The Spandau suburban railway () is a suburban railway in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. It is an extension of the

Stadtbahn (; German for 'city railway'; plural ) is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that co ...

(city railway) from Westkreuz to Spandau. Its last kilometre runs parallel with the

Lehrte Lehrte () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km east of Hanover. In the 19th century Lehrte was the most important railway junction in the former Kingdom of Hanover. As of the 2 ...

and Hamburg lines. It is currently used by

Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system that services the reigon in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under the name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff are ...

lines S3 and S9.

Route

A new line was built between 1907 and 1911 on the northern edge of the Grunewald forest for suburban services to Spandau and new housing developments. At Heerstraße station, it branches off the line built in 1882 connecting the Berlin-Hamburg railway with the cross-city railway "

" via the Charlottenburg station, and then runs in a cutting to the west. About a kilometre beyond Heerstraße station the new Rennbahn (racetrack) station was built. Like other stations built for special event services at that time, it was generously provided with a terminal station with eight platforms on one side of the line. Its through station had another two platforms. From there the line runs on to the Pichelsberg station The line then makes a wide curve to the north and goes on an embankment. It continues to the north between the nature reserves of Tiefwerder Wiesen and Murellenberge, Murellenschlucht and Schanzenwald to reach the Hamburg and Lehrte lines, where it turns west.

History

The 1916 Olympic Games were awarded in Berlin and the Deutsche Stadion (''German Stadium'') was built for the games next to the Grunewald racetrack. ''Rennbahn station'' was renamed ''Stadion'' (''Stadium'') in 1913. As a result of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the games were cancelled. In the course of the 1927/28 electrification with

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...

of the

and

Ringbahn The Ringbahn (German for circle railway) is a long circle route around Berlin's inner city area, on the Berlin S-Bahn network. Its course is made up of a pair of tracks used by S-Bahn trains and another parallel pair of tracks used by various ...

local tracks, plus the suburban lines connecting to the ''Stadtbahn'', a new two-level station was built as interchange of the ''Stadtbahn'' and ''Ringbahn'' to the west of Charlottenburg station. For this the suburban and long-distance tracks between ''Heerstraße'' and ''Charlottenburg'' were rearranged, also making room for the new

Exhibition Ground The Brisbane Showgrounds (formerly known as the Brisbane Exhibition Ground) is a multi-purpose venue located in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Australia. Established in 1875, it hosts more than 250 events each year, the largest being the Royal Queens ...

. This new Stadtbahn-Ring interchange station was originally called ''Ausstellung'' (Exhibition), later renamed to Westkreuz (literally western cross(–ing)). In addition, Messe Süd Station (then called ''Eichkamp'') was built at the intersection of the Berlin-Blankenheim, the Spandau suburban and the Ring lines. The former station of ''Eichkamp'' on the Berlin-Blankenheim line closed and re-opened on the Spandau suburban line. A few weeks before the movement of the station was completed, electrification of the line was completed to Spandau. The

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

were held in Berlin. The stadium built for the 1916 games was torn down and replaced by the current

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

. The railway was not upgraded, but the passenger ramp at the Rennbahn station was upgraded. The station was renamed ''Stadion – Rennbahn Grunewald'' in 1930 and ''Reichssportfeld'' (''

Reich ( ; ) is a German word whose meaning is analogous to the English word " realm". The terms and are respectively used in German in reference to empires and kingdoms. In English usage, the term " Reich" often refers to Nazi Germany, also ca ...

sportsfield'') in 1935. In 1960 it received its current name of ''Olympiastadion'' (''Olympic Stadium''). Messebahnhof-1

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

had no major impact on the line and operations were quickly restored, but passengers number did not return to previous levels. The

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

S-Bahn boycott reduced traffic. Like most stretches of the S-train network in West Berlin it did not reopen after a strike by

employees of the East German Railways on 17 September 1980. It took almost 18 years for trains to return to the track. On 16 January 1998 trains initially ran from Westkreuz to Pichelsberg; on 30 December of that year trains returned to the terminus at Spandau. In 2002, Eichkamp station was renamed as ''Messe Süd (Eichkamp)''. The renaming of the station along with the Ring line station of ''Witzleben'' to ''Messe Nord/ICCC'' was carried out to make access to the exhibition grounds more recognisable for visitors, but was met with protest by the inhabitants of the Eichkamp district. The two stations are heavily used for exhibitions such as ''Grünen Woche'' (''Green Week'', an agricultural show) and

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Act ...

(an electronics show).

Notes

References

* * {{coord missing, Berlin Railway lines in Berlin Railway lines opened in 1911 1911 establishments in Germany Berlin S-Bahn Buildings and structures in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Buildings and structures in Spandau