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The Baumschulenweg-Neukölln link line is a railway line in southern Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. It connects the Ring line (Ring Bahn) station of Neukölln via Köllnische Heide to Baumschulenweg on the Görlitz line. The line as originally designed only for freight but is now mainly used by Berlin S-Bahn

Berlin S-Bahn

The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...

 trains.

Installation and electrification

The line was built at ground level a single track between 1890 and 1896 and was opened on 8 June 1896. At first, it only served freight, connecting the Görlitz line with the southern Ring line.

Beginning in 1910, two separate suburban tracks were laid north of the existing freight track. The entire line was rebuilt on an embankment with bridges over intersecting roads, including Kaiser-Friedrich-Strasse (now Sonnenallee) and Kiefholzstraße. At the same time the trackwork was rebuilt around Baumschulenweg station. As part of the redevelopment Köllnische Heide station was built where the line crossed Kaiser-Friedrich-Strasse. Preliminary work began in 1913 and the platforms were completed three years later. Further work, including the building of the reception building, was delayed due to World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The station was finally opened on 16 August 1920.

On 6 November 1928 the suburban lines were electrified.

Germania plan

Following the Nazi

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 seizure of power in 1933, it created plans to turn Berlin into its World Capital Germania

Welthauptstadt Germania

Welthauptstadt Germania refers to the projected renewal of the German capital Berlin during the Nazi period, part of Adolf Hitler's vision for the future of Germany after the planned victory in World War II...

. This gave greater importance to the Ring Bahn, so that it would be used by all suburban trains and act like a big roundabout. The link to the Görlitz line was assigned an important role, but especially for long-distance, regional and freight traffic. The line would be expanded to a total of eight tracks, two of which would still be reserved for the S-Bahn

Berlin S-Bahn

The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...

. Four tracks would have been the mainline tracks of the rerouted Görlitz line. The remaining pair of tracks would form part of a new route connecting with the Lower Silesian-Markish line at Köpenick.

Although the route is relatively short and the work would have been less time-consuming than other parts of the plan, only preliminary action work was done. After the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 the line was restored with its original three tracks.

Berlin Wall and the division of the line

With the construction of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...

 on 13 August 1961 the line was closed about 270 metres beyond the station Köllnische Heide. While the trains on the Görlitz line in the following years simply continued towards Ostkreuz

Ostkreuz

Berlin Ostkreuz is a station on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway, and one of the busiest in Germany. The station is in the former East Berlin district of Friedrichshain, now part of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg....

 on the Ring line, in West Berlin

West Berlin

West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...

 trains reversed at Köllnische Heide. Only the northern track was operated between Köllnische Heide and Neukölln.
In the late 1970s, the embankment on the northern side threatened to sag, causing the East German Railways to move operations on to the southern suburban track. This solution, however, only continued for a few years, as in early September 1980 both the Ring line and the short branch to Köllnische Heide were closed as a result of a strike by employees of the S-Bahn resident in West Berlin.

On the East Berlin

East Berlin

East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...

 side, the line gradually closed. Initially, only the first 200 metres across the border were affected. At the end of the 1980s the last tracks were removed. Only the underpass under the main line remained.

Reopening of the line after the fall of the Wall

After Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe

The is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's U-Bahn underground railway, tram, bus and ferry networks, but not the S-Bahn urban rail system....

 took over operation of the S-Bahn in West Berlin in 1984, initially only the rump operation on the Stadtbahn and on the Dresden line were maintained. Later other lines were restored: the Wannsee line, the North-South Tunnel and the Northern line. The reopening of the southern section of the Ring line in western Berlin was scheduled to start in 1991, although there was popular pressure to bring it forward in 1988 and 1989. Following a change in the Berlin government it was agreed to reopen the Ring line between Westend and Schöneberg by 1992 and extend it to Sonnenallee two years later. However, soon after the start of this work the events leading to German reunification

German reunification

German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

 began. This meant that it was possible to extend the Ring line immediately to the east on the existing line. The Baumschulenweg-Neukölln link line was part of the first line to be put back into traffic. The Neukölln to Treptow Park section of the Ring line followed later, because work was required at Treptow Park station. On 17 December 1993 the S-Bahn was reopened between Westend and Baumschulenweg via the link line and the southern Ring line. Approximately nine months later, freight traffic also returned to the line.

Traffic has now shifted in favour of the S-Bahn. Freight trains rarely run and then only at night.