Remains of Anhalt Station (Anhalter Bahnhof) in Berlin, Germany. March 26, 2024
Anhalter Bahnhof – once one of the grandest train stations in Europe. A fixture in Berlin’s urban landscape akin to King’s Cross station in London, or Gare du Nord in Paris, that would serve as the arrival and departure point for international trains. Opened in 1880, by both Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, this lavish and spacious terminus would actually cater for four different classes of ticket holders – with a separate entrance for royal and diplomatic visitors. At the peak of its use in the 1930s, trains left the six platforms at Anhalter Bahnhof every three to five minutes, carrying an average of 44,000 people daily – around 16 million a year. The darkest chapter in the station’s existence came following the Nazi takeover in 1933, when from 1941 Hitler’s regime began shipping Berlin’s Jewish citizens to their deaths from here. The Anglo-American air raids on Berlin during the Second World War devastated the Nazi capital and Anhalter Bahnhof was not spared. What remained of the station was largely demolished in 1960 – with the recognisable portico left as a solitary trace of the former station’s glory.
Remains of Anhalt Station (Anhalter Bahnhof) in Berlin, Germany. March 26, 2024
Anhalter Bahnhof – once one of the grandest train stations in Europe. A fixture in Berlin’s urban landscape akin to King’s Cross station in London, or Gare du Nord in Paris, that would serve as the arrival and departure point for international trains. Opened in 1880, by both Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, this lavish and spacious terminus would actually cater for four different classes of ticket holders – with a separate entrance for royal and diplomatic visitors. At the peak of its use in the 1930s, trains left the six platforms at Anhalter Bahnhof every three to five minutes, carrying an average of 44,000 people daily – around 16 million a year. The darkest chapter in the station’s existence came following the Nazi takeover in 1933, when from 1941 Hitler’s regime began shipping Berlin’s Jewish citizens to their deaths from here. The Anglo-American air raids on Berlin during the Second World War devastated the Nazi capital and Anhalter Bahnhof was not spared. What remained of the station was largely demolished in 1960 – with the recognisable portico left as a solitary trace of the former station’s glory.