Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway station

Bahnhof Berlin Zoologischer Garten (German for Berlin Zoological Garden railway station, short form Berlin Zoo or colloquially Bahnhof Zoo) was the central transport facility in West Berlin during the division of the city, and thereafter for the western central area of Berlin until opening of the new Berlin Central Station on 28 May 2006. Situated within the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough on "Hardenbergplatz", adjacent to the Berlin Zoo, it is also an interchange with the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn, which uses the Berlin Stadtbahn, along with regional trains, known as "RegionalExpress" or "RegionalBahn".

Hardenbergplatz is West Berlin's largest city bus terminal and is also used by long-distance buses/coaches. "ZOB", Berlin's central bus terminal for regional and long-distance travel, is located on the Messedamm not far from the Funkturm.

Zoologischer Garten is also a Berlin U-Bahn station and S-Bahn station located at the Berlin Zoologischer Garten terminal, serving the rail text color|system=BVG|line=U2, rail text color|system=BVG|line=U9, rail text color|system=SBB|line=S5, rail text color|system=SBB|line=S7, rail text color|system=SBB|line=S75 and rail text color|system=SBB|line=S9.

History

The Bahnhof Zoo was originally a Stadtbahn station, opened in February 1882. On March 11, 1902 the first Berlin U-Bahn line, today the U2, was opened under ground. Between 1934 and 1940 the station was rebuilt, and the track installations were expanded. In August 1961, below the U2, the new U-Bahn Line 9 was opened, which connected the station with the transportation network in the north-south direction.

The fact that with only two platforms and four tracks for long-distance trains the station was still the most important in West Berlin was another unnatural phenomenon of the divided city. Despite the outcry from nearby retailers and local politicians, the station has dramatically lost its importance following the launching of the new central station on 28 May 2006, with long-distance services now passing through the station without stopping.

Operational usage

Statistical data

Zoo Station in popular culture

*The station is well known as the setting of the book "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" (We children from Zoo Station), by Christiane Felscherinow, which dramatizes the period in the 1970s and 1980s when the rear of the station facing "Jebensstraße" was a meeting point for prostitutes, teen runaways, and drug addicts. A film based on the book was released in 1981.

*The 1991 U2 song "Zoo Station" was inspired by the station, which in turn inspired their Zoo TV tour and the album "Zooropa". It should be noted that although the Berlin U-Bahn line U2 passes through the station, it was numbered U1 at the time; a rearrangement and renumbering of the line took place in November 1993, when the section linking it to the remainder of the line in former East Berlin was reopened.
* The song "The Zoo" by German rock band Scorpions was inspired by the station.
* The song "Auf'm Bahnhof Zoo" by Nina Hagen was written about this station.
* The song "Zootime" by Mystery Jets ends with the line "Wir sind die Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo".
* "Bahnhof Zoo" is also a track on the 2005 album Randy the Band by the Swedish band Randy
* The song "Big in Japan" by Alphaville refers to the Zoo station in the line "Should I stay here at the Zoo".

ee also

*Sibirjak