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143-606: Work to build the Anhalter Bahnhof began on 15 April 1839. As the Berlin terminus, of what become known as the Anhalt Railway , it opened on 1 July 1841 as far as Jüterbog (the inaugural train being hauled by the very first Borsig locomotive), and extended to Dessau , Köthen and beyond at later dates. It became known as the "Anhalt line" because it ran through the historical state of Anhalt , which in turn gave

286-573: A 15 km test section between Bitterfeld and Gräfenhainichen was put into full operation in 2001. To adapt the control system of the Deutsche Bahn to the newly agreed European Standard, ETCS Level 2 was installed on part of this line for the first time in Germany. Around 1,200 balises were installed. On 26 May 2006, a pair of Intercity (IC) services (2418/2419) were equipped with ETCS for speeds of up to 200 km/h. On 17 June 2006, for

429-399: A Soviet tank that was on the tracks. Six people died and 33 others were seriously injured. A D 354 express and the P 7523 stopping train crashed into each other at Hohenthurm on 29 February 1984. 11 people died and 46 were injured. A freight train derailed just outside Pratau station near Wittenberg on 29 May 1988 and 18 carriages fell over. Electric operation started early on part of

572-460: A border checkpoint for people entering East Berlin. Trains would generally slow down, however, affording passengers the strange sight of dusty, dimly lit platforms patrolled by armed guards, there to prevent any East Berliners from trying to escape to the West by train. At the points where the lines passed directly beneath the actual border, concrete "collars" were constructed within the tunnels with just

715-778: A large hole into which an additional 4,000 prisoners were to be disposed of. During the war, Dresden was the location of several forced labour subcamps of the Stalag IV-A prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs, and seven subcamps of the Flossenbürg concentration camp , in which some 3,600 men, women and children were imprisoned, mostly Polish , Jewish and Russian. In April 1945, most surviving prisoners were sent on death marches to various destinations in Saxony and German-occupied Czechoslovakia , whereas some women were probably murdered and some managed to escape. Dresden in

858-597: A major Nazi museum director and art dealer, to hide a large collection of artwork worth tens of millions of dollars that had been stolen during the Nazi era, as he claimed it had been destroyed along with his house which was located in Dresden. The Allies described the operation as the legitimate bombing of a military and industrial target. Several researchers have argued that the February attacks were disproportionate . As

1001-522: A major cultural centre of historical memory, owing to the city's destruction in World War II. Each year on 13 February, the anniversary of the British and American fire-bombing raid that destroyed most of the city, tens of thousands of demonstrators gather to commemorate the event. Since reunification, the ceremony has taken on a more neutral and pacifist tone (after being used more politically during

1144-578: A new slab track. Deutsche Bahn invested tens of millions of Euros in the reconstruction. It has been again possible to operate over the line at a maximum speed of 160 km/h since 29 June 2013. A planning approval process for an increase to 200 km/h was commenced in June 2013. Work had been planned to commence at the end of 2012 and to be completed in 2015. It is now expected to be completed in 2017. Further works are planned near Halle (Saale) Hauptbahnhof in future years. These include integration to

1287-454: A proper street for the first time. Like nearby Potsdamer Bahnhof , the Anhalter Bahnhof opened as a fairly modest building (behind administration block); the platform was just 15 m (49 ft) wide. However, as the German rail network expanded throughout the 19th century so did the Anhalter Bahnhof to handle the growth. In 1872, architect Franz Heinrich Schwechten (1841-1924) designed

1430-629: A record calling the place "Civitas Dresdene". After 1270, Dresden became the capital of the margraviate. It was given to Friedrich Clem after the death of Henry the Illustrious in 1288. It was taken by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1316 and was restored to the Wettin dynasty after the death of Valdemar the Great in 1319. From 1485, it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony , and from 1547

1573-414: A result of inadequate Nazi air raid measures for refugees, mostly women and children died. American author Kurt Vonnegut 's novel Slaughterhouse Five is loosely based on his first-hand experience of the raid as a prisoner of war . In remembrance of the victims, the anniversaries of the bombing of Dresden are marked with peace demonstrations, devotions and marches. Following his military service

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1716-471: A skeleton previously used as a model for drawing art classes was found in the ruins of the Dresden Art Academy, the photographer Edmund Kesting with the assistance of Peter posed it in a number of different locations to produce a series of haunting photographic images to give the impression that Death was wandering through the city in search of the dead. Kesting subsequently published them in

1859-592: A target since the beginning of the project in 1992. If this speed could not have been achieved, funds would have had to be repaid to the European Union. To avoid this, the line between Bitterfeld and Berlin (10.6 km) was equipped with Linienzugbeeinflussung (class LZB L72 CE II) with CIR-ELKE II in 2005 and 2006. Only the main through tracks and the connections between them are equipped with these control systems. Between Teltow (near Berlin) (12.36 km) and Bitterfeld (132.10 km) it has been possible to

2002-566: A time using 116 trains. In contrast to other deportations which used freight wagons, Jews were taken away in ordinary passenger coaches which were coupled up to regular trains running according to the normal timetable. All deportations were to Theresienstadt in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and from there to other concentration camps. Anhalter Bahnhof, like most of Berlin, was devastated by British and American bombs and Soviet artillery shells. A massive bombing raid on

2145-920: A wasteland before it was rebuilt in the socialist style at the beginning of the 1960s. However, the majority of historic buildings were saved or reconstructed. Among them were the Ständehaus (1946), the Augustusbrücke (1949), the Kreuzkirche (until 1955), the Zwinger (until 1963), the Catholic Court Church (until 1965), the Semperoper (until 1985), the Japanese Palace (until 1987) and the two largest train stations. Some of this work dragged on for decades, often interrupted by

2288-615: A year, compared with barely 49,000 at Berlin Tempelhof Airport ). Though still less busy than the Potsdamer Bahnhof up the road, the Anhalter Bahnhof was superior in its sheer scale, and in the opulence of its train services. Also by this time, the station was connected directly with a hotel which faced it across Askanischer Platz - the Hotel Excelsior , Europe's largest - by means of a tunnel, believed to be

2431-547: Is a relatively recent city that grew from a Slavic village after Germans came to dominate the area, the area had been settled in the Neolithic era by Linear Pottery culture tribes c. 7500 BC . Dresden's founding and early growth is associated with the eastward expansion of Germanic peoples , mining in the nearby Ore Mountains , and the establishment of the Margraviate of Meissen . Its name comes from Sorbian Drježdźany (current Upper Sorbian form), meaning "people of

2574-532: Is about 150 kilometres (93 miles) to the south and Wrocław (Poland) 200 kilometres (120 miles) to the east. Dresden is one of the greenest cities in all of Europe, with 62% of the city being green areas and forests. The Dresden Heath ( Dresdner Heide ) to the north is a forest 50 km (19 sq mi) in size. There are four nature reserves . The additional Special Conservation Areas cover 18 km (6.9 sq mi). The protected gardens, parkways, parks and old graveyards host 110 natural monuments in

