The Hauptbahnhof, a monument to success

A neuron, or nerve cell, is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. It is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozoa. Plants and fungi do not have nerve cells – Wikipedia

But replace the word “neuron” with “main rail station”, “synapse” with “tracks” and “nervous tissue” with “nation-state”, and it almost perfectly describes the workings of a modern rail system.

The metaphor makes clear as to the importance a good working transport system has to the modern developed state, and it could be argued that without one, there is an increased danger of political turmoil, occasionally leading to a failed-state: anarchy.

And so not only is a good transportation network of strategic importance, but it’s also something that a State often uses to display a sense of national pride, of its political and accompanying economic success. 

And Berlin’s Hauptbahnhof, a steel-framed palace of glass is no exception, there is no doubt as to its importance as it imposes its presence on the sky-line, dominating the area, towering over everything far and wide. 

The station entered the planning stage shortly after the fall of the wall in 1989, as part of the plan to reunify Berlin, work took place in several phases, and the station was ceremoniously opened in 2006.

And what a hub of energy it has become, the constant hustle and bustle of travellers arriving by bus, tube and taxi, others leaving by the same means, while some just wait until a much-anticipated connection becomes available, the station is almost a small town in its own right, catering for the weary traveller’s every imaginable need.

The station is not only a symbol of progress, it embodies the very nature of progress itself, as every passenger, and therefore every idea, is distributed effectively and efficiently throughout a nation, guaranteeing it’s very future.

Image gallery

The front facade of the station

The station, a machine for traveling

The station clock

The journey begins, a last farewell look

The main station platform

One of the essentials for the successful start to any journey on the rail network, the ticket machine

Passangers wait for their next connection

The train waits at the departure platform

An almost sci-fi experience

Holding it all in place, columns of steel reinforced concrete

The tracks, held up in the sky on construction of steel posts, disappear into the distance

End of the journey, friends

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• Urban Photo Race, Berlin 2017
• Micro Location: Graffiti
• The Crack In The Pavement
• Satan’s Pile
• Heroes, some remembered, most forgotten
• Waldmeister ist Retro
• Altstadt Spandau U-Bahn station
• Concrete, where architecture meets climate change
• That industrial look
• City glass, a very public gallery
• The Hauptbahnhof, a monument to success

© Andrew James Kirkwood – 2024