Border Stations and Ghost Stations in Divided Berlin
An exhibition in the Nordbahnhof S-Bahn station focuses on a special chapter in Berlin’s history of division: the three U-Bahn and S-Bahn lines that crossed through East Berlin on their way from one end of West Berlin to another. Between 1961 and 1989 these lines had a special status within the city’s divided public transport system. The exhibit describes how the trains passed through the closed-down and guarded stations along these U-Bahn and S-Bahn lines in East Berlin, slowing down, without ever coming to a complete halt. It also addresses underground escapes attempts and the border fortifications installed beneath the surface.
The exhibition uses the Berlin underground system to elaborate on themes addressed in the memorial: the city’s division, the mass exodus to the West, and living with the border.
Publication
In the companion volume to the exhibition, 14 essays address the underground border situation, accompanied by impressive and rarely seen photographs.