2717-540: Is dominated by high-tech branches , often called " Silicon Saxony ". According to the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) and Berenberg Bank in 2019, Dresden had the seventh best prospects for the future of all cities in Germany. Dresden is one of the most visited cities in Germany with 4.7 million overnight stays per year. Its most prominent building is the Frauenkirche located at

2860-421: Is on the right, gazing into the distance, while Night , on the left, is looking away. This view shows the rear of the façade remnant in 2005. In the left background is Europahaus , an office block dating from the early 1930s, while in the right background is the 18-storey Excelsiorhaus, on the site of the former hotel. It is not known whether the tunnel that once linked the station with the hotel still exists. In

3003-520: Is passable at 220 km/h (in normal operations at up to 200 km/h) on the diverging track. Switch 03 at the northern end of Bitterfeld station thus allows trains from Leipzig to Berlin to pass through on the line from Halle without reducing speed. The point blades are each 59 metres long and weigh 120 tons, including their support mechanism. In preparation for the installation of the European Train Control System (ETCS),

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3146-837: Is the second largest city on the River Elbe after Hamburg. Most of the city's population lives in the Elbe Valley , but a large, albeit very sparsely populated, area of the city east of the Elbe lies in the West Lusatian Hill Country and Uplands (the westernmost part of the Sudetes ) and thus in Lusatia . Many boroughs west of the Elbe lie in the Ore Mountain Foreland , as well as in the valleys of

3289-554: Is unknown due to the large variations between estimates. According to Soviet propaganda up to 15,000 may have drowned, although a more conservative figure suggests 200–300. When the Berlin Wall was erected on 13 August 1961, it had a profound effect on rail services in and around the city, and on the S-Bahn and U-Bahn in particular. Essentially both were divided into two systems, with lines being physically severed where they crossed

3432-654: The Anhalt railway (German: Anhalter Bahn ), is a twin-track, electrified main line found in the German city and state of Berlin , and the states of Brandenburg and Sachsen-Anhalt . The railway was originally built and managed by the Berlin-Anhaltische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft . The Anhalt railway runs from Berlin via Jüterbog and Wittenberg to Halle . The line is part of the Line 1 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). In

3575-595: The Baltic Sea coast, ran via Halle and Erfurt to Meiningen , via Leipzig to Zwickau and Aue as well as to Gera and Saalfeld . Trains also left the network of the Reichsbahn and ran from Berlin to Karlsbad , and from Rostock to Munich. Most of the transit trains from Berlin to West Germany ran on a route via Dessau, and only came onto the Anhalt railway at Bitterfeld; only in rare cases did these trains use

3718-467: The Cold War ). Beginning in 1999, right-wing Neo-Nazi white nationalist groups have organised demonstrations in Dresden that have been among the largest of their type in the post-war history of Germany . Each year around the anniversary of the city's destruction, people convene in the memory of those who died in the fire-bombing. The completion of the reconstructed Dresden Frauenkirche in 2005 marked

3861-547: The Elbe to flood 9 metres (30 ft) above its normal height, i.e., even higher than the old record height from 1845, damaging many landmarks (see 2002 European floods ). The destruction from this "millennium flood" is no longer visible, due to the speed of reconstruction. The United Nations' cultural organization UNESCO declared the Dresden Elbe Valley to be a World Heritage Site in 2004. After being placed on

4004-741: The Elbe , mostly in the Dresden Basin , with the further reaches of the eastern Ore Mountains to the south, the steep slope of the Lusatian granitic crust to the north, and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to the east at an altitude of about 113 metres (371 feet). Triebenberg is the highest point in Dresden at 384 metres (1,260 feet). With a pleasant location and a mild climate on the Elbe, as well as Baroque-style architecture and numerous world-renowned museums and art collections, Dresden has been called "Elbflorenz" ( Florence on

4147-673: The German Museum of Technology , close by on the south bank of the Landwehr Canal). The photograph on the right shows the façade remnant in 2005. The oddly-shaped white building faintly visible in the distance on the right is the Tempodrom , a major new concert and event venue. 52°30′11″N 13°22′55″E  /  52.50306°N 13.38194°E  / 52.50306; 13.38194 Anhalt Railway [REDACTED] The Berlin–Halle railway , sometimes called

4290-756: The Group of Soviet Forces in Germany after the war. Apart from the German army officers' school ( Offizierschule des Heeres ), there have been no more military units in Dresden since the army merger during German reunification, and the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1992. Nowadays, the Bundeswehr operates the Military History Museum of the Federal Republic of Germany in the former Albertstadt garrison. Two book burnings were organised in

4433-664: The Grünes Gewölbe and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon . Strengthening ties with Poland, postal routes to Poznań , Toruń and Warsaw were established under Augustus II the Strong. In 1726 there was a riot for two days after a Protestant clergyman was killed by a soldier who had recently converted from Catholicism. In 1745, the Treaty of Dresden between Prussia, Saxony, and Austria ended

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4576-635: The Neumarkt . Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, before being rebuilt between 1994 and 2005. Other famous landmarks include the Zwinger , the Semperoper and Dresden Castle . Furthermore, the city is home to the renowned Dresden State Art Collections , originating from the collections of the Saxon electors in

4719-671: The Second Silesian War . Only a few years later, Dresden suffered heavy destruction in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), following its capture by Prussian forces, its subsequent re-capture, and a failed Prussian siege in 1760. Friedrich Schiller completed his Ode to Joy (the literary base of the European anthem ) in Dresden in 1785. In 1793, preparations for the Polish Kościuszko Uprising started in

4862-653: The Semper Opera House and the Zwinger Palace , although the city leaders chose to rebuild large areas of the city in a "socialist modern" style, partly for economic reasons, but also to break away from the city's past as the royal capital of Saxony and a stronghold of the German bourgeoisie. Until the end of the Cold War, the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Army and the 7th Panzer Division of

5005-573: The Südbahnhof (South Station) in Südkreuz . According to Speer's plan, the Anhalter Bahnhof was earmarked to become a public swimming pool. During World War II, the Anhalter Bahnhof was one of three stations used to deport about 55,000 Berlin Jews between 1941 and 1945, about a third of the city's entire Jewish population (as of 1933). From Anhalter Bahnhof, 9,600 Jews left in groups of 50 to 100 at

5148-428: The electors as well. The Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I became King Augustus II the Strong of Poland in 1697. He gathered many of the best musicians, architects and painters from all over Europe to Dresden. His reign marked the beginning of Dresden's emergence as a leading European city for technology and art. During the reign of Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland most of

