Berlin U-Bahn U8 Ride - Kottbusser Tor to Moritzplatz | Germany | 10/11/24

Riding the Berlin U-Bahn U8 from Kottbusser Tor to Moritzplatz. Germany, 10/11/24

Kottbusser Tor (German pronunciation: [ˌkɔtbʊsɐ ˈtoːɐ̯]) is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on lines U1, U3, and U8. Many Berliners use the affectionate term Kotti (German pronunciation: [ˈkɔti]; see Berlin dialect).

It is located in central Kreuzberg. The area has a bad reputation for the relatively high, mainly drug-related crime rate, instances of which have recently become quite rare in most other parts of the district. The original Kottbusser Tor was a southern city gate of Berlin; the road through the gate led via the Neukölln suburb to the town of Cottbus.

History
The station on the first U-Bahn line from Potsdamer Platz to Stralauer Tor was opened on 18 February 1902 on a viaduct above Skalitzer Straße. When the U8 was built in 1926, a new two-level station was constructed 100 metres (330 ft) westwards to allow both lines to meet in one location, and the original station was demolished.

It was directly hit on 26 February 1945.


Moritzplatz is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on the U8 line. Peter Behrens constructed this unusual subway station in Berlin in 1928. It was closed briefly in 1945, and between 1961 and 1990 it was the last station in West Berlin, after which the train passed through communist East Berlin until Gesundbrunnen.

History
During the Second World War, the tunnel was used as an air raid shelter. On 3 February 1945 the station was damaged, and 36 people were killed. Presumably they were seeking protection in the air raid shelter below the platform, which was originally designed as part of a platform hall for an intersecting subway line. Since 1984 power maintenance equipment has been stored in the tunnel.

Overview
Moritzplatz is unusual in that the station was relocated from where it was originally planned. A large department store, Wertheim, had been located near the planned site since 1913, and gave the subway company 5 million Reichsmark to change their plans and give the store a direct subway connection.

Near Moritzplatz station there is a 40m long tunnel intended to serve as a station for a fast train to Görlitzer Bahnhof.


U8 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn. It has 24 stations and is 18.1 km (11.2 mi) long. The U8 is one of three north–south Berlin U-Bahn lines (U6, U9), and runs from Wittenau to Neukölln via Gesundbrunnen. The original proposal was for a suspended monorail like the Wuppertal Schwebebahn.

Colouring and naming
The U8 line has had dark blue as its distinguishing colour since it first opened in 1927. It initially ran between Gesundbrunnen and Neukölln and was therefore known as the GN-Bahn. Until 1966 it was designated the D line; when the U-Bahn then changed to a numeric designation system, it was renamed Line 8. In 1984, the letter U was added as part of efforts to better distinguish the S-Bahn from the U-Bahn.

Frequency
U8 trains run every five minutes, with the exception of the stretch between Paracelsus-Bad and Wittenau, where they run every ten minutes. Since 2003, the U8 also runs at night on the weekends. During weekdays, the N8 bus replaces the train service during night hours.