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| The building at left still exists |
This Stettiner Bahnhof (Stettin [terminal] station) was built by Theodor Stein in Late Romantic style between 1874-1876. The large hall structure was 25 metres high and 129 metres long. The station was between Invalidenstrasse and Weidendammer Brücke (bridge), near Zinnowitzer Road. The area was not exactly salubrious, more of a dingy "pleasure" district. The importance of the railway station before WW2 was high, since the entire Baltic Sea coast and the regions of Pomerania and East Prussia (now Poland and Russia) were served, then part of Germany. After the war there was only a comparatively short distance to the east as far as Stettin (made part of Poland by Stalin and renamed Szczecin) and the branch line to Stralsund. Some lines existed no more.
Around 1896 between Bornholmer Strasse / Gesundbrunnen the access trackage to the station was expanded to four tracks; from 1903 the trains of the Nordbahn (Northern Railway) were led to the station. To this purpose, on the eastern side of the station three smaller halls were built for long distance services. Simultaneously, a wing station with four more tracks was built, from which suburban trains departed to Velten, Orange and Bernau. From 1936, when the S-Bahn was inaugurated on these routes and led to the underground S-Bahn station (now Nordbahnhof), the suburban train station was no longer needed and was converted into a commuter train depot.
The Stettiner Bahnhof had a reputation as a holiday train station from which one went in the summer to the sea. The beginning of holidays here was enormously busy, especially as from 1903, the trains of the Nordbahn departed here. Although the Stettiner Bahnhof was after the post-WW2 division in the territory of the Eastern (Soviet) Zone, it was abandoned on 17 May 1952, because the initial stage ran through West Berlin. The boundary line ran right through the trackage in Gesundbrunnen / Bornholmer Strasse. The station was renamed shortly before closure as Nordbahnhof. The main building was demolished but some buildings of the suburban railway station still exist today.
Around 1896 between Bornholmer Strasse / Gesundbrunnen the access trackage to the station was expanded to four tracks; from 1903 the trains of the Nordbahn (Northern Railway) were led to the station. To this purpose, on the eastern side of the station three smaller halls were built for long distance services. Simultaneously, a wing station with four more tracks was built, from which suburban trains departed to Velten, Orange and Bernau. From 1936, when the S-Bahn was inaugurated on these routes and led to the underground S-Bahn station (now Nordbahnhof), the suburban train station was no longer needed and was converted into a commuter train depot.
The Stettiner Bahnhof had a reputation as a holiday train station from which one went in the summer to the sea. The beginning of holidays here was enormously busy, especially as from 1903, the trains of the Nordbahn departed here. Although the Stettiner Bahnhof was after the post-WW2 division in the territory of the Eastern (Soviet) Zone, it was abandoned on 17 May 1952, because the initial stage ran through West Berlin. The boundary line ran right through the trackage in Gesundbrunnen / Bornholmer Strasse. The station was renamed shortly before closure as Nordbahnhof. The main building was demolished but some buildings of the suburban railway station still exist today.
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