5291-1203: The 16th century. Dresden's Striezelmarkt is one of the largest Christmas markets in Germany and is considered the first genuine Christmas market in the world. Nearby sights include the National Park of Saxon Switzerland , the Ore Mountains and the countryside around Elbe Valley , Moritzburg Castle and Meissen , home of Meissen porcelain . [REDACTED] Margravate of Meissen , 1319–1423 [REDACTED] Electorate of Saxony , 1423–1806 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Saxony , 1806–1848 [REDACTED] German Empire , 1848–1849 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Saxony , 1849–1918 [REDACTED] North German Confederation ( Kingdom of Saxony ), 1867–1871 [REDACTED] German Empire ( Kingdom of Saxony ), 1867–1918 [REDACTED] Weimar Republic ( Free State of Saxony ), 1918–1933 [REDACTED] Nazi Germany , 1933–1945 [REDACTED] Soviet occupation zone of Germany , 1945–1949 [REDACTED] East Germany , 1949–1990 [REDACTED]   Germany ( Free State of Saxony ), 1990–present Although Dresden

5434-525: The 20th century was a major communications hub and manufacturing centre with 127 factories and major workshops and was designated by the German military as a defensive strongpoint, with which to hinder the Soviet advance. Being the capital of the German state of Saxony , Dresden not only had garrisons but a whole military borough , the Albertstadt . This military complex, named after Saxon King Albert,

5577-649: The Altmarkt. From 1955 to 1958, a large part of the art treasures looted by the Soviet Union was returned, which meant that from 1960 onwards many state art collections could be opened in reconstructed facilities or interim exhibitions. Important orchestras such as the Staatskapelle performed in alternative venues (for example in the Kulturpalast from 1969). Some cultural institutions were moved out of

5720-610: The Anhalt line. The Bitterfeld–Dessau section of the Trebnitz–Leipzig railway was electrified as a test track in 1911. Electrification on the Bitterfeld–Leipzig section was put into operation on 5 June 1914. However, the electrical equipment was disconnected on 1 August 1914 year. In 1922, it was reinstated, but a planned extension to Berlin was abandoned because of the outbreak of the Second World War. In March 1946,

5863-665: The Anhalter Güterbahnhof (Goods Station) is its eastern administration block (on the left in the 1874 elevation). It is now restored and today the home of 'Spectrum', the Berlin Science Centre, another part of the German Museum of Technology. Its western twin was badly damaged in World War 2 and was demolished in 1959, the bridge structure following in 1963; the grey rendered area on the side of

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6006-420: The Berlin area, Anhalt Suburban Line , which carries Berlin S-Bahn services, runs parallel to the main line. The Berlin-Anhaltische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company, BAE) was one of the most important railway companies in Germany for about four decades in the 19th century. In addition to the main Anhalt Railway , the BAE built a network of important railway connections between Berlin and

6149-417: The Elbe). The incorporation of neighbouring rural communities over the past 60 years has made Dresden the fourth largest urban district by area in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne . The nearest German cities are Chemnitz 62 kilometres (39 miles) to the southwest, Leipzig 100 kilometres (62 miles) to the northwest and Berlin 165 kilometres (103 miles) to the north. Prague (Czech Republic)

6292-463: The German press photographer and photojournalist Richard Peter returned to Dresden and began to document the ruined city. Among his best known works Blick auf Dresden vom Rathausturm ( View of Dresden from the Rathaus Tower ). It has become one of the best known photographs of a ruined post-war Germany following its appearance in 1949 in his book Dresden, eine Kamera klagt an ("Dresden, a photographic accusation", ISBN   3-930195-03-8 ). When

6435-469: The Landwehr Canal, is an area of woodland, recently tidied up and new paths laid, but amongst the trees and undergrowth, several crumbling sections of platforms are still clearly visible. This location appeared on many picture postcards in the early years of the 20th century, and in some ways it has not significantly changed since then. The red-painted bridge side-on to the camera is a recent construction for pedestrians and cyclists, approximating in appearance

6578-415: The National People's Army were stationed in and around Dresden. Following reunification in 1989, the Soviet / Russian troops were withdrawn from Germany in the early 1990s and the NVA dissolved in accordance with the provisions of the Two-Plus-Four Treaty of 1990 . From 1985 to 1990, the future President of Russia, Vladimir Putin , was stationed in Dresden by the KGB , where he worked for Lazar Matveev ,

6721-412: The Polish uprisings of 1831 , 1848 and 1863 many Poles fled to Dresden, including the artistic and political elite, such as composer Frédéric Chopin , war hero Józef Bem and writer Adam Mickiewicz . Mickiewicz wrote one of his greatest works, Dziady , Part III , there. Dresden itself was a centre of the German Revolutions in 1848–1849 with the May Uprising , which cost human lives and damaged

6864-467: The Potsdamer Bahnhof), and with Berlin's old customs or excise wall ( German : Akzisemauer ) running down its centre. At the time of the Anhalter Bahnhof's construction there was no opening in the customs wall at this location, and so one was clearly needed so that travellers could get from city to station and vice versa. And so the Anhalter Gate was created in 1839–40, and bore a strong resemblance to architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel 's Potsdam Gate up

7007-416: The Soviet sector on 17 May 1952. With no services, the Anhalter Bahnhof was closed. Although detailed plans and an architect's model were drawn up to build a vast modern terminus on the site, nothing happened. After lying derelict for more than eight years, with some tracks and signals still in situ , demolition was begun on 25 August 1960 and completed by 27 August despite considerable public outcry. Part of

7150-463: The U-Bahn were also closed during the war due to enemy action and the section through Anhalter Bahnhof was no exception. A fragmentary train service resumed along the North-South Link on 2 June 1946 once massive repairs were well advanced (water had to be pumped out at the beginning). Full services recommenced on 16 November 1947, although repairs were not complete until May 1948. The services were extended further in 1951. Another interruption of services

7293-485: The area of Berlin and Halle (all modes) according to Deutsche Bahn amounts to around 2,500 trips per day. During 2007, the first full year of operations over the upgraded line, the shortest scheduled journey time for an off-peak ICE train without intermediate stops running to the north between Leipzig and Berlin Südkreuz was 57 minutes, while an off-peak train stopping at Wittenberg took 65 minutes. The other ICE trains took 60 minutes non-stop and 67 minutes with one stop. To

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7436-570: The bombing saved their lives. The Semper Synagogue was destroyed in November 1938 on Kristallnacht . During the German invasion of Poland at the start of World War II , in September 1939, the Gestapo carried out mass arrests of local Polish activists. Other non-Jews were also targeted, and over 1,300 people were executed by the Nazis at the Münchner Platz, a courthouse in Dresden, including labour leaders, undesirables, resistance fighters and anyone caught listening to foreign radio broadcasts. The bombing stopped prisoners who were busy digging

