The Spandau suburban railway (german: Spandauer Vorortbahn) is a suburban railway in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. 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 21st ...

and Hamburg lines. It is currently used by

Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under this name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff area ''Berliner Stadt-, Ring ...

line S5.

Route

A new line was built between 1907 and 1911 on the northern edge of the

Grunewald forest Grunewald () is a German forest located in the western side of Berlin on the east side of the Havel, mainly in the Grunewald locality. At it is the largest green area in the city of Berlin. Geography The forest occupies, on the western side, 3 ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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 railway ...

of the

and Ringbahn 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 Brisbane Showgrounds (formerly known as the Brisbane Exhibition Ground) is located at 600 Gregory Terrace, Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and was established in 1875. It hosts more than 250 events each year, with the largest bein ...

. This new Stadtbahn-Ring interchange station was originally called ''Ausstellung'' (Exhibition), later renamed to Westkreuz (western cross). 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 ( German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad ( German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi- ...

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. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

. 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 ''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word " realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (l ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under m ...

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 (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