Berlin–Szczecin Railway
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The Berlin–Szczecin railway, also known in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
as the Stettiner Bahn (Stettin Railway) is a mainline railway built by the ''Berlin-Stettin Railway Company'' between the German capital 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 ...
and the now
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
city of
Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...
, then part of
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
and known as Stettin. It is one of the oldest lines in Germany, built in 1842 and 1843 and was the company's trunk line. The line was duplicated between Berlin and
Angermünde Angermünde () is a town in the district of Uckermark in the state of Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany. It is about northeast of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The population is about 14,000, but has been declining since its traditional i ...
in 1863 and between Angermünde and Szczecin in 1873. The line is still used by regional trains on the Berlin–Angermünde route (some to or from
Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...
) and on the Angermünde–Szczecin route as well as the long-distance trains on the entire Berlin–Szczecin line. Between central Berlin and the suburban station of Bernau the line also has its own suburban tracks used by the
Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system that services the reigon in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under the name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff are ...
. The line is also a major route for the transport of freight between Germany and Poland. Except for the section between Passow and Szczecin Gumieńce the entire route is electrified.


Route

The route originally began at
Stettiner Bahnhof Berlin Nordbahnhof () is a railway station in the Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. It is served by the Berlin S-Bahn and local bus and tram lines. Until 1950, the station was known as Stettiner Bahnhof. History First station In 1842, the ''St ...
(Stettin station)—renamed in 1952 as ''Nordbahnhof'' (North station)—to the north of central Berlin. The track first runs briefly to the northwest and then turns toward the northeast. Near the current
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 ...
and the
Prussian Northern Railway The Berlin Northern Railway () is a 223-kilometre-long main line route, that runs from Berlin via Neustrelitz and Neubrandenburg to Stralsund on the Baltic Sea coast. Nowadays, long-distance and regional traffic on the Nordbahn is routed at ...
, the line formerly had a separate alignment, but this was abandoned in 1897. Since then, the line has run along the Ringbahn and along the Northern Railway to Bornholmer Straße where it returns to the old alignment. Before reaching the Berlin city limits north of
Buch Buch (the German word for book or a modification of the German word '' Buche'' for beech) may refer to: People * Buch (surname), a list of people with the surname Buch - mostly, in India or abroad as of Indian origin. Geography Germany * Buch ...
, the line has no significant curves. At Bernau the line swings briefly to the east to avoid the
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
centre. As far as Angermünde it runs largely parallel with federal highway B2, which it crosses several times. To the north of the town of
Eberswalde Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in Brandenburg in north-eastern Germany, about northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005). The town is often called Waldstadt (forest town), beca ...
is the tunnel under the
Oder–Havel Canal The Oder–Havel Canal is a German canal built between 1908 and 1914, originally known as the Hohenzollern Canal, mostly replacing the Finow Canal. Together with Hohensaaten-Friedrichsthaler Wasserstraße, the ''Oderhaltung'' and the ''Schwedter ...
(Hohenzollern Canal): one of the most important engineering structures on the line. The last section of the line turns a little more to the east towards the
Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
river. In the last few kilometres before the border with Poland the line comes within a few hundred metres of the state border of
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...
without actually crossing it. About three kilometres beyond Rosow, and 119.6 km from the beginning of the line, the line crosses the German-Polish border. In Szczecin-Gumieńce, the railway joins the
Bützow–Szczecin railway The Bützow–Szczecin railway is a nearly 200 km-long, mostly non-electrified, single-track main line railway running mostly in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The first section of the line between Bützow and Güstrow was opene ...
and then runs to Szczecin central station. The station's placement reflects the reasons for the line's construction: it is located on the banks of the
Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
at the foot of the hill on which the centre of the city is located. The station building does not face the city, but rather the promenade next to the quay. The line was Berlin's first fast connection to the sea, which connected Prussia to the rest of world by steamship from Stettin.