7579-462: The book Dresdner Totentanz ( Dresden's Death Dance ). The damage from the Allied air raids was so extensive that following the end of the Second World War, a narrow gauge light railway system was constructed to remove the debris, though being makeshift there were frequent derailments. This railway system, which had seven lines, employed 5,000 staff and 40 locomotives, all of which bore women's names. The last train remained in service until 1958, though

7722-473: The border between East Berlin and West Berlin. In most cases trains on either side would simply run as far as the last stop before the border and then reverse back. The S-Bahn North-South Link saw a more bizarre - though not unique - state of affairs. This line, plus two U-Bahn lines elsewhere in the city, suffered from a quirk of geography in that they briefly passed through East German territory en route from one part of West Berlin to another. This gave rise to

7865-431: The building east–west transversal line, the Stadtbahn connecting the Charlottenburg station and Berlin Schlesischer Bahnhof , but it was not planned in detail until 1928, and then approval had to wait until 1933, as part of Hitler's public works projects ( Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahmen ) to pacify workers by reducing the high unemployment. The line to Anhalter Bahnhof, which was begun in 1934, opened in two phases. First

8008-422: The building in this picture marks the bridge's erstwhile location. Down the former loading road on the right, the covered goods-handling area is now used mainly by a variety of small industrial concerns. Further down again is a large overgrown area of almost total desolation. Things are however looking much brighter at the adjacent Anhalter locomotive depot to the west, sandwiched between the Anhalter Güterbahnhof and

8151-407: The building would have ceased to be a railway terminus because the new triumphal avenue known as the North-South Axis would have severed its tracks. All rail traffic arriving in Berlin would instead have been redirected to two vast new stations located on the Ringbahn . To the north of the city centre, would have been the Nordbahnhof (North Station) at Wedding and opposite to that would have been

8294-441: The catenary systems had to be dismantled for war reparations to the Soviet Union . Electrical operations on the Leipzig–Dessau line were restored on 9 July 1958. Electrification of the Anhalt line commenced in 1976 and the whole line was open for electrical operation by 1984. It was clear that the signalling technology was the responsibility of the individual Reichsbahn divisions . While the Ludwigsfelde– Dennewitz section, which

8437-427: The centre of the city, south of the Landwehr Canal. The Anhalter Bahnhof was more than capable of handling these services as well, and so on 15 October 1882 they were switched, and the Dresdner Bahnhof closed (its building actually still exists, next to the present Gleisdreieck U-Bahn station, having for many years served as part of a major mail-handling facility, itself since closed, called the Postbahnhof ). This move

8580-420: The centre portion of the façade was allowed to remain standing. The area around Anhalter has been significantly redeveloped since the 1950s. There is a memorial display board honouring the Berlin Jews taken from here and elsewhere to their deaths by the Nazis during World War II. The original "Day and Night" sculptures from the façade, photographed in 2003 in their new home, the German Museum of Technology. Day

8723-435: The city by Tadeusz Kościuszko in response to the Second Partition of Poland . In 1806, Dresden became the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony established by Napoleon . During the Napoleonic Wars the French Emperor made it a base of operations , winning there the Battle of Dresden on 27 August 1813. As a result of the Congress of Vienna , the Kingdom of Saxony became part of the German Confederation in 1815. Following

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8866-422: The city center (for example the state library in Albertstadt). The Outer Neustadt, which was almost undamaged during the war was threatened with demolition in the 1980s following years of neglect, but was preserved following public protests. To house the homeless large prefabricated housing estates were built on previously undeveloped land In Prohlis and Gorbitz. Damaged housing in the Johannstadt and other areas in

9009-458: The city center were demolished and replaced with large apartment blocks. The villa districts in Blasewitz, Striesen, Kleinzschachwitz, Loschwitz and on the Weißen Hirsch were largely preserved. Dresden became a major industrial centre of East Germany, with a great deal of research infrastructure. It was the centre of Bezirk Dresden (Dresden District) between 1952 and 1990. Many of the city's important historic buildings were reconstructed, including

9152-446: The city in 1933, one by the SA on Wettiner Platz, the second one by German Student Union at the Bismarck Column on Räcknitzhöhe. During the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945, the Jewish community of Dresden was reduced from over 6,000 (7,100 people were persecuted as Jews) to 41, mostly as a result of emigration, but later also deportation and murder. One of the survivors was Victor Klemperer with his non-Jewish wife, who believed that

9295-425: The city's baroque landmarks were built. These include the Zwinger Royal Palace , the Japanese Palace , the Taschenbergpalais , the Pillnitz Castle and the two landmark churches: the Catholic Hofkirche and the Lutheran Frauenkirche . In addition, significant art collections and museums were founded. Notable examples include the Dresden Porcelain Collection , the Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs ,

9438-584: The city. The Dresden Elbe Valley is a former world heritage site which is focused on the conservation of the cultural landscape in Dresden. One important part of that landscape is the Elbe meadows, which cross the city in a 20 kilometre swath. Saxon Switzerland is located south-east of the city. Like most of eastern Germany, Dresden has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ), with significant continental influences due to its inland location. The summers are warm, averaging 19.0 °C (66.2 °F) in July. The winters are slightly colder than

9581-434: The clock above the main entrance. Emil Hundrieser (1846-1911) was responsible for a sculpture on the very top of the façade called The International Traffic . Inside the building was a lavish and spacious booking hall with separate waiting rooms and facilities for no fewer than four classes of ticket holders. A separate entrance and reception area were provided for visiting royalty, and these saw frequent use. Behind all this,

9724-408: The construction of the Berlin Wall , where connections to the Berlin S-Bahn using the Anhalt Suburban Line were possible. After the construction of the Wall, the section to Teltow became a branch line. Some of the regional service trains, coming from Ludwigsfelde , were routed across the Outer Ring to Schönefeld and Schöneweide , but in general, passenger services were limited. Nevertheless,

9867-466: The elimination of all level crossings and the modernisation of all stations. A radio-based, train-control system was planned. The scheduled journey time between Berlin and Leipzig dropped from 142 minutes, in 1990, to 100 minutes in 1995. The upgrade to 200 km/h (120 mph) lasted until 2006. After the commissioning of the Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway in 1998, a trip from Berlin to Munich via that line and continuing via Fulda and Würzburg

10010-540: The end of 2013. The investment of €9 million is still awaited. In the Berlin area, the 16.9 km-long (10.5 mi) section of the Anhalt Railway between Berlin Südkreuz and Ludwigsfelde station was rebuilt. The design speed was raised to 160 km/h (99 mph) in the Berlin area and to 200 km/h (120 mph) outside Berlin. In addition, 18 bridges and, among other things, the stations served by regional services at Großbeeren , Teltow and Lichterfelde Ost were rebuilt. The project planning made provision for

