Berlin Potsdamer Platz is a railway station in Berlin. It is completely underground and situated under Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin. Regional and S-Bahn services call at the station, and it is also served by U-Bahn line U2.
History
S-Bahn
The first station at Potsdamer Platz was the Potsdamer Bahnhof terminus, which was closed on 27 September 1945 due to war damage.
In 1939 the S-Bahn, or Stadtbahn (City Railway), arrived. The idea for a North-South Link rapid transit rail line from Unter den Linden to Yorckstraße, via Potsdamer Platz and Anhalter Bahnhof, had first been mooted in 1914, but it was not planned in detail until 1928, and then approval had to wait until 1933. Begun in 1934, it was plagued with disasters. Determination to have it finished in time for the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936 meant vital safety measures were ignored: on 20 August 1935, a tunnel collapse just south of the Brandenburg Gate buried 23 workmen of whom only four survived; then on 28 December 1936, a fire near the Potsdamer Platz station destroyed vital equipment. Needless to say, the line was not ready for the Berlin Olympics; in fact it was another three years before it first saw public use. In spite of all the setbacks, it was opened from Unter den Linden to Potsdamer Platz on 15 April 1939, extended to Anhalter Bahnhof on 9 October, and then to Yorckstraße, to complete the link, on 6 November. The Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn station also contained an underground shopping arcade, the largest in Europe.
Four platforms were provided at the station, and all were used although just two were planned to suffice: the other two were originally intended to be utilised by another new line, which was to branch off eastwards and run under the city to Görlitzer Bahnhof. A connection from Anhalter Bahnhof was also to be made. Although construction of some tunnel sections went ahead (and these still exist, though are inaccessible to the public), the line was never opened.
During the war, many sections of the U-Bahn and S-Bahn were closed due to enemy action, and the sections through Potsdamer Platz were no exception.
The North-South Link, less than six years old, became the setting for one of the most contentious episodes of the final Battle for Berlin, in late April and early May 1945. On 2 May, the tunnel was flooded as a consequence of the decision of the remaining Nazi leaders to blow up the section of the North-South Tunnel beneath the nearby Landwehrkanal as a desperate measure to slow the Soviet advance. Because of this incident, the North-South Link was unable to be used until 1947 (see below).
Shortly after the war's end, the Ringbahnhof got a reprieve of sorts, temporarily reopening on 6 August 1945 as the terminus of the Wannseebahn trains, while the Nord-Süd-Tunnel received massive repairs (millions of gallons of water had to be pumped out). The Ringbahnhof closed for good on 27 July 1946 after some fragmentary train workings had resumed along the North-South Link on 2 June. Full services recommenced on 16 November 1947, although repairs were not complete until May 1948.
The North-South Link saw a more bizarre - though not unique - state of affairs. This line, plus two U-Bahn lines elsewhere in the city, suffered from a quirk of geography in that they briefly passed through East German territory en route from one part of West Berlin to another. This gave rise to the infamous "Geisterbahnhöfe" (ghost stations), Potsdamer Platz being the most notorious, which were sealed off from the outside world and trains ran straight through without stopping. They would generally slow down, however, affording passengers the strange sight of dusty, dimly lit platforms patrolled by armed guards, there to prevent any East Berliners from trying to escape to the West by train. At the points where the lines passed directly beneath the actual border, concrete "collars" were constructed within the tunnels with just the minimum clearance for trains, to prevent people from clinging to the sides or roof of the coaches.
The station was the last to be reopened, with major refurbishment work included to the entire North South line and the station, with re-coating/repainting of the station and huge removal of wartime flood damage, on 3 March 1992. Major refurbishment began to be carried out in January 1991.