From the birth of Berlin's railway network to the time when the bombs of the Second World War
and the concrete slabs of the Wall changed the city forever the Prussian and later German
capital counted eight major railway stations. These were beacons in the city: impressive
monuments magnificently built for the bygone rituals of arrival and departure yet tightly
woven into a distinct part of town. Railway stations are magical meaningful places allowing
for escape as well as promise nostalgia as well as novelty. They process all sorts of people
from well-to-do business types to unfortunates forced to live on the fringes of society. There
is a nervous energy around them created by those looking forward to their journey others
trying to get oriented in a place that is new to them and some facing the drudgery of yet
another commute. And if pre-World War 2 Berlin was anything it was energetic. Building an
adequate transport infrastructure for Europe's fastest-growing city proved to be a continuous
challenge that required flexibility and adaptation and touched the city in ways that can still
be seen today. This is the history of Berlin's railway stations the people that used them and
the way the city was shaped by them.
