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Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Central Station)
Information about Berlin Central Station including opening hours, airport transfers and luggage storage facilities. more
Berlin Central Station is the largest and most modern interchange station in Europe. It has long been more than just a station: an architectural showpiece, shopping center and meeting place.
Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Central Station) is the largest and most modern interchange station in Europe. It was opened on May 28, 2006 after around eleven years of construction on the site of the former Lehrter Bahnhof, which was destroyed in the Second World War and demolished in the 1950s. The new Berlin Central Station was designed by architect Meinhard von Gerkan from the Hamburg architectural firm Gerkan, Marg and Partners.
After years of discussions about the location of the main station and the implementation of the architectural plans by Deutsche Bahn, visitors and Berliners have long since accepted the main station positively: as a transfer station, a shopping center or a meeting place.
The striking building with its vaulted roof construction and the two 46-meter-high office buildings visible from afar became a popular photo motif. The dispute between the architect and Deutsche Bahn has almost been forgotten because the glass roof was shortened by 130 meters to ensure that the main station was completed in time for the 2006 Football World Cup.
For the Hamburg architects von Gerkan, Marg & Partner, the significance of the new Berlin Central Station as an interface in a Europe that is growing together was the determining factor in their design. The architecture emphasizes this character of the station. The 321-metre-long glass hall of the light rail running east-west is crossed by the 160-metre-long and 40-metre-wide station hall running north-south.
The vaulted central roof gives the station a delicate and spacious appearance, while the upper platforms are pleasantly flooded with daylight. Inside, there are two main levels for rail traffic as well as three connecting and commercial levels with 15,000 square meters of shopping arcades and 44,000 square meters of office space. A system of large openings in the ceilings of all levels allows daylight to reach the lower tracks.
The sculpture "Rolling Horse" in the shape of a horse curving in a circle, which connects organically with a train wheel, stands in front of the northern main entrance to the main station. The approximately 10-metre-high work of art by artist Goertz weighs around 35 tons. Parts of the Lehrter Stadtbahnhof station have been integrated into the base of the sculpture.
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Information about Berlin Central Station including opening hours, airport transfers and luggage storage facilities. more
© visitBerlin, Foto: Nele Niederstadt
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