bahn Line 8 at the station, which was finally realised after some 60 years with the opening of the U-Bahn station on 13 July 1996. Service on the western portion of the Ringbahn was ceremonially relaunched on 17 December 1993, over a stretch of line including the Hermannstraße station. The station is now served by three S-Bahn lines which originate to the southeast of the city: S47, S46 from
Königs Wusterhausen Königs Wusterhausen (; , ) is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district of the state of Brandenburg in Germany a few kilometers outside Berlin. Geography Geographical location Königs Wusterhausen – locally known as "KW" () or "KWh" ()– lie ...
and S45 from
Schönefeld Airport Schönefeld (, meaning ''beautiful field'') is a suburban municipality in the Dahme-Spreewald district, Brandenburg, Germany. It borders the southeastern districts of Berlin. The municipal area encompasses the old Berlin Schönefeld Airport (SXF) ...
, plus the two Ringbahn lines, S41 and S42. A new two-track turning area at Hermannstraße is the terminus of the S47. Also since German reunification, the Mittenwalde line became the route by which the city's household waste is conveyed in
container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
s from the ''Berliner Stadtreinigung'' (Berlin Sanitation) depot on the Teltow Canal to the Hermannstraße terminus of the line, now known as Güterbahnhof Neukölln, Neukölln Goods Station, where it is transferred to
Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...
goods trains. In December 2005, however, the district of Neukölln decided to convert unused track area in the goods station to industrial use; the Neukölln-Mittenwalder Eisenbahn is to wind up its operations there at some point in the future. It was supposed to be a regional railway station but plans were scrapped.


U-Bahn station

In 1927, seven years after Neukölln like many other surrounding towns became part of
Greater Berlin The Greater Berlin Act (), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (), was a law passed by the Prussian state government in 1920, which greatly expanded the size of the Prussian and German capital of Berlin. Hist ...
, the city opened the first segment of what was then called Line D of the U-Bahn, today's U8. Over the next 3 years, the line was extended as far south as Leinestraße. It had been the intention since the first conception of the line in 1910 for it to connect with the S-Bahn at Hermannstraße. Work began in 1929 and was scheduled to be completed in March 1930, but was halted by the
economic crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and ma ...
. Finally in 1931 the City of Berlin cancelled the project. By then the tunnel from Leinestraße (the longest tunnel segment excavated that year) and about one third of the platform at the new station had been constructed. The stairways to the street were in place and were capped with concrete. In 1940, the unfinished station was used as an
air raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but ...
; because it is located under the S-Bahn cutting, it is unusually deep underground. There are still signs on the wall from this period. After the construction of the Berlin wall in 1961, the West Berlin Senate did not pursue the plans for an extension, since West Berliners were boycotting the GDR-run S-Bahn and there was thus no longer demand for a transfer point between the U-Bahn and it. Berlin Transport laid rails in the tunnel and used it to store disused trains. The situation changed with
German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
and it was decided to complete the extension and open the Hermannstraße U-Bahn station. The scheduled reopening of the
Ringbahn The Ringbahn (German for circle railway) is a long circle route around Berlin's inner city area, on the Berlin S-Bahn network. Its course is made up of a pair of tracks used by S-Bahn trains and another parallel pair of tracks used by various ...
on 17 December 1993 created time pressure, because work on the U-Bahn station had to begin before then. The work included renovation of the existing tunnel and partial platform, construction of the remainder of the platform and the creation of a 320 m long turn-around. In addition, means of transfer between the station and the S-Bahn station above had to be created, and stairwells for a planned regional station. In the course of the work, the trains which had been parked there in the 1960s were discovered. U-Bahn buffs were delighted that one of the discoveries was an antique BI train. The opening of the station, the 168th in the
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 Berlin S-Bahn, S-Bahn, a network of ...
system, was celebrated on 13 July 1996. Like almost all Berlin U-Bahn stations constructed in recent decades, the Hermannstraße station was designed by
Rainer Rümmler Rainer may refer to: People * Rainer (surname) * Rainer (given name) Other * Rainer Island, an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia * 16802 Rainer, an asteroid * Rainer Foundation, British charitable organisation See also * Rainier (disambiguation ...
. It was his last design before he retired. In this case he was strongly influenced by the stations to the north, 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 ...
, which led to a very sparse station lined with turquoise tiles. The signs for the air raid shelter were retained behind glass as testaments to the past.


2016 manhunt after crime at station

A video clip from October 2016 showed a woman being kicked down stairs; in December the clip was published by media before being authorized by the government to do so; thereafter police requested leads from the public to capture the perpetrator of the violence. On 13 December an arrest warrant was issued. On 17 December the suspect was arrested in Germany on a bus coming from another country.


References


External links


Neukölln - Mittenwalder Eisenbahn - Gesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft in Berlin

Hermannstraße S-Bahn station satellite view
on Google maps
Hermannstraße S-Bahn station and "Kleinbahn-Bahnhof Neukölln-Mittenwalde"
on a 1932 Berlin map {{DEFAULTSORT:Hermannstrasse Berlin S-Bahn stations U8 (Berlin U-Bahn) stations Buildings and structures in Neukölln Railway stations in Germany opened in 1899