Political Chess Piece
In 1945, despite the division of Berlin into sectors, the four Allied powers kept the unified railway operations in the city under the control of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR). In 1949, the DR became the state railway of East Germany (GDR).
The direct Influence of the GDR on Public Transit in the Western Sectors was the result. The GDR exerted direct control over public transport in West Berlin, claiming railway land as its sovereign territory. The rebuilding of the S-Bahn in both East and West Berlin was slow and challenging. The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 split the network in two. In East Berlin, the S-Bahn became the most important regional transport system, serving the newly built residential areas in the east and northeast. The Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) modernized the network as much as possible, but it always struggled with the limited economic resources of the GDR.
In West Berlin, the S-Bahn was widely boycotted after 1961 and fell into neglect. Following the railway workers' strike in 1980, half of the network was shut down. Eventually, negotiations between East and West Berlin led to a new opportunity for the S-Bahn, and in 1984, operations were taken over by the BVG, signalling hope for its future.
Photo: Peter Bley