Underground ghost train station at Berlin's Nordbahnhof S-Bahn platform by Silva Wischeropp

This urban photographic image shows the so-called "ghost station", an underground stop at Berlin's Nordbahnhof S-Bahn platform in the Mitte district of Berlin. The abstract transposition in classic black and white tones lends the image motif a timeless, dramatic elegance.

Only the underground S-Bahn station remains of the former Nordbahnhof long-distance railway station. At the beginning of the 20th century, the site of Nordbahnhof was home to the large hall of Stettiner Bahnhof and the small reception building of Vorortbahnhof. The Vorortbahnhof lost its function when the S-Bahn came into service and the underground S-Bahn station was built in 1936. In 1952, the long-distance station was also closed down. It had been badly damaged during the war and was also located in the immediate vicinity of the border. In the first years after the Wall was built, many people tried to flee via the railway area. For this reason, the above-ground area of Nordbahnhof became a restricted zone. Only members of the transport and border police or border troops had access.
Transport police and border guards also monitored the underground platforms. The station had an exit to both East and West Berlin. It thus offered very good opportunities for escape. For this reason, the entire area was hermetically sealed off. The underground S-Bahn station developed into a ghost station, because the trains of the S-Bahn line ran to the west and consequently no longer stopped at Nordbahnhof. In today's S-Bahn station you will find an exhibition about the border and ghost stations in Berlin. There you can also learn how people managed to escape through the underground and S-Bahn network of the divided city despite all the obstacles.
You can discover some remains of the border fortifications in the park on the Nordbahnhof grounds: For example, the wall that today borders the area of the beach volleyball court. It was formerly part of the Hinterland Wall.

Created by Silva Wischeropp.

This artwork is offered by Silva Wischeropp

Silva Wischeropp was born in the Hanseatic city of Wismar in the former GDR. Today she lives and works in Berlin. As an experienced and passionate travel photographer whose interests span a broad range, she focuses on portraiture, street life, reportage, documentary, travel, tourism, landscape and nature. In addition, she is known for her recordings in the fields of architecture and fashion. Since 2016, her new repertoire includes surreal digital photo collages. For 20 years she has been known in Germany and abroad as a creative photo artist. Her works have been widely published and exhibited. "The photographic image process represents my personal work and creation area. This means dealing with image worlds, politics, human needs and sensitivities. The camera expands my scope to meet that other reality. Photography makes me happy, creates joy, closes boundaries, opens new doors, widens horizons. The camera teaches me to see, to sharpen the view, to capture moments, to perceive fleeting moments that are not visible to others. I am a creative person, a picture-maker, who draws on herself, does not copy a lot and develops her own imagery. So I move between the poles, reach different fixed points, look behind the scenes. Out of the thousandfold existing I manage to bring out something unique, unique moments of the picture."

Learn more about Silva Wischeropp?

• All artworks by Silva Wischeropp