By Oliver Ohmann
The technology museum revives a traffic legend. Thanks to modern digital technology, experts created a fascinating 360-degree tour of the Anhalter Bahnhof.
The “Berlin Anhaltinische Eisenbahnhof” opened in 1841 and was expanded and enlarged by 1880. There was bomb damage during World War II, but trains ran until 1952. Despite protests, the hall was demolished in 1959, leaving only part of the front facade as a monument.
Detailed insights into the magnificent entrance hall of the station
Photo: German Museum of Technology
Now you can explore the old Anhalter Bahnhof on the screen in its old glory. The Technology Museum designed the animation together with the TU Darmstadt. “The historic Anhalter Bahnhof is a Berlin icon,” explains the museum.
A part of the entrance hall was preserved as a ruin, one can sense the old splendor Photo: picture alliance / arkivi
“It is a symbol of the metropolis of Berlin, of economic and technical progress, but also of fleeing into exile and deportation from home.”
Operation on the hitchhiker in the 1920s. Mitropa distributed seat cushions
Photo: German Museum of Technology
In 1929, schoolchildren from Berlin went skiing in the direction of the Alps Photo: ullstein bild
Since 1880, the train station had been Berlin’s connection to the south and was a building of superlatives. Philosopher Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) called it “the mother cave of the railway”.
Technically: a giant. The “Hitchhiker” (as it was called for short) received the largest and highest station hall on the continent at the time. The roof was 34 meters high, spanned 61 meters and a dozen tracks. Up to 40,000 travelers were on the platforms at the same time!
The station hall was 64 meters wide and was the largest in all of Europe during the imperial period Photo: German Museum of Technology
In the magnificent reception building there was a drinking fountain, luggage storage and at the kiosk beer, bockwurst and the BZ at noon. The Kaiser had his own waiting area, called the “Diplomats’ Hall” after 1918. The fine Hotel Excelsior opposite was connected to the train station by an 80 meter long tunnel.
This is how the trains left the station, heading for western and southern Germany, then often on to Italy Photo: German Museum of Technology
The museum project, funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, has digitally reconstructed the station down to the last detail. Even train station noises can be heard during the tour.
Please board, from May 11 at https://anhalter.technikmuseum.berlin