Spittelmarkt (Berlin U-Bahn)

Spittelmarkt is a Berlin U-Bahn station on line U2, located in Mitte at the eastern end of Leipziger Straße.

Interior view, 2011

Spittelmarkt
Spittelmarkt in 2011
General information
Location	Spittelmarkt Mitte, Berlin Germany
Coordinates	52°30′40″N 13°24′13″E
Owned by	Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe
Operated by	Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	: 200, 248, 265, N2, N42
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Bicycle facilities	Yes (Call a Bike, bicycle parking)
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	: Berlin A/5555[1]
History
Opened	1 October 1908; 115 years ago (1908-10-01)
Services
Preceding station Berlin U-Bahn Following station Hausvogteiplatz towards Ruhleben U2 Märkisches Museum towards Pankow
Location Spittelmarkt Location within Berlin Show map of Berlin Spittelmarkt Location within Germany Show map of Germany Spittelmarkt Location within Europe Show map of Europe

The station in 1908, with a Nichtraucher (non-smoker) train departing to Wilhelmplatz

History

The station was opened on 1 October 1908, and was then the terminus of Berlin's second U-Bahn line, connecting it with Potsdamer Platz on the initial Stammstrecke route. It is named after the Spittelmarkt square, former site of the Saint Gertrude hospital established about 1400. The name Spittelmarkt is formed from a contraction of "hospital" (as also in Spitalfields, London) and the German word for "market". The station, designed by Alfred Grenander, was lavishly erected right beneath the banks of the Spree river, with daylight windows above the water's surface.

Spittelmarkt became a through station with the extension of the line to Alexanderplatz on 1 July 1913. In 1940 the windows were walled up as an air raid precaution. There was a direct bomb hit on the platform area on 3 February 1945. It was only by chance that the northern station wall was not destroyed. Since this wall is also the sea wall of the Spree, the inner-city tunnel system would have been flooded and would have disrupted the underground traffic in the long term.

In 1990, a major accident occurred when a train crashed into another stopped train. Fourteen people were injured. Spilled oil had covered the tracks, preventing the train from braking. ^[2]

The station did not reopen until extensive reconstruction works started in 2003.

References

1. "Alle Zielorte". Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg. 1 January 2021. p. 65. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
2. J. Meyer-Kronthaler: Berlins U-Bahnhöfe. be.bra Verlag (1996)

External links

Media related to U-Bahnhof Spittelmarkt (Berlin) at Wikimedia Commons