Berlin's Ghost Stations

I realize I never did much of an update from Berlin, so here goes. I loved the city. I loved seeing the sites of such important world events that happened well within my lifetime. The thing that stood out the most to me was the Ghost Stations (credit given here to Brian from Sanderman's New Europe or I never would have known about them). They are amazing because they are so simple, yet they say so much about the two important era's in Berlin's recent history. For those who don't know, Berlin's metro system is one of the oldest in the world, if not the oldest (I don't remember). As a consequence of this, once it came time to divide the city, these underground tunnels posed a bit of a problem. Some lines were easy. The East - West lines were simply cut in half and run independently. However, there were a handful of lines which run North - South that are primarily in the West, but cross over into the East for a few stops. The solution to this was simple, these became Ghost Stations. Trains wouldn't stop here, and the stations would be patrolled by the police and their dogs to make sure nobody got in or out. It wasn't until after the wall fell that once again these stations came into use. These stations, which stood idle for 30 odd years, still look today as they would have at the end of the war. The Nazi's rennovated them, and so today it is like stepping into the 1940s. The tiling is all browns and yellows and the stations signs are in the very recognizable Nazi script. I will post pictures hopefully later today.

 

Also while in Berlin, a little Euro Cup final game was played between Spain and Germany. As most of you probably know, it wasn't a very good game and Germany lost 1-0. It was still a fun environment to be in and I can only imagine what it would have been like had they won.