Stralauer Tor (Berlin U-Bahn)

The station at the time of its opening, with the River Spree visible behind it

The location of the station today, with the Oberbaumbrücke on the right

Stralauer Tor was a Berlin U-Bahn station in Berlin-Friedrichshain. As an elevated station built into the north-eastern part of the Oberbaumbrücke viaduct, it operated between Warschauer Straße and Schlesisches Tor stations on today's U1. Having been completely destroyed in World War II it was never rebuilt and remains to this day one of Berlin's two U-Bahn stations (the other was Nürnberger Platz, which was closed and demolished in 1961) to have been abandoned after having previously been in service.

History

When the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction work Straulauer Thor was held on 10 September 1896 it effectively laid one of the foundation stones of today's U-Bahn network, as the new elevated station would mark the eastern end of the city's very first elevated and subterranean electric train line - with the western end terminating at Potsdamer Platz. However, although its historic status remains intact, it role as line terminus would be short-lived, as six months after the station opened to the public on 15 February 1902, the present terminus Warschauer Straße (then named Warschauer Brücke) assumed the role, opening for service on 17 August 1902.

The design of Stralauer Tor astride the north-eastern end of the Oberbaumbrücke was conceived before the bridge was built. The construction of both edifices took place consecutively; for once Otto Stahn had directed the erection of the bridge between 1894 and 1896, the architect firm Siemens & Halske set about integrating their new station into the viaduct design.

Stralauer Tor was renamed Osthafen in 1924.

The station closed permanently on 10 March 1945 owing to severe bombing damage. Some thought was given to rebuilding the station after the war, and it appears on a 1946 Berlin map, renamed as Besarinstraße, but no work was undertaken.^{[citation needed]}

The reason for this was in part due to the short distance to Warschauer Straße station - only 320 metres away - and the destruction of many buildings around Stralauer Tor, but more importantly this was because its the border between Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg across the river that it stood astride became the border between the Soviet and American sectors of occupation, and thus East and West Berlin.

With the construction of the Berlin Wall along this frontier in 1961, the section across the bridge into East Berlin was abandoned, and only the part of the line in West Berlin stayed open, terminating at Schlesisches Tor. Following German reunification, the remainder of the line reopened in 1995, but Stralauer Tor was not reconstructed. Today, only struts on the viaduct remain to indicate its location.

External links

• U-Bahn history

Preceding station		Berlin U-Bahn		Following station
Schlesisches Tor toward Uhlandstraße		U1		Warschauer Straße Terminus

Arrangement 1902-1945

Coordinates: 52°30′11″N 13°26′49″E / 52.503°N 13.447°E / 52.503; 13.447