History


Private railway era

The ''Berlin-Stettin Railway Company'' (German: ''Berlin-Stettiner Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', BStE) was founded in Berlin in March 1836 by a number of businessmen with the aim of building a railway from Berlin to Stettin. It was hoped that 39,000 people and 20,000 tons of freight would be transported annually and that with an estimated construction cost of 2.5 million
thalers A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...
this would provide a return of just over five percent. On 10 July 1836, an interim licence was granted for the railway. The cost in the final draft was 2.724 million thalers. The increase was largely due to upgraded standards, such as the use of better structures and the placement of the Stettin station next to the Oder in the middle of the business district. Since it had only sold shares worth 1.037 million thalers, it was taken over by the old
Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...
n local parliament, which guaranteed a return for six years, and the sum of 500,000 thalers was invested by the citizens of Stettin and neighbouring landowners. The final concession was issued on 12 October 1840. During the acquisition of land, provision was made for doubling the track, and the track base and the larger structures were prepared accordingly. At a general meeting of the company on 26 May 1842, it was decided to continue the line to
Stargard Stargard (; 1945: ''Starogród'', 1950–2016: ''Stargard Szczeciński''; or ''Stargard an der Ihna''; ) is a city in northwestern Poland, located in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 2021 it was inhabited by 67,293 people. It is situated on ...
in Pomerania. On 1 August 1842 the Berlin–Eberswalde section was opened and it was extended to Angermünde on 15 November 1842. The entire 134,7 km long Berlin–Stettin line was officially opened on 15 August 1843. The first time table provided for two pairs of passenger trains per day, taking four hours and 20 to 30 minutes, and one pair of cargo trains taking five hours and 21 minutes (in the Berlin-Stettin direction) and 45 minutes in the other direction. On 1 May 1846 the line was extended by the opening of the Stettin–Stargard section. The Berlin station in Stettin was transformed into a through station. The opening of the
Prussian Eastern Railway The Prussian Eastern Railway () was a railway in the Kingdom of Prussia and later Germany until 1918. Its main route, approximately long, connected the capital, Berlin, with the cities of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and Königsberg (now Kalini ...
’s Krzyż
Piła Piła (; ) is a city in northwestern Poland and the capital of Piła County, situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Its population was 71,846, making it the city in the voivodeship after Poznań and Kalisz and the largest city in the north ...
Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...
line in 1851 benefited the Szczecin Railway as the two lines were connected via the extension of the Szczecin–Stargard line to Krzyż in 1848 (or 1849). After the opening of the Eastern Railway's Krzyż– Kostrzyn
Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...
–Berlin line in 1857, all of the Eastern Railway's traffic to Berlin was transferred to that line. The second track from Berlin to Angermünde was put into operation on 22 December 1863 and on 1 August 1873 the work which had begun in 1872 on doubling the Angermünde–Stettin–Stargard line was completed. On 1 February 1880 the BStE was nationalised and became part of
Prussian state railways The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
.


State railway era

On 12 December 1897 the line along Grüntaler Straße in the Berlin district of Wedding, which had several level crossings, was moved on to the route of the Ringbahn to connect with the new transfer station of Gesundbrunnen. At Bornholmer Straße the line then branched off the line of the
Prussian Northern Railway The Berlin Northern Railway () is a 223-kilometre-long main line route, that runs from Berlin via Neustrelitz and Neubrandenburg to Stralsund on the Baltic Sea coast. Nowadays, long-distance and regional traffic on the Nordbahn is routed at ...
to the east. Freight tracks on the section had already been opened on 1 May 1897. Between 1903 and 1906, the Stettiner station was expanded and converted to accommodate suburban train services. The rapid growth of road transport at the beginning of the twentieth century led to chaotic conditions at level crossings, requiring the separation of the modes. This was carried out in several stages between 1912 and 1916 by creating embankments from Berlin to Bernau and separating long-distance and suburban tracks. The planned electrification of the suburban railways was not implemented for the time being, owing to
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.


