Abandoned train stations

Apologies for the photos- When I was in Berlin I purchased a cheap wide-angle lens adapter and it gave everything a bit of a vignette. The lesson is, just splash out for an actual wide-angle lens.

Anyhoooo...

One thing the Germans do efficiently is run their public transport on time, and for a reasonable price, in complete contrast to the UK where we spent an extortionate amount on inferior performance. However, if you want to catch a train from this station, you're in for a long, long wait. In addition to that, even getting to the elevated station platform is a bit of a scramble. The traditional human ways have been long closed off.

The station owes its existence to a company that was founded in 1847, producing electrical telegraphs and later electric tramways. This company became an industrial behemoth, having offices in thirteen countries before the founder died in 1892. In 1897 they then purchased around 200 hectares of uninhabited land and created a mini metropolis of sorts, consisting of factories for their products and also residential accommodation for their employees.

But by 1914 they had around 23,850 employees, and not all of them lived nearby. As such the company began prioritising facilitating their daily commute, funding the train service on which they would travel to work.

During World War 2, the company that funded these stations played an important role, although the factories were occasionally bombed, and sometimes workers were killed. By this point they also utilised force labour, as was the Nazi way, but that's another story. Allegedly as of 1944, the Russians, British and American powers had already met and discussed how they would divide Germany in the event of their victory, but nevertheless with the surrender of the Nazis in May 1945, the Soviet troops were initially the sole occupying force in Berlin. The British and American forces wouldn't arrive until July, and the Soviets decided to use the opportunity. They utilised the train line to plunder West Berlin of machinery, weapons, and whole chunks of railway track, until the British, American and later French forces arrived two months later. 

It seems that in 1945 there actually wasn't as much animosity between the American, British and Russian forces. At least, nothing in comparison to what was to come in the following decades. During their initial discussions about how to divide Berlin, it was agreed that the Soviet-ran East German railway company would continue running trains through western sectors for the sake of convenience. This line, and the stations along it, were part of those controlled by the East German railway company in spite of them being in West Berlin.

As the Cold War tensions escalated, this all became a little bit of a legal mess. The continuance of the East German state railway running trains through West Berlin is a historic curiosity but at the time it was more of an annoyance. This annoyance turned to anger in 1961 when the Berlin Wall went up. For those who don't know their basic geography, Germany and Berlin were both divided into East and West, with East being taken by the Russians. But the entirety of Berlin was in East Germany, meaning West Berlin was a little island of American, French and British control surrounded by the soviets. With the boundaries solidified by a literal wall, the East German state railway was running trains around West Berlin but the passengers weren't allowed to go anywhere on them except West Berlin. They couldn't even catch the train further west, out of west Berlin into East Germany. Families and friendships were divided by the iron curtain, and the West Berlin populace were wondering, why the fuck are we still paying East Germany for this railway service?

People consequentially began boycotting the train services that were run by the East, unhappy that their money was going into the Russians pockets, and waving banners and slogans reading stuff like "The passenger is paying for the barbed wire," albeit in German.

Capitalising on the boycott, West Berlin began running a bus service along the old train routes, the western powers no doubt loving every minute of humiliating the Russians. East Germany lost something like 140 million deutsche marks running mostly empty trains through West Berlin.

East Berlin was getting desperate, and tried to make up their losses by selling or leasing their lines to the West Berlin senate. However the Western powers were having too much fun watching the Russians toss their money into a black hole, and politely refused. Eventually the East German state railway had no choice but to reduce the services in 1980. Those who worked on the railways were not happy at having their hours reduced and went on strike. At this point, the East German railway company said "Fuck it," and closed the line and the stations permanently.
They were probably grateful to have an excuse to do so.

The platforms and train lines remain as you see them now in these pictures, giving way to nature and gradually crumbling away. They have a protected status which means they can't be torn down or developed into houses, but the fact that an underground line and bus services replaced the train routes ling ago, it doesn't seem like there's even any need to ever reopen the line. Talks have been had but as of yet nothing has come of it.