Potsdam Park Sanssouci railway station

Potsdam Park Sanssouci is a German railway station located in Potsdam, the capital city of Brandenburg, on the Berlin–Magdeburg railway. Named Potsdam Wildpark until 1999, it serves the Sanssouci Park and is famous for the Kaiserbahnhof building.

Potsdam Park Sanssouci
Through station
The Kaiserbahnhof hall and the platforms
LocationAm Neues Palais, 14401 Potsdam, Brandenburg
Germany
Coordinates52°23′40″N 13°0′50″E
Owned byDB Netz
Operated byDB Station&Service
Line(s)
Other information
Station code5011
DS100 codeBWP[1]
IBNR8010377
Category4[2]
Fare zoneVBB: Berlin C and Potsdam B/5851[3]
Websitewww.bahnhof.de
Services
Preceding station   DB Regio Nordost   Following station
RE 1
via Brandenburg (Havel) - Berlin - Frankfurt (Oder)
toward Oranienburg
RB 20
via Hennigsdorf
toward Potsdam Hbf
toward Wustermark
RB 21
via Potsdam
RB 22
via Potsdam
Location
Potsdam Park Sanssouci
Location within Brandenburg
Potsdam Park Sanssouci
Location within Germany
Potsdam Park Sanssouci
Location within Europe

History
The Kaiserbahnhof and the rail hub in 1990

The Wildpark station was built in 1868 on the new line linking Berlin to Magdeburg. At the beginning of the 20th century, after the opening of the bypass lines to Nauen (1902) and Jüterbog (1904), it was built a small rail hub. In 1909 the Kaiserbahnof (see the section below) was inaugurated for the private use of Kaiser Wilhelm II. From 1950, after the division of Germany, the station functioned in the Berlin outer ring (Berliner Außenring), and for some years was served by a holiday express train from Saxony to the Baltic Sea. After the completion of the Golm-Potsdam Pirschheide[4] bypass of the Außerring, the station remained part of a short line[5] to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (in that period Potsdam Stadt), although still linked to Magdeburg and the ring. This line continued to Potsdam Babelsberg, but service to West Berlin was interrupted due to the construction of The Wall.

In the middle of the 1990s, some years after German reunification and the opening of the line Potsdam-Wannsee, the station was rebuilt and renewed. The old platforms and the little rail hub, built in the early 20th century, were demolished. In 1999, the new name "Park Sanssouci" initially applied for tourist traffic only, but took the place of "Wildpark" about one year later.

Structure
The Kaiserbahnof building
The Bürgerbahnhof building
The Posttor gate, in front of the station
Interior view of the Kaiserbahnhof in 1990

The station is on an electrified line with two platforms serving three tracks.

Kaiserbahnhof

The Kaiserbahnhof Potsdam [6] is a railroad station near the New Palace (Neues Palais). Its construction was initiated in 1905 by German Emperor (Kaiser) Wilhelm II, and it was used as his private station. The first official guests were Theodore Roosevelt in 1910 and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.[7]

From 1939 it was used by the high command of the Luftwaffe and, during the Second World War, for the special train of Hermann Göring, who was Luftwaffe chief. After 1945, it was the terminus station of the Blue Express, a train used by the Soviet military command on the route Moscow–Berlin.[7]

Beginning in 1952, it was owned by the East German state railway company (Deutsche Reichsbahn) and subsequently used as a political school and cultural venue and for Transport Police (Transportpolizei) until its closure in 1977 due to deterioration.[7]

In 1999, the building was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site.[8][9][10]

On 16 June 2005, the station was reopened after restoration. The building is used as an academy for senior executives of the German national railway Deutsche Bahn and is usually not publicly accessible.[11]

Bürgerbahnhof

Apart from the Kaiserbahnhof, Park Sanssouci station has a second, minor building named Bürgerbahnhof used as a passenger reception hall. This wooden structure is a rare representative of station architecture from the 1860s. In front of it there is an entrance gate to the park named Posttor.

Train services

Located on the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg line[12] and in a junction linking Potsdam to the Berlin outer ring, the station is served by regional trains linking it to Berlin and to several towns in Brandenburg, such as Brandenburg an der Havel, Frankfurt (Oder) and Fürstenwalde.

The station is served by the following services:[13]

  • Regional service RE 1 (Magdeburg –) Brandenburg – Potsdam – Berlin – Fürstenwalde – Frankfurt (Oder) (– Cottbus)
  • Local service RB 20 Oranienburg – Henningsdorf – Golm – Potsdam
  • Local service RB 21 Wustermark – Golm – Potsdam – Berlin
  • Local service RB 22 Königs Wusterhausen – Berlin-Schönefeld Airport – Saarmund – Golm – Potsdam – Berlin

Potsdam Park Sanssouci is included in fare zone "C" (Tarifbereich C[14]) of the Berlin public transport network. Not part of the S-Bahn network, it is involved in a feasibility project regarding the extension of the S7 line from Potsdam Hauptbahnhof to Golm and/or Werder stations.

While the station is not served by the Potsdam Tramway, the nearest stop is Schloß Charlottenhof,[15] less than 1 km away.

Notes and references
  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (2009/2010 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. "Stationspreisliste 2021" [Station price list 2021] (PDF) (in German). DB Station&Service. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  3. "Der VBB-Tarif: Aufteilung des Verbundgebietes in Tarifwaben und Tarifbereiche" (PDF). Verkehrsbetrieb Potsdam. Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg. 1 January 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  4. Named in that period Potsdam Hauptbahnhof
  5. Rail transport map of East Berlin and neighbourhoods in 1988
  6. (in German) See also de:Kaiserbahnhof Potsdam
  7. (in German) History of the Kaiserbahnhof at potsdamonline.de
  8. Potsdam's UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Status: German Archived 2011-09-20 at the Wayback Machine and English Archived 2011-10-25 at the Wayback Machine version
  9. (in German) "Kaiserbahnhof im UNESCO" article Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine at World Heritage Forum]
  10. (in German) The Kaiserbahnhof at info-potsdam.de
  11. (in German) Article on Berliner Morgenpost about a special public opening of Kaiserbahnhof in 2009
  12. Part of the line linking Berlin to Braunschweig and Hanover
  13. Timetables for Potsdam Park Sanssouci station (in German)
  14. Berliner public transport rail maps and fare zones at BVG website
  15. Potsdam Tramway map at urbanrail.net

Media related to Bahnhof Potsdam Park Sanssouci at Wikimedia Commons

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