Berlin Dresdner Bahnhof

The Dresdener Bahnhof was a short-lived passenger railway terminus in Berlin, Germany, opened on 17 June 1875 and handling train services to and from Dresden (over the so-called "Dresdener course"), Prague and Vienna.

Characteristics

It was fairly small in size and inconveniently located some distance from the centre of the city, south of the Landwehrkanal, in an area largely dominated by railway infrastructure. Close by were the approach tracks of the Anhalter Bahnhof and Potsdamer Bahnhof, and their associated goods stations and locomotive depots.

History

As a passenger terminus, the Dresdener Bahnhof was closed on 15 October 1882. Following the recent rebuilding of both the Anhalter and Potsdamer passenger termini to cope with rapidly increasing traffic, all services were transferred from the Dresdener Bahnhof to these two other stations, the Anhalter Bahnhof receiving the lion's share. It took on all long-distance services, and it was largely through this that it became known as Berlin's "Gateway to the South," its trains ultimately reaching Rome, Naples and Athens. The Potsdamer Bahnhof inherited mainly short-haul and suburban traffic.

After standing apparently unused for more than 30 years, in 1913 the Dresdener Bahnhof was incorporated into a much larger facility - the Postbahnhof, dedicated to the handling of mail. By then there were even more rails in the immediate vicinity following the arrival of the U-Bahn. Its original route, opened in stages during 1902, comprised a through section from Warschauer Brücke to Knie, with a triangular junction between Möckernbrücke and Bülowstraße giving access to Potsdamer Platz. This triangle of lines gave its name to the area ("Gleisdreieck", literally meaning "railway triangle"), and also to the station constructed there. Following an accident on 26 September 1908, in which two trains collided on the triangle, killing 18 people and injuring 21 others, the layout was reorganised in 1912 into what can be seen today, with two lines crossing one over the other at right angles, and a split-level station with platforms on both lines. The Dresdener Bahnhof, and the Postbahnhof of which it became part, lay in the south-east quadrant, right in the angle between the two lines. In this guise it lasted for eight more decades, finally closing in 1997.

In the photograph on the top, taken in October 2005, the bridge carries U-Bahn line 1. A train crossing it from left to right (east to west) will run into Gleisdreieck station (high level platforms) just seconds later. Just beyond the bridge, the Dresdener Bahnhof is the mainly red brick building on the left, while the Postbahnhof is straight ahead. Both are nowadays used for concerts, parties, exhibitions and cultural events (please note that this Postbahnhof should not be confused with another venue, apparently of the same name, about 3 km away near the Ostbahnhof).

ee also

*Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof
*Berlin Potsdamer Bahnhof

External links