Berlin Zoologischer Garten station (German:
Bahnhof Berlin Zoologischer Garten, shortened to
Berlin Zoo or colloquially
Bahnhof Zoo) was the central transport facility in
West BerlinWest Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
during the division of the city, and thereafter for the western central area of
BerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
until opening of the new
Berlin Central Station' , is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It began full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, and until it opened as a main line station, it was a stop on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway temporarily...
(
Hauptbahnhof) on 28 May 2006. Situated within the
CharlottenburgCharlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
district on Hardenbergplatz, adjacent to the
Berlin Zoo, it is also an interchange with the
U-BahnThe Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
and the
S-BahnThe Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...
, which uses the
Stadtbahn viaduct, along with
RegionalExpressThe term Regional-Express denotes a type of regional train in Germany and Austria .It is best compared to a semi-fast train, as it calls at fewer stations than Regionalbahn or S-Bahn trains, but stops more often than InterCity services...
and
RegionalBahnThe Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
trains.
Overview
Hardenbergplatz, named after
Karl August von HardenbergKarl August Fürst von Hardenberg was a Prussian statesman and Prime Minister of Prussia. While during his late career he acquiesced to reactionary policies, earlier in his career he implemented a variety of Liberal reforms...
, is Berlin's largest
city busThe Bus transport in Berlin , operated by BVG, is the public bus service network of Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1846, it represents the oldest public transport service of the city...
terminal and night bus service centre. It is also used by long-distance buses/coaches, however the "ZOB", Berlin's central intercity bus terminal, is located on Messedamm in
WestendWestend is a locality of the Berlin borough Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf situated on the Spandauer Berg, the northern peak of the Teltow plateau between the river valleys of Spree and Havel...
, not far from the
FunkturmThe Berliner Funkturm or Funkturm Berlin is a transmitting tower in Berlin, built between 1924 and 1926 by Heinrich Straumer. It is nicknamed "der lange Lulatsch" and is one of the best-known points of interest in the city of Berlin. It stands in the Berlin trade fair ground in the...
.
Zoologischer Garten is also a
Berlin U-BahnThe Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
station and
S-BahnThe Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...
station located at the Berlin Zoologischer Garten terminal, serving the , , , , , . This station was visited by
U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
in the 1990. The band wrote the song "
Zoo Station"Zoo Station" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby, a record on which the group reinvented themselves musically by incorporating influences from alternative rock, industrial, and electronic dance music...
" while they were recording
Achtung BabyAchtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 19 November 1991 on Island Records. Stung by the criticism of their 1988 release Rattle and Hum, U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate alternative...
in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
History
The Bahnhof Zoo was originally a
Stadtbahn station, opened on 7 February 1882. On March 11, 1902 the first
Berlin U-BahnThe Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
line, today the U2, was opened under ground. Between 1934 and 1940 the station was rebuilt, and the track installations were expanded. After the final closure of the Anhalter Bahnhof in 1952, Bahnhof Zoo remained the only long-distance train station within
West BerlinWest Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, operated by the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany. On 28 August 1961, two weeks after the erection of the
Berlin WallThe Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
, the new U-Bahn Line 9 was opened below the U2, connecting the station with the transportation network in the north-south direction.
The fact that with only two platforms and four tracks for long-distance trains the station was still the most important in West Berlin was another unnatural phenomenon of the divided city. After
reunificationGerman reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, despite the outcry from nearby
KurfürstendammThe Kurfürstendamm, known locally as the Ku'damm, is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former Kurfürsten of Brandenburg. This very broad, long boulevard can be considered the Champs-Élysées of Berlin — full of shops, houses, hotels and restaurants...
retailers and local politicians, the station dramatically lost its importance following the launching of the new
Berlin Hauptbahnhof' , is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It began full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, and until it opened as a main line station, it was a stop on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway temporarily...
on 28 May 2006, with long-distance services now passing through the station without stopping. An exception is the famous
SibirjakSibirjak is the German spelling of the Russian name of a passenger train which currently links Berlin to some of main routes and cities of Russia. Its name means Siberian...
departing from Bahnhof Zoo for the
NovosibirskNovosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
Trans-Siberian railway station. Periodically the
EuroNightEuroNight, abbreviated EN, denotes all main-line national and international night train services within the European inter-city rail network. Unlike the equivalent day-running counterparts EuroCity and InterCity trains, the EuroNight trains tend to run during the nighttime and are equipped with...
