Berlin Central Station, Railway station in Moabit, Berlin, Germany
Berlin Hauptbahnhof is a multi-level interchange in Mitte where north-south and east-west tracks cross on separate floors within a frame of glass and steel. Daylight filters through the open interior, and wide passageways link the platforms to shops and services on the intermediate levels.
The station opened shortly before the football World Cup to replace the fragmented terminals left behind when the city was divided. It stands on the site of the old Lehrter Bahnhof and brought together lines that had been separated for decades.
The name Hauptbahnhof simply means "main station"; it was chosen for the new building on the site of the Lehrter Bahnhof, not inherited from the divided city's terminals. On the northeastern terrace stands Jürgen Goertz's Rolling Horse sculpture, erected in 2007, whose integrated elements can be seen through four portholes and recall the earlier Lehrter stations.
The station is open around the clock. Fifty-four escalators, six panoramic lifts and ten further lifts link the five levels, which differ by 25 metres in height. The two main portals face Europaplatz and Invalidenstraße to the north and Washingtonplatz and the Spree to the south.
The long-distance and regional tracks sit one above the other, allowing trains to leave in four directions without crossing paths. This layered arrangement was novel when built and enabled high train frequency on a compact footprint.
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