10153-427: The eventual quadruplication of the line. The upgrading of the mainline tracks of the Anhalt Railway for Intercity-Express (ICE) trains towards Leipzig, Nuremberg and Munich was put into service on 28 May 2006. The running time for long-distance services between Berlin and Leipzig was reduced from 108 minutes (from Zoo Station ) to 73 minutes (from Berlin Hauptbahnhof). About one fifth more passengers were counted in

10296-605: The fastest journey time in 2008 was 76 minutes; in 2012 it was 78 minutes. Using regional services with a change in Wittenberg (or in Bitterfeld) it takes (in the 2015 timetable) between 147 and 151 minutes. Because of line closure between Bitterfeld and Halle and the resulting detour the scheduled travel times was extended by up to 15 minutes. A serious accident occurred at Forst Zinna (near Jüterbog ) on 19 January 1988. An express train ran at 120 km/h (75 mph) into

10439-609: The first four months of 2006 and of 2007. On 1 August 2012, the Federal Railway Authority banned operations on a 15 km (9.3 mi) section between Halle and Bitterfeld after the Y-shaped steel sleepers installed in the slab track were so badly rusted that the track resistance was at risk. The ballasting of the sleepers and covering material to reduce noise meant that rain water was not drained away and led to corrosion. The problems with sleepers built in

10582-514: The first step in rebuilding the Neumarkt area. The areas around the square were divided into eight "quarters", with each being rebuilt as a separate project, the majority of buildings to be rebuilt either to the original structure or at least with a facade similar to the original. The quarters I, II, IV, V, VI and VIII have since been completed; quarters III and quarter VII were still partly under construction in 2020. In 2002, torrential rains caused

10725-466: The first time in Europe, a scheduled service ran under ETCS at a speed of 200 km/h. The trains pairs of IC 2418/2419 and 2416/2417 IC and EN 228/229 ran under ETCS. Five class 101 locomotives were fitted with ETCS for the test runs up to mid-2001. A working definition of ETCS only became available much later than originally planned, delaying the achievement of a speed of 200 km/h that had been

10868-411: The first week according to information provided by DB. The private long-distance InterConnex service and several Regional-Express and Regionalbahn services also operated on the line. According to Deutsche Bahn, the number of ICE passengers on the line rose by 45 percent between early 2005 and May 2007. Another press release from the company indicated that the 45 percent increase was a comparison of

11011-404: The following years, the city became a major centre of economy, including motor car production, food processing, banking and the manufacture of medical equipment . In the early 20th century, Dresden was particularly well known for its camera works and its cigarette factories. During World War I , the city did not suffer any war damage, but lost many of its inhabitants. Between 1918 and 1934, Dresden

11154-501: The foreground is a large new synthetic playing surface for sports where the train shed once stood. Immediately south, directly behind the photographer, is the Tempodrom. The Tempodrom, a major new concert and event venue opened on 8 December 2001, extends across the site of the terminus just south of the train shed's former location. Its innovative futuristic roof rises to a height of 37.5 m. Further south still, extending down to

11297-562: The forest", from Proto-Slavic *dręzga ("woods, blowdowns"). Dresden later evolved into the capital of Saxony . Around the late 12th century, a Sorbian settlement called Drežďany (meaning either "woods" or "lowland forest-dweller" ) had developed on the southern bank. Another settlement existed on the northern bank, but its Slavic name is unknown. It was known as Antiqua Dresdin by 1350, and later as Altendresden, both literally "old Dresden". Dietrich, Margrave of Meissen , chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in

11440-447: The former Dresdner Bahnhof. After decades of dereliction its buildings have been restored and also incorporated into the German Museum of Technology . The idea for an S-Bahn North-South Link transversal rail line connecting the northern suburban lines terminating at Stettiner Bahnhof ("Nordbahnhof" since the early 1950s) with the southern suburban lines terminating at Potsdamer Bahnhof had first been mooted in 1892, ten years after

11583-412: The fourth largest by area (after Berlin , Hamburg , and Cologne ), and the third most populous city in the area of former East Germany , after Berlin and Leipzig. Dresden's urban area comprises the towns of Freital , Pirna , Radebeul , Meissen , Coswig , Radeberg and Heidenau and has around 790,000 inhabitants. The Dresden metropolitan area has approximately 1.34 million inhabitants. Dresden

11726-526: The historic inner city. Since German reunification in 1990, Dresden has once again become a cultural, educational and political centre of Germany. The Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative . The economy of Dresden and its agglomeration is one of the most dynamic in Germany and ranks first in Saxony. It

11869-553: The historic town of Dresden. The uprising forced Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to flee from Dresden, but he soon after regained control over the city with the help of Prussia. In 1852, the population of Dresden grew to 100,000 inhabitants, making it one of the biggest cities within the German Confederation. As the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony, Dresden became part of the newly founded German Empire in 1871. In

12012-482: The huge iron and glass train-shed roof by writer and engineer Heinrich Seidel (1842-1906) measured 171 m long by 62 m wide (covering 10,600 m, under which 40,000 people could stand), and rose to 34 m in height along its centre line. The Anhalter Güterbahnhof ( goods station ), also opened, south of the Landwehr Canal on the same date as the passenger station. Initially the rebuilt terminus

12155-460: The infamous "Geisterbahnhöfe" ( ghost stations ), those unfortunate ones on the eastern side that were sealed off from the outside world and which trains ran straight through without stopping. (One exception was the station Bahnhof Friedrichstraße , where passengers could change trains to the western part of the east–west-S-Bahn and one line of the U-Bahn (today U6). The S Bahn station also served as

12298-631: The last official debris clearance team was only disbanded in 1977. Rather than repair them, German Democratic Republic (East Germany) authorities razed the ruins of many churches, royal buildings and palaces in the 1950s and 1960s, such as the Gothic Sophienkirche , the Alberttheater and the Wackerbarth-Palais as well as many historic residential buildings. The surroundings of the once lively Prager Straße resembled

12441-621: The line from Dennewitz junction near Jüterbog. Starting in 1976, the railway was integrated into the new City Express ( Städteexpress ) network of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany) as one of its central sections, especially the section between Berlin and Bitterfeld. List of City-Express-trains (Ex) on the Berlin–Halle railway (as of: 31 May 1991) The Anhalter Bahn lost some of its significance with German reunification . The transit trains lost their special status with

12584-501: The list of endangered World Heritage Sites in 2006, the city lost the title in June 2009, due to the construction of the Waldschlößchenbrücke , making it only the second ever World Heritage Site to be removed from the register. UNESCO stated in 2006 that the bridge would destroy the cultural landscape. The city council's legal moves, meant to prevent the bridge from being built, failed. Dresden lies on both banks of

12727-523: The longest of its kind in the world at 100 m, constructed in 1927–1928. The station had an underground arcade with five shops. However, despite its size and passenger numbers, the station was earmarked for redevelopment as part of Adolf Hitler 's grand plan to transform Berlin into the Welthauptstadt (World Capital) Germania . Under the Nazis ’ plan, which was to be realised by Albert Speer ,