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
-Berlin stops here.
Zoo Station in popular culture
| In brief |
| DB station code: |
BZOO |
| Number of platforms |
2 main line The Mainline or Main line of a railway is a track that is used for through trains or is the principal artery of the system from which branch lines, yards, sidings and spurs are connected....
passenger
1 S-BahnS-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
|
- The station is well known as the setting of the 1978 book "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" (We children from Zoo Station), by Christiane Felscherinow
Christiane F. is a former heroin addict famous for her contribution to the autobiographical book , and the film based on the book, which describes her struggle with various forms of drug addiction during her teens.-Early life:Christiane was born in Hamburg, but her family moved to West Berlin when...
, a bestseller in Germany which dramatises the period in the 1970s when the rear of the station facing Jebensstraße was a meeting point for prostitutes, teen runaways, and drug addicts. A film based on the bookChristiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo is a 1981 film that portrays the drug scene in West Berlin in the 1970s, based on the novel of the same name written following tape recordings of Christiane F.-Synopsis:...
was released in 1981.
- The 1991 U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
song "Zoo Station"Zoo Station" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby, a record on which the group reinvented themselves musically by incorporating influences from alternative rock, industrial, and electronic dance music...
" was inspired by the station, which in turn inspired their Zoo TV tour and the album ZooropaZooropa Based on the pronunciations of "zoo" and "Europa". is the eighth studio album by rock band U2. Produced by Flood, Brian Eno, and The Edge, it was released on 5 July 1993 on Island Records. Inspired by the band's experiences on the Zoo TV Tour, Zooropa expanded on many of the tour's themes...
. Although the Berlin U-BahnThe Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
line U2U2 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn. The U2 line starts at the Pankow urban rail station, runs through the eastern city centre to Potsdamer Platz, the western city centre and finally to the Ruhleben terminal station.The U2 has 29 stations and a length of...
passes through the station, it was numbered U1U1 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn, which is 8.8 km long and has 13 stations. Its traditional line designation was BII. It runs east-west and its eastern end is immediately south of the route of the historical Schlesischen Bahn at the Warschauer Straße S-Bahn station and runs through...
at the time; a rearrangement and renumbering of the line took place in November 1993, when the section linking it to the remainder of the line in former East BerlinEast Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
was reopened.
- The song "The Zoo" by German rock band Scorpions
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
was inspired by the station.
- The song "Auf'm Bahnhof Zoo" by Nina Hagen
Nina Hagen is a German singer and actress.-Early years:Hagen was born as Catharina Hagen in the former East Berlin, East Germany, the daughter of Hans Hagen , a scriptwriter, and Eva-Maria Hagen, an actress and singer...
was written about this station.
- The song "Zootime" by Mystery Jets
Mystery Jets are an English five-piece indie band, formerly based on Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, London. The band was formed by Henry Harrison , Blaine Harrison and William Rees when the boys were still at school and would send each other songs on cassettes...
ends with the line Wir sind die Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo.
- "Bahnhof Zoo" is also a track on the 2005 album Randy the Band by the Swedish
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
band RandyRandy is a punk rock band from Hortlax, Sweden, formed in 1992. They were first inspired by skate punk bands like NOFX and Propagandhi but after the release of The Rest Is Silence and the depart of their bass player Patrik Trydvall, they radically changed their musical style and adopted an older...
- The song "Big in Japan" by Alphaville
Alphaville is a German synthpop group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold , Bernhard Lloyd , and Frank Mertens Alphaville is a German synthpop group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold (real name Hartwig Schierbaum,...
refers to the Zoo station in the line "Should I stay here at the Zoo".
- The song "Bahnhof Zoo" by Port Royal takes its name from the station.
- The song "Slept" by The Sisters Of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company...
was inspired by this station.
External links