When it comes to public transport in Berlin, there is always something new – and just as constantly new complaints. Delays or even complete cancellations of popular lines, such as the Kulturzug from Berlin to Wroclaw with its cultural program on board, or the ÖBB Nightjet to Paris, for which there may now be hope after all. But that alone does not make up Berlin’s transport network. Many subway stations have far more history than meets the eye. While today there are projects where people wait for the next train to techno and DJ sets, in the past there were completely different projects. The Pankstraße subway station, for example, is a fully equipped nuclear bunker that could accommodate up to 3,300 people in the event of war and was built during the Cold War. And today’s bustling Nordbahnhof subway station was once a place with a very different meaning – one of the infamous “ghost stations” of the time. Read on for all the details!
The Nordbahnhof subway station is one of the most historic places in Berlin’s underground. It is located in the Mitte district and is part of the U6 subway line, which runs from Alt-Tegel in the north to Alt-Mariendorf in the south. The station was opened on March 8, 1923 under the name Stettiner Bahnhof. The name referred to the long-distance train station of the same name above it, from which trains ran to the then Prussian city of Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland). After the Second World War, the station was partially destroyed, later rebuilt and renamed Nordbahnhof in 1951.
However, the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 fundamentally changed the importance of the station. The U6 connected West Berlin districts, but also ran under East Berlin territory, including under Invalidenstraße and Brunnenstraße. The Nordbahnhof subway station was therefore located in the eastern sector, while the line itself belonged to West Berlin. It was taken over by GDR border troops, strictly monitored and shut down. Trains from West Berlin ran slowly and without stopping through the dark station. The lighting was dimmed and only armed guards patrolled the platforms. In the vernacular, such disused stations were called “ghost stations”. There were 16 of these stations in total, including Oranienburger Tor, Stadtmitte, Bernauer Straße, Jannowitzbrücke and Potsdamer Platz.
