Görlitzer Bahnhof was the name of the Berlin railway terminus for the mainline link between the capital, Cottbus in Brandenburg and Görlitz in Lower Silesia (since 1945 Saxony). It stood overlooking Spreewaldplatz in the Outer Luisenstadt, the eastern part of Kreuzberg but wartime bombing and Cold War tensions led to its closure and eventual demolition.
The Görlitzer Bahnhof (Berlin U-Bahn) station was named after this historic station and is located on a different site nearby.
The rise
The station was designed by August Orth, an architect later responsible for the Emmauskirche in nearby Lausitzer Platz, and built between 1865 and 1867 in the Palazzo style of the Italian Renaissance. It formed part of a railway expansion project that would link Berlin with Cottbus and Görlitz, and then ultimately with cities such as Sagan (Żagań) and Breslau (Wrocław) (both in Poland since 1945) and Vienna in Austria.
On 13 June 1866 a military train bound for the Austro-Prussian war became the first train to leave the then incomplete station site. The connection was one of convenience because the military had built their barracks in neighbouring Wrangelstraße.
Shortly afterwards, on 13 September, a regular passenger service began between Berlin and Cottbus. By late 1867 the Berlin-Görlitz line was complete and the route, which passed through the countryside of the Spreewald and Lower Lusatia and the towns of Königs Wusterhausen, Lübben, and Lübbenau, officially opened on 31 December 1867. Although founded by a private company, owned by industrialist and "rail king" Bethel Henry Strousberg, the service was nationalised on 28 March 1882.
The new line proved an immediate success with the public. After only a few months, it was accommodating 70,000 travellers a day and during the whole of 1880, approximately 1.5 million people used Görlitzer Bahnhof. Its popularity had a stimulating effect on the surrounding area, with shops and cafés springing up in the neighbouring streets, helping to establish it as one of the liveliest in the city.
Aside from the transport of people, the line also served as a vital trade route connecting the capital with the cloth factories, and the brick and glass works of industrial Görlitz. Lausitz proved to be not only a rich source of Spreewald gherkins but also, more importantly, of coal.
Görlitzer Tunnel
In order to improve access between the neighbourhoods that emerged around Görlitzer Straße (the Wrangelkiez) and Wiener Straße (the Reichenberger Kiez), an underpass was constructed under the railway site. Opened to the public in 1910, this connected Oppelner Straße on the northern side with Liegnitzer Straße to the south. This was officially known as the ‘Görlitzer Tunnel’, although it would later also acquire the nickname "Harnröhre“ (Urethra).
The fall
During World War II, the Allied aerial bombardments of 3 February 1945, which left 3,255 dead or missing and over 119,000 homeless in the surrounding Kreuzberg district, caused severe damage to the station. Nevertheless, by June, a mere month after the surrender of Berlin, a makeshift Görlitzer Bahnhof was back in service.
The revival proved temporary, however. From 25 September 1946 all its long-distance trains were redirected to Schlesischer Bahnhof (renamed Ostbahnhof in 1950) on the central Stadtbahn. Furthermore, over the next few years the ongoing expansion of the electric S-Bahn system would supersede its role in the local network too. Ultimately though, it was the deepening crisis in political relations between East and West that sealed the station's fate, and made its position as a Western station operating an Eastern line untenable. It therefore came as no surprise when the GDR decided to close Görlitzer Bahnhof to passenger trains on 29 April 1951.
Although the complete absence of the railway on the 1954 Berlin city map suggests the station was subsequently demolished and cleared, it actually remained relatively undisturbed in its bombed-out state for ten years after the closure. The arrival of the Wall in 1961, however, quashed any hopes of a reconstruction.
Over the following decade or so all the remaining station buildings were demolished, beginning with the large platform hall in 1962 and the main reception area in 1967.