European Railroad Discussion > European Railway Stations Part 7

Staying in Germany, here's Berlin HBF. This station drew lots of criticism for it's architecture when first opened. But for a modern station, I think  it's really cool and unique. Inside trains run on three different levels, all open to each other so trains can often be seen crossing each other. Lots of restaurants and shops as well. 

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andersonb109 Wrote:
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> Staying in Germany, here's Berlin HBF. This
> station drew lots of criticism for it's
> architecture when first opened.

The opening ceremony didn't go so well, either.

From Wikipedia: The opening ceremony was marred by an attack by a drunken 16-year-old wielding a knife, who stabbed members of the public leaving the ceremony. Forty-one people were wounded, six seriously, before the youth was arrested.  According to police, the youth says he cannot remember his act of violence and is still denying it. One of the first stabbing victims was HIV-positive, leading to worries that other victims may have been infected, although this did not prove to be the case. The youth was charged with attempted murder, and was sentenced to seven years in prison for attempted manslaughter in 33 cases in 2007.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/20 14:51 by railsmith.

Even though I generally prefer traditional architecture, I think this station design is awesome.
Thanks for your well done and enlightening series.
ALLEN

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> Staying in Germany, here's Berlin HBF. This
> station drew lots of criticism for it's
> architecture when first opened. But for a modern
> station, I think  it's really cool and unique.
> Inside trains run on three different levels, all
> open to each other so trains can often be seen
> crossing each other. Lots of restaurants and shops
> as well. 

The only criticisms of the architecture that I'm familiar with concerned deviations from the architect's plans: the plans called for the trainshed of the upper level to extend over the full length of the platforms, and for the ceiling of the lower level to be vaulted. The upper level roof was instead shortened and the ceiling of the lower level made flat, both supposedly in order to meet the opening deadline prior to the 2006 World Cup.

Aside from those two caveats, response to the station has generally been quite positive (aside from the functional aspect of the transfer from the upper level to the lower level taking a long time).

Wasn't there an issue with some of the glass panels being blown out in high winds? A problem corrected early on. 

I'm only aware of high winds causing a couple of the metal beams on the facade to fall down during cyclone Kyrill in 2007.

A truly amazing train station. I spent hours wandering around the upper and lower platforms taking scads of photos and never once was approached by anyone.

Minor correction. There are only two levels of trains -- East west on the top-most level and North south on the lowest level.

WP17

This without doubt a terrific station. At least 4 levels if I recall. Stayed a week at the adjacent Inter City hotel, and ate at this station quite a bit. Great breakfasts to be had. chris uk.

55002 Wrote:
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> This without doubt a terrific station. At least 4
> levels if I recall. Stayed a week at the adjacent
> Inter City hotel, and ate at this station quite a
> bit. Great breakfasts to be had. chris uk.

In fact it's 5 levels, street level for entry, concourse/shopping level below and NS platforms 2 levels below. Similarly concourse shopping lelve immediately above and EW platforms 2 levels up

You can see the latter levels in the attached photo.
WP17

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