Detours | U8
Beneath the Streets of Berlin

There’s nowhere better than Berlin to take a tour by underground train – the U-Bahn – through German history. The capital’s subterranean network of tunnels is a repository of memories of the German Empire, the Second World War and Germany’s division.

By Alina Schwermer

If you’ve ever been to Berlin, it’s very likely you will at some point have taken the underground line U8, which links the north and south of the city and passes through places such as the city’s famous Alexanderplatz and now hip Neukölln district. But we are willing to bet you didn’t know just how many secrets are concealed in the dark tunnels and hidden shafts...

In fact, most Berliners aren’t even aware of these secrets, which is why the association “Berliner Unterwelten” (Berlin Underworlds) is keen to shine some light into the darkness. Its members have been documenting and researching Berlin’s subterranean history ever since 1997. They provide guided tours, taking you on a journey back through time to the era of the German Empire, the years of Nazi rule and the Cold War, which lasted from 1946/47 until 1991. They tell you about the many forgotten dramas that played out underneath Berlin and show you hidden bunkers, escape tunnels and old, never completed stations.

“Berlin’s most interesting underground line”: that’s how the association describes the U8. Did you realize for example just how revolutionary this line’s construction was? In nineteenth century Berlin, transport projects were only ever privately funded and profit-oriented. It was only in the twentieth century that the city intervened and arranged for the U8 to be built between the years 1914 and 1930 – a train that linked the workers’ districts and the city centre. Because the construction process was not only somewhat chaotic but also sluggish, century-old abandoned building projects are still dotted along the route of the U8 to this day. For instance, you can explore the shells of unfinished stations from the German Empire era and from the 1920s.

During the Nazi period, it was mainly air-raid shelters and bunkers that were built into the U-Bahn tunnels, providing a refuge for people fleeing from bombing raids during the Second World War. Traces of these constructions are still visible today. During the Cold War, the U8 became a “ghost line”: it belonged to West Berlin because it shuttled between Wittenau and Neukölln (both situated in the west of the city), yet part of its route ran under East Berlin – which it would pass through without stopping. An underground section of the Berlin Wall still testifies to this today. During a “Berliner Unterwelten” tour you will also learn about some of the successful and failed attempts to escape from the GDR to the West through the U-Bahn tunnel – a fascinating tour of history and forgotten places.