Archaeologists have unearthed Berlin’s oldest street, and it is actually pretty cool. Even though it was likely built in the 13th century, the wooden planks look surprisingly fresh.
Containerbahnhof Frankfurter Allee
If, like me, you’ve spent a lot of time traveling Berlin’s S-Bahn ring, you might have noticed the large empty space directly to the east of the Frankfurter Allee S-Bahn station. It looks like any number of former industrial sites in the city: run-down, abandoned, with a few remnants here and there.
I was surprised to learn that this particular space wasn’t just a random factory: it was a so-called “Containerbahnhof,” where shipping containers could be on- and off-loaded to and from railcars.
Quartier Schützenstraße
Hotel Roter Adler
Berliner Verbindungsbahn
The Berliner Verbindungsbahn (the Berlin Connector Train) was built to connect 5 large train stations around the city. These train stations were built as so-called Kopfbahnhöfe, or Terminus Stations, meaning that trains rode in and out on the same track, and didn’t come in one end and out the other. This meant that it was super difficult to get from one train station to the other. The Berliner Verbindungsbahn was a street-level rail system that connected each of the 5 main stations. It was taken out of service with the completion of the Berliner Ringbahn, which is still in service today.