"This is a symbolic day, since this is also such a symbolic location. Right next to the former [Berlin] Wall, a new bridge is now being built between different directions, connecting the once-separated parts of Berlin in a completely new way," said then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in her speech marking the inauguration of Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the capital's new central train station, on May 26, 2006.
Merkel went on to praise the multilevel transportation hub as "a modern, open-minded and cosmopolitan structure" that also embodied the spirit of recently reunified Berlin and Germany.
The location was particularly symbolic, because the modern station was built on a site that had spent years in neglect, along a historical no-man's land.Its opening in 2006 was celebrated with fireworks seen by hundreds of thousands of peopleImage: SCHROEWIG/Caspar/picture alliance
Central station's location reflects Berlin's tumultuous history
After World War II, when Berlin was divided between the capitalist West and the communist East, the city's rail network was also split in two.
