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West Berlin

1949 establishments in West Germany1990 disestablishments in West GermanyCity-statesDivided citiesFormer enclaves
Former republicsStates and territories established in 1949West BerlinWest Germany
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Flag of Berlin

West Berlin (German: Berlin (West) or West-Berlin, German pronunciation: [ˈvɛstbɛʁˌliːn] (listen)) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although the legal status as a part of the Federal Republic of Germany was heavily disputed, West Berlin aligned itself politically in 1949 and after with it and was directly or indirectly represented in its federal institutions. West Berlin was formally controlled by the Western Allies and entirely surrounded by the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany. West Berlin had great symbolic significance during the Cold War, as it was widely considered by westerners an "island of freedom" and America's most loyal counterpart in Europe. It was heavily subsidised by West Germany as a "showcase of the West". A wealthy city, West Berlin was noted for its distinctly cosmopolitan character, and as a centre of education, research and culture. With about two million inhabitants, West Berlin had the largest population of any city in Germany during the Cold War era.West Berlin was 160 kilometres (100 mi) east and north of the Inner German border and only accessible by land from West Germany by narrow rail and highway corridors. It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically separated West Berlin from its East Berlin and East German surroundings until it fell in 1989. On 3 October 1990, the day Germany was officially reunified, East and West Berlin formally reunited, joined the Federal Republic as a city-state and, eventually, once again became the capital of Germany.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article West Berlin (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

West Berlin
Brunsbütteler Damm, Berlin Staaken

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.5333 ° E 13.1667 °
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Brunsbütteler Damm

Brunsbütteler Damm
13581 Berlin, Staaken
Germany
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Berlin-Spandau station
Berlin-Spandau station

Berlin-Spandau station is a Deutsche Bahn station in the Berlin district of Spandau on the south-western edge of the old town of Spandau. The railway junction station is one of the 80 stations classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It has the longest train shed (440 metres) in Germany. The high-traffic station with six platform tracks is a transfer point between long-distance passenger services—Intercity-Express (ICE), Intercity (IC) and EuroCity (EC)—and regional services (S-Bahn, Regionalbahn and Regional-Express). It also provides connections to the inner city by the public transport services operated by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe: buses and U-Bahn line U7 at the adjacent Rathaus Spandau station. The Berlin–Hamburg railway from the northwest and the Berlin–Lehrte railway from the west join together west of the station and the combined lines, after passing through the station, runs over a bridge over the Havel and continues to the east and then runs jointly with the Ringbahn (Ring Railway) for some distance on its way to Berlin Hauptbahnhof. The line running from the station was initially parallel with the Spandau Suburban Line of the S-Bahn, which connects with the Berlin Stadtbahn to reach Berlin Hauptbahnhof by a different route. Spandau station is also the terminus of the S-Bahn line, although there is a proposal to extend it into the Havelland. The Bahnhof Spandau and Rathaus Spandau bus stops in front of the station entrance are served by more than ten regional bus lines and city bus lines and they constitute the most important bus node in Berlin after Hardenbergplatz next to Berlin Zoologischer Garten station.

Bullengraben
Bullengraben

The Bullengraben is a moat in Berlin’s glacial valley, which has been in use since the 7th century. It is located in the Berlin district of Spandau and runs from the old village center of Staaken eastwards for about five kilometers to the Havel River, into which it flows north of the Spandau castle rampart. Used for centuries to improve the wetlands, since the 1960s it has been used as a drainage ditch to collect rainwater from the surrounding neighborhoods of Spandau. The development of the areas around the Bullengraben reflects part of Spandau's settlement history. Between 2004 and 2007, DB ProjektBau rehabilitated a ditch that had been canalized in the 1960s and 1970s but had later been neglected. This rehabilitation was conducted as part of a replacement measure. Parallel to the moat, the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary created the 200-meter-wide Bullengraben/Lindenufer green corridor with playgrounds and sports fields, recreational areas, bridges, footbridges, and a path that leads to Elsflether Weg. The Bullengrabenweg, one of Berlin's top 20 green paths, is open to pedestrians, cyclists, and skaters. The path is approximately four meters wide and has a smooth asphalt covering. The last section of the path includes the Burgwallgraben and a 100-metre-long promenade along the Havel. Additionally, biotopes located within the green corridor, such as the Stieglake and Wiesen basins, along with the ditches leading to them, such as the Egelpfuhlgraben, have undergone restoration. In 2008, Deutsche Bahn received the Gustav Meyer Prize for designing the entire park. This award is given every two years since 1995 to recognize excellent planning of public green spaces and parks. The prize bears the name of Johann Heinrich Gustav Meyer, Berlin's first municipal horticultural director.

Rathaus Spandau (Berlin U-Bahn)
Rathaus Spandau (Berlin U-Bahn)

Rathaus Spandau (Spandau Town Hall) is one of the western termini of Berlin U-Bahn line U7 (the other one being Rudow). It was opened on 1 October 1984 with the line's extension from Rohrdamm to Rathaus Spandau. The station takes its name from the nearby Rathaus Spandau, the historic city hall of Spandau. Close to the U-Bahn station Rathaus Spandau is the Berlin-Spandau station of the Berlin S-Bahn line S5 and the Deutsche Bahn for regional and intercity transport. The next station on the U7 line is Altstadt Spandau.The station was built in a box under a cover in order to minimise the disturbance of surface traffic. With its two island platforms, the station, which was designed by Rainer G. Rümmler, has almost monumental dimensions. It has a big hall with high ceilings, much light and 64 lamps, columns with black granite and a parquet floor like floor. The southern end of its platforms are spanned by a gallery for the movement of passengers to the surface and from which the entire station can be seen. The U-Bahn station also includes a signal control centre for the line to Paulsternstraße. U-Bahn line U7 uses the inner tracks, which are built for large profile trains, while the track beds of the outer tracks, which are built for the operation of small profile trains on a planned extension of the U-Bahn line U2, which currently runs only as far as Ruhleben, are currently empty. Uniquely for the Berlin U-Bahn, this line would run to the left of the platforms to improve interchanges for the planned extensions of the U7 to Staaken and the U2 to Falkenhagener Feld. An extension of the U7 south to Heerstraße is currently being planned, with a projected completion date in the mid-2030s. In 2021, the 4.26km, 5-station extension was projected to cost €578 million. Although the station is very close to Spandau S-Bahn station, it has kept its name. Nevertheless, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe buses always show the destination as S+U Rathaus Spandau, but the S-Bahn station is only signed as Spandau.