Güