Richard-Wagner-Platz (Berlin U-Bahn)

U-Bahn entrance near Charlottenburg town hall
Platform of the station

Richard-Wagner-Platz is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on the U7 in the Charlottenburg district.

The original station opened on 14 May 1906 under the name Wilhelmplatz, together with Deutsche Oper the first of several U-Bahn stations designed by Alfred Grenander.[1] At the time it was the western terminus of the first Berlin U-Bahn line (Stammstrecke) after the line's extension from Knie (today Ernst-Reuter-Platz) to the Charlottenburg town hall. However, further extensions in 1908 branched off at Deutsche Oper straight westwards to Reichskanzlerplatz (today Theodor-Heuss-Platz) and the affluent Westend area, so the track to Wilhelmplatz remained a stub. In 1935 the station was renamed after the composer Richard Wagner.

A short-distance train from Deutsche Oper served the station until it was finally closed and demolished in 1970. The new Richard-Wagner-Platz station opened on 28 April 1978 with the extension of the U7 line from Fehrbelliner Platz. It features several Byzantine style mosaics of medieval historic figures, the decoration from a former hotel near Potsdamer Platz that had been demolished in 1975. As the old tunnel has been preserved there is still a direct connection to the U2 at Deutsche Oper, used solely for maintenance purposes. The next station is Bismarckstraße (change here for U2)

References

  1. ↑ J. Meyer-Kronthaler, Berlins U-Bahnhöfe, Berlin: be.bra, 1996
Preceding station   Berlin U-Bahn   Following station
U7
towards Rudow

Coordinates: 52°31′01″N 13°18′24″E / 52.51694°N 13.30667°E