page_title: Berlin-Karlshorst station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Berlin-Karlshorst station / History
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. 22.7.1991 Berlin-Karlshorst, S-Bahnhof-Treppe
context_page_description: Berlin-Karlshorst station is a station served by regional and S-Bahn services in the suburb of Karlshorst in the Berlin district of Lichtenberg.
context_section_description: The station was opened on 1 May 1895 on the Berlin-Frankfurt (Oder) railway (“Lower Silesian–Markish Railway”) under the name of Carlshorst, initially less for suburban services than for visitors to the harness racing track built in 1893/1894. A terminal station with six tracks was built to serve this traffic next to the suburb platform, with a private pavilion for the Emperor. In 1901, the station's name was changed to Karlshorst. The current station building and the bridge over the street now called Treskowallee was built with the raising of the tracks, which was completed in 1902. Electric S-Bahn operations on the line between Erkner and Potsdam commenced in 1928. Traffic at the station, which was still largely made up of visitors to the race track, was greatest in those years.
  After the Second World War, the railway tracks were briefly converted to Russian broad gauge in July 1945. The Soviet dictator, Stalin took part in the Potsdam Conference and insisted on a trip without changing trains. The line was converted back to standard gauge in September of the same year. Since the line was the most important link to the USSR, neither long-distance track was dismantled for war reparations (unlike on other lines), but instead both of S-Bahn tracks were dismantled. The suburban tracks were re-laid up to 1947 so that S-Bahn trains could run to Karlshorst again.
  After the construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, the current regional platforms were built at the station. Since the S-Bahn trains could not run to Potsdam through West Berlin, new commuter trains were introduced between East Berlin and Potsdam via the Berlin outer ring. Karlshorst was selected to be the terminus for these Sputnik trains to run to and from Potsdam. In addition, some trains to Frankfurt (Oder) stopped at the station during GDR times. At certain times, Karlshorst was also the terminus of some express trains, if the capacity of other Berlin railway stations was insufficient.
  The regional station has always remained provisional. This is especially evident in the connection from the platform for trains from the east, which is difficult to reach via a pedestrian bridge at the rear end of the S-Bahn platform. In 2007, the Deutsche Bahn replaced the viaduct for the long-distance tracks over the Treskowallee by a temporary bridge because of its state of disrepair. Between May 2010 and May 2011, the eastern access passenger subway was extended north to Stolzenfelsstraße and a small entrance court was built there, giving the station better access to the S–Bahn platform. The cost of €850,000 was met by the state of Berlin.
caption: Berlin-Karlshorst, S-Bahn steps, 1991
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