1918–1945

Shortly after the First World War, the suburban railways were electrified. Originally it had been planned to use the usual German AC system of overhead electrification with 16.7 kilovolts and 15 hertz. However, while construction work was in full swing – in Pankow the first electric pylons had already been erected – German Railways decided in favour of a DC system with side-contact conductor rail at 750 volts. The
hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real versus nominal value (economics), real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimiz ...
of 1923 delayed construction, however, allowing completion to take place only in summer of 1924. On 8 August 1924, the first electric commuter train line was opened between the Stettiner suburban station and Bernau. Since 1 December 1930, this line has formed part of the
Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system that services the reigon in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under the name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff are ...
. As one of public works projects to reduce the unemployment figures, launched after the Nazis' conquest of power in 1933, the long discussed project of a north–south transversal S-Bahn link was decided in 1933, and started to be implemented in 1934, linking the three northern suburban lines terminating at the Stettiner Bahnhof with the three southern suburban lines terminating at Potsdamer Bahnhof, by a tunnel from Stettiner Bahnhof to
Anhalter Bahnhof The Anhalter Bahnhof is a former train station, 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 fo ...
. Two new stations were built in the north, at Bornholmer Straße and Humboldthain; the suburban terminal, placed on the west side of the ''Stettiner Bahnhof'' was replaced by an underground station placed on the East side of the station. The first phase of the North-South Tunnel was opened in June 1936, just in time for the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin.


After 1945

The end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
had serious implications for the route. The line's second track was dismantled to provide
reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Reparation (theology), the theological concept of corrective response to God and the associated prayers for repairing the damages of sin * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for re ...
to the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Although Stettin, lying on the west bank of the Oder was supposed to remain part of Germany by the terms decided at the
Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...
, with Soviet approval Polish troops seized the city in 1945 in order to control the entire mouth of the river and renamed the city Szczecin. The once-popular route to Germany's third-biggest port, often also used by Germans vacationing on the Baltic, fell into irrelevance and disrepair. Cross-border traffic between Angermünde and Szczecin declined significantly after the war, as Stettin's German-speaking population had been ethnically cleansed and expelled in totality. Passenger services were soon limited to one train a day. In 1950 the line's terminus in Berlin was renamed ''Nordbahnhof'' (North Station). The closure of the station on 18 May 1952 meant the temporary end of rail operations on the Szczecin Railway 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 ...
. The trains then ran on the
Berlin outer ring The Berlin outer ring (, BAR) is a long double track electrified railway, originally built by the German Democratic Republic to bypass West Berlin in preparation for the building of the Berlin Wall during the division of Germany. It was develop ...
to
Berlin-Lichtenberg station Berlin-Lichtenberg is a railway station in Berlin, Germany. It is located on the Prussian Eastern Railway, Eastern Railway, Wriezen Railway and Berlin Frankfurter Allee–Berlin-Rummelsburg railway lines in the Lichtenberg (locality), Lichtenbe ...
and the
Berlin Stadtbahn The Berlin Stadtbahn is the historic east-west elevated railway of Berlin. It runs from Berlin Ostbahnhof station, Ostbahnhof in the east to Charlottenburg in the City West, west, connecting several of the most major sights of the German capi ...
. In the 1980s, the line from Berlin-Pankow to Passow was electrified. Also equipped with overhead electrification were the adjacent long-distance lines of the Ringbahn and the Berlin outer ring, the Passow–Stendell line to service the PCK oil refinery as well as the line to Stralsund that branches off at Angermünde. The section between Passow and Szczecin remained unelectrified.


Reunification era

Since the opening of the new
Berlin Hauptbahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...
(central station) on 27 May 2006 trains again run through Gesundbrunnen station to the new North-South mainline so that travellers on the Szczecin line now take the shortest route to the centre of Berlin. Despite European integration the railway track is in poor condition especially between Angermünde and Szczecin. Between Passow and Szczecin Gumieńce it is still single-track and unelectrified. The doubling, electrification and upgrading of the entire route to allow running at 160 km/h begun in 2021, funded by the federal government of Germany (€380M), and the federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg (€50M each)


Notes


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin-Szczecin railway Cross-border railway lines in Germany Cross-border railway lines in Poland Defunct railway companies of Germany Railway lines in Berlin Railway lines in Brandenburg Railway lines in Poland Buildings and structures in Uckermark (district)