The Anhalter Bridge

c.1900 - Bridge over the Landwehr canal showing the line from the Anhalter main rail station2019 - Bridge over the Landwehr canal showing where the line from the Anhalter main rail station used to run

These images, taken almost 120 years apart,  show not only the great changes this location has undergone, but also how the basic layout is  still very recognisable.

The image from c.1900 shows a still functioning rail-line from the Anhalter main rail station just south of Potsdamer Platz, crossing the Landwehr canal on an iron riveted bridge, which is itself crossed by an iron box-bridge serving the U1 and U3 metro lines.

The Anhalter main rail station was once one of Berlin’s most important and busiest rail links, but extensive bomb damage suffered during the Second World War reduced rail services to a minimum, which the subsequent division of Berlin only compounded, as the Station was situated in West-berlin, but served only stations in Soviet occupied East-Germany.

The station was eventually closed and demolished, only a fragment of the station now remaining as a memorial.

The image from 2019 shows how the basic layout still remains, although all traces of the original structures are long gone, a box-bridge still crosses the canal as part of the metro, but below there is now a pedestrian bridge, the area having since been transformed into one of Berlin’s most loved recreational areas.





© Andrew James Kirkwood – 2024


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