Potsdam Park Sanssouci railway station

History

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 usage of the 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 an holyday express train from Saxony to the Baltic Sea. After the completion of the Golm-Potsdam Pirschheide bypass of the Außerring, the station remained part of a short line (however linked to Magdeburg and to the ring) to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (in that period Potsdam Stadt) and Potsdam Babelsberg, interrupted to West Berlin 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 early 20th Century, were demolished. The new name "Park Sanssouci", initially applied for tourist traffic only in 1999, took place of "Wildpark" about one year later.

Structure

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

Kaiserbahnhof

The Kaiserbahnhof Potsdam 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 the Czar Nicholas II of Russia.

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.

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.

In 1999, the building was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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 usually is not publicly accessible.

Bürgerbahnhof

Apart from the Kaiserbahnhof, Park Sanssouci station counts a minor building, used as passengers reception hall, named Bürgerbahnhof. This wood-made structure is a rare representative of the 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 and in a junction linking Potsdam to the Berlin outer ring, the station is served by regional trains linking it to Berlin and to some towns of Brandenburg as Brandenburg an der Havel, Frankfurt (Oder) or Fürstenwalde.

The station is served by the following services:

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

The station is not served by the Potsdam Tramway, but the nearest stop is Schloß Charlottenhof, less than 1 km far from it.