12870-428: The mid-1990s meant that line speed limits were reduced from the original 160 km/h (99 mph) to 120 km/h (75 mph) and then to 50 or 30 km/h (31 or 19 mph). Trains were diverted via Delitzsch . The complete renovation of the section was originally intended to be carried out in 2015, according to Deutsche Bahn. Demolition of the existing track began at the end of 2012. The line then received

13013-471: The minimum clearance for trains, to prevent people clinging to the sides or roof of the coaches. Anhalter Bahnhof station itself remained open; being in West Berlin, it was the last stop for northbound trains before they entered the "restricted section", and the first stop for southbound trains after they had left the section. However, of its four platforms just two (sometimes only one) saw regular use, and

13156-605: The new Berlin Hauptbahnhof , included the restoration of the Anhalt Railway in the Berlin area. The north–south main line would connect Berlin Hauptbahnhof to the Anhalt Railway. This involved upgrading the Berlin–Leipzig railway for high-speed operations at up to 200 km/h (120 mph) in 2005 and 2006. A total of €1.657 billion was invested in the upgrade of the lines between Halle, Leipzig and Berlin up to

13299-473: The new Berlin terminus its name. The network quickly grew to serve train services between Leipzig , Frankfurt am Main and Munich . The front façade faced Askanischer Platz , which was basically a widened section of a street that at that time was known as Hirschelstraße (later Königgrätzer Straße, Stresemannstraße , Saarlandstraße and today back again to Stresemannstraße), then a fairly ramshackle thoroughfare linking Askanischer Platz with Potsdamer Platz (and

13442-408: The night of 23 November 1943 badly affected the station and caused so much damage to rail infrastructure further out that only a few local services could operate and no long-distance trains. Two further major raids on 3 February and 26 February 1945 left the terminus with large sections of its roof missing, the rest unsafe and tottering and no trains running at all. Many sections of the S-Bahn as well as

13585-465: The non-stop time was 62 minutes. The overall time in the 2008 timetable was the shortest average travel time in the history of the line. In the 2010 timetable, the scheduled travel time between Leipzig and Berlin Südkreuz was 67–75 minutes; some trains took 62 minutes. In the 2011 and 2012 timetables, the scheduled travel times were of the same order. Between Halle Hauptbahnhof and Berlin Hauptbahnhof

13728-546: The north with the Ausbaustrecke Berlin–Halle/Leipzig (Berlin-Halle/Leipzig upgraded line project, VDE 8.3) and the renewal of track and overhead line systems in the station area. Two new electronic signalling centres will replace 20 existing signal boxes. The related financing agreement amounting to €252 million, of which €223 million would be provided by the federal government, was signed at the end of October 2012. The market for long-distance travel between

13871-470: The northern end of the Anhalter S-Bahn station, already largely finished in 1936, had to be rebuilt to accommodate proposed new S-Bahn lines from Görlitzer Bahnhof ; as a result, the westernmost track (1) would no longer be built straight away to Potsdamer Platz station , instead it would be built later. However, war and its outcome made Hitler's plans obsolete - the S-Bahn line to Görlitzer Bahnhof

14014-649: The northern end of the station. In addition, all level crossings were eliminated and new bridges were built. These included the northern Mulde flood bridge near Muldenstein, the Mulde bridge and the Leine bridge. These three new prestressed concrete girder bridges replaced arch bridges built in 1857. The longest set of points in the world was installed in Bitterfeld station in January 1998. This 169.2 metre-long construction

14157-814: The northern parts of the Kingdom of Saxony , the Prussian Province of Saxony , and the duchy of Anhalt , with a total length of 430 kilometres (270 mi) at its apex. The original Anhalt Railway ran from the Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin via Jüterbog , Wittenberg , and Dessau to Köthen (including the Wittenberg–Roßlau line , the Roßlau–Dessau line and the Dessau–Köthen railway ) and

14300-561: The northern section from Stettiner Bahnhof to Unter den Linden , was inaugurated on 28 July 1936, just in time for the Berlin Olympic Games . But in 1937, construction work was paused for several months after Hitler proclaimed his plans for Welthauptstadt (World Capital) Germania on 30 January 1937. Part of the scheme was to remodel Berlin's entire railway system. As this included the North-South S-Bahn link,

14443-462: The operate on the since 28 May 2006 at 200 km/h. However, in the area of Wittenberg (km 92.9 to 97.5) the scheduled maximum speed limit is 160 km/h. From June 2010 to 13 December 2013, there were two sections, each around ten km long, Graefenhainichen–Muldenstein (km 126 to 116) and Blönsdorf–Zahna (km 84 to 75) that could be operated at only 160 km/h. Since December 2013, these sections can be operated at 200 km/h again. The reason for

14586-593: The overall economic situation in the GDR. The ruins of the Frauenkirche were allowed to remain on Neumarkt as a memorial to the war. While the Theater and Schloßplatz were rebuilt in accordance with the historical model in 1990, the Neumarkt remained completely undeveloped. On the other hand buildings of socialist classicism and spatial design and orientation according to socialist ideals (e.g. Kulturpalast) were built at

14729-523: The railway between Berlin and Halle/Leipzig was one of the busiest lines in East Germany for long-distance traffic. For example, in 1989, more than 30 express trains ran on the section between Berlin and Bitterfeld throughout the year and additional trains ran only during the summer or on weekends. About half of these trains stopped at Bitterfeld and Wittenberg, some stopped at Jüterbog, and a few stopped at Luckenwalde . Express services, some coming from

14872-602: The railway bridge which once crossed at the same spot. The main arch was once the centre span of three of a much older structure located elsewhere in the city - the Marschallbrücke , built by Eduard Albert Paul Gottheiner in 1881–82, which carried Luisenstraße over the River Spree just to the east of the Reichstag . Concerns about its condition, coupled with the need to provide greater clearance for vessels on

15015-515: The railway sidings on the other side, to enable efficient movement of goods from railway wagons to road vehicles or vice versa. Since the early 20th century, the area around the Anhalter Bahnhof was popular with industrialists looking for a suitable location to build a nationwide cartel headquarters. The most renowned cartel of these was the German potash syndicate. By the 1930s, trains left its six platforms every three to five minutes, carrying an average of 44,000 people daily (around 16 million

15158-419: The remaining semaphore signals were replaced by colour light signals . During the upgrade to 200 km/h, the whole line was equipped with electronic interlockings between 1992 and 1999. Since then continuous two-way working has been possible, using only Kombinationsignale (combination signals). During the remodelling of Muldenstein station, moveable point frogs were inserted into the continuous track at

15301-819: The remaining Nazi leaders resorted to increasingly desperate measures to slow the Soviet advance, whatever the consequences for their own citizens. Fearful that the Soviets might try to storm the centre of Berlin by coming through the rail tunnels, on 2 May the Nazi leaders ordered SS troops to blow up the bulkheads where the North-South Link passed beneath the Landwehrkanal. Altogether up to 26 km (16 mi) of tunnels and many stations were flooded by this action, most of which had been used as public shelters and also to house military wounded in hospital trains in underground sidings. The number of people drowned

15444-476: The removal of border crossings between East and West Germany, and the City Express service was discontinued on 31 May 1991. The first Intercity and InterRegio trains ran at off-peak times, and did not present a service improvement, and synchronized schedules were not introduced for several years. After reunification, these trains used the railway: Long-distance service from Berlin to the south and west

15587-475: The removal of the communist government. Dresden has experienced dramatic changes since the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s. The city still bears many wounds from the bombing raids of 1945, but it has undergone significant reconstruction. Restoration of the Dresden Frauenkirche, a Lutheran church, began in 1994 and was completed in 2005, a year before Dresden's 800th anniversary; this

15730-512: The river, brought about the replacement of the centre and south spans with one long new span in 1997–99, after which the old centre span was re-erected here as shown, as part of this new bridge designed by Benedict Toon and opened in February 2001. Just beyond it is where the S-Bahn North-South Link runs beneath the canal, and it was here that SS troops blew up the bulkheads in the last days of World War 2, deliberately flooding

15873-574: The rivers rising there and flowing through Dresden, the longest of which are the Weißeritz and the Lockwitzbach . The name of the city as well as the names of most of its boroughs and rivers are of Sorbian origin. Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony , who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor, and

16016-423: The road. A new thoroughfare, Anhalter Straße , led from the gate into the city. The Anhalter Gate was one of four extra ones provided in the years after the customs wall's original erection, increasing the total number of gates around the city from 14 to 18. The customs wall eventually became redundant and was demolished in 1866–67, which allowed Hirschelstraße (newly renamed Königgrätzer Straße), to be developed into

16159-619: The same service. In 1939, the section between Berlin and Bitterfeld, which carried long-distance services towards the Rhine-Main area and South Germany, was used by 33 pairs of long-distance trains per day, the busiest line in Germany for long-distance traffic. The property of the Anhalt railway suffered major damage during World War II , and was only repaired in critical areas. After the partition of Berlin, Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany) ran services to stations in East Berlin . It

16302-546: The senior KGB liaison officer there. On 3 October 1989 (the so-called "battle of Dresden"), a convoy of trains carrying East German refugees from Prague passed through Dresden on its way to the Federal Republic of Germany . Local activists and residents joined in the growing civil disobedience movement spreading across the German Democratic Republic, by staging demonstrations and demanding

16445-530: The south bank of the Landwehr Canal immediately to the east of the parallel passenger lines. This artistic representation is Schwechten's own front elevation, showing the twin administration blocks linked by an attractive bridge structure, with three arches through which road vehicles passed into the so-called "ladestrasse" (loading road), 20 m (66 ft) wide. On either side were covered goods-handling areas some 210 m (690 ft) in length, with

16588-459: The south the running times were 62 minutes (non-stop) and 67 minutes (one stop). A pair of trains (ICE 1516/1517) ran between Leipzig Hauptbahnhof and Berlin Hauptbahnhof without intermediate stops with a scheduled time of 60 minutes. Such a scheduled journey time was not maintained in the following timetables. In the 2008 timetable, the scheduled non-stop travel time running south was 60 minutes and, with one intermediate stop, 64 minutes; running north

16731-493: The station appeared to receive only a minimum of cleaning and maintenance. After the fall of the Wall on 9 November 1989, Anhalter Bahnhof S-Bahn station and all the ghost stations underwent a major refurbishment before being re-opened on 1 March 1992. The S-Bahn station remains the only one open at the location, and still called "Anhalter Bahnhof" although it is over half a century since the great terminus aboveground closed. As for

16874-489: The terminus itself, today the centre portion of the façade still looks out over Askanischer Platz, having been restored several times since the demolition of the rest of the building. At the top, Ludwig Brunow's Day and Night sculptures, somewhat the worse for wear, still sat on either side of the now empty clock space until the most recent restoration of the structure in 2003–2004, but to avoid further corrosion they have now been replaced by copies (the originals can be seen in

17017-433: The three-year speed limit was the lack of new hot box detectors . Dresden Dresden ( / ˈ d r ɛ z d ən / , German: [ˈdʁeːsdn̩] ; Upper Saxon : Dräsdn ; Upper Sorbian : Drježdźany , pronounced [ˈdʁʲɛʒdʒanɨ] ) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig . It is the 12th most populous city of Germany,

17160-412: The tunnel in the hope of slowing the Soviet advance. The Anhalter Bahnhof stood out of the picture to the right (north). The buildings in the left background, on the south bank of the canal, house the German Museum of Technology. The other bridge, the higher one crossing the canal at a sharp angle, carries a section of U-Bahn line between Gleisdreieck and Möckernbrücke stations. The only surviving parts of

17303-458: The tunnel on 6 November 1939, making the new north–south transversal line complete. This underground station was placed at the west side of the existing overground station. At Anhalter Bahnhof S-Bahn station a direct access route to the mainline terminus above was provided from 19 December 1940. At the S-Bahn station four platforms were provided to receive the Wannseebahn and the trains from

17446-484: The two suburban lines coming from Priesterweg station arriving via their separate tunnel mounds on opposite tracks of the receiving platform, and to provide the same for trains departing in the two directions. The station removed two siding tracks behind its south head. The S-Bahn North-South Link, less than six years old, became the setting for one of the most contentious episodes of the final Battle of Berlin , in late April and early May 1945. With Hitler already dead,

17589-560: The upgrade of the Berlin–Bitterfeld section to 160 km/h (99 mph) had an estimated cost of 1.95 billion Deutsche Marks . A subsequent speed increase to 200 km/h (120 mph) was proposed. Initially, a five-kilometre (3.1 mi) section between Diedersdorf and Genshagener Heide on the Berlin Outer Ring , which then carried traffic towards the Anhalt Railway, was equipped for 160 km/h (99 mph) and

17732-584: The vast new station that would also be the biggest in Germany and at the time the biggest in Continental Europe, though it was later surpassed. A temporary station was opened in 1874; the old one was demolished in 1875 and the new one begun in 1876. On 15 June 1880, the new terminus was opened by Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck . The new façade was 101 m across and embellished with zinc sculptures titled Day and Night by Ludwig Brunow (1843-1913), positioned on either side of

17875-575: Was caused by the uprising of 1953 in East Germany , no trains running between 17 June, the day of the uprising, and 9 July. Meanwhile, above ground, American servicemen had dismantled the surviving sections of the Anhalter Bahnhof's roof in March 1948, and a limited train service had begun operating again in August, with a few trains running out into the Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg regions, but it

18018-852: Was controlled by the Berlin Reichsbahn division, was equipped until 1978 with track plan interlockings (including the first interlocking of the GsIIISp68 class in Jüterbog station) and automatic block signalling , the Niedergörsdorf–Leipzig section, which was controlled by the Halle Reichsbahn division, continued to be signalled with conventional systems. As part of its resignalling with the Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung train protection system

18161-686: Was controversial. On the night of 13–14 February 1945, 773 RAF Lancaster bombers dropped 1,181.6 tons of incendiary bombs and 1,477.7 tons of high explosive bombs, targeting the rail yards at the centre of the city. The inner city of Dresden was largely destroyed. Widely quoted Nazi propaganda reports claimed 200,000 deaths, but the German Dresden Historians' Commission, made up of 13 prominent German historians, in an official 2010 report published after five years of research concluded that casualties numbered between 22,500 and 25,000. The destruction of Dresden allowed Hildebrand Gurlitt ,

18304-541: Was done with the help of privately raised funds. The gold cross on the top of the church was funded officially by "the British people and the House of Windsor". The urban renewal process, which includes the reconstruction of the area around the Neumarkt square on which the Frauenkirche is situated, was expected to take decades, but numerous large projects were under way in the first part of the 21st century. Dresden remains

18447-498: Was faster than on this line until the end of May 2006. On 30 April 2000, an electronic interlocking was put into operation in Luckenwalde and Trebbin in operation and connected to the existing electronic interlocking in Jüterbog. The IC 8 service was operated with ICE tilting trains from December 2002. The so-called "mushroom concept" ( Pilzkonzept ), which was adopted for the planning and construction of lines connecting to

18590-472: Was never built, and the Görlitzer Bahnhof was demolished to make way for the Berlin Wall . The second stage was the southern section from Potsdamer Platz via the new underground Anhalter Bahnhof station with the Wannseebahn which opened on 9 October 1939, shortly after the start of World War II . The suburban lines to Zossen and Licherfelde-Ost via Papestraße and Priesterweg were connected to

18733-414: Was not achieved. By the mid-1990s, the upgrade had sufficiently progressed so that continuous operations at 160 km/h (99 mph) was possible. In 1995, the work was planned to be completed in 1999 at a total cost of 3.5 billion Deutsche Marks. The travelling time between Halle/Leipzig and Berlin would be less than an hour. A variety of line improvements were made during the development, including

18876-655: Was not specifically targeted in the bombing of Dresden . During the final months of the Second World War, Dresden harboured some 600,000 refugees, with a total population of 1.2 million . Dresden was attacked seven times between 1944 and 1945, and was occupied by the Red Army after the German capitulation . The bombing of Dresden by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) between 13 and 15 February 1945

19019-678: Was not to last. The station's final demise was caused by the rapid collapse of relations between the Allied Occupying Powers which controlled Berlin and Germany as a whole. The Anhalter Bahnhof was served by trains arriving from places in Soviet-controlled East Germany but the terminus was in West Berlin . Due to its location, the Soviets switched all remaining trains to the Ostbahnhof in

19162-540: Was not until 1951 with the completion of the first sections of the Berlin outer ring , that direct connections were possible coming from Halle or Leipzig. The connection to Berlin, and the heavily damaged Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin-Kreuzberg , was completed on 18 May 1952. The internal East German long-distance traffic to East Berlin ran to the terminus stations of Ostbahnhof , Lichtenberg or Schöneweide . Regional service trains terminated at Teltow until

19305-475: Was once by personal union the family seat of Polish monarchs. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its Baroque and Rococo city centre. The controversial American and British bombing of Dresden towards the end of World War II killed approximately 25,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre. After the war, restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of

19448-566: Was one of the most important long-distance railways in Germany at the time of its opening. Some of the first express trains traveled from Berlin via Köthen to Halle, Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main and Munich , as well as to Dresden, Prague , and Vienna via Jüterbog-Röderau. The railway also allowed a connection between Berlin, Vienna, Rome , and Athens . Starting in 1923, one of the first long-distance express trains ( FD-Zug ) traveled from Berlin via Halle and Erfurt to Frankfurt. Starting in 1935, express multiple unit electric railcars provided

19591-458: Was put into operation on 22 December 1992, after five months of construction. In mid-1994 around 30 km (19 mi) of track between Berlin and Bitterfeld could be operated at 160 km/h (99 mph). After eleven months of full closure for upgrading for 160 km/h (99 mph), the Halle–Bitterfeld section was reopened on 28 May 1995. The planned construction period of two years

19734-586: Was put into service in 1840/1841. The section of the current line north of Jüterbog was opened on 1 July 1841 and the section between Jüterbog and Wittenberg was opened on 10 September 1841. A connection was possible in Köthen over the Magdeburg-Leipzig railway to Halle and Leipzig . In 1859, the trip between Berlin and Halle/Leipzig was considerably shortened with the opening of the direct connection between Wittenberg and Bitterfeld . The Anhalt railway

19877-648: Was routed from 1998 over the Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway and the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway to Frankfurt, Munich, and Basel . Even the connection between Berlin and Munich was faster over these lines than over the Anhalt railway. In 1991, the upgrade of the Berlin-Halle/Leipzig railway was started as one of the "German Unity Transport Projects" ( Verkehrsprojekt Deutsche Einheit ), project number 8.3. Planning began in 1992. In 1993,

20020-485: Was still handling train services mainly to and from Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main and Munich, over the old Anhalter route. However, two years later it inherited a whole new range of services with the closure of the Dresdner Bahnhof . This terminus had opened on 17 June 1875, with trains to Dresden (over the so-called "Dresdener line"), Prague and Vienna , but was small and inconveniently sited some distance from

20163-644: Was the capital of the first Free State of Saxony as well as a cultural and economic centre of the Weimar Republic . The city was also a centre of European modern art until 1933. During the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, a large military facility called Albertstadt was built. It had a capacity of up to 20,000 military personnel at the beginning of the First World War . The garrison saw only limited use between 1918 and 1934, but

20306-462: Was the key to establishing the Anhalter Bahnhof's ultimate importance, as the terminus became Berlin's “Gateway to the South,” with services via Dresden not only to Prague and Vienna, but to places as far away as Rome , Naples and Athens . Next to the passenger terminus, was the Anhalter Güterbahnhof (goods station). The building, which had also been built by Franz Heinrich Schwechten, was located on

20449-428: Was then reactivated in preparation for the Second World War . Its usefulness was limited by attacks on 13–15 February and 17 April 1945, the former of which destroyed large areas of the city. However, the garrison itself was not specifically targeted. Soldiers had been deployed as late as March 1945 in the Albertstadt garrison. The Albertstadt garrison became the headquarters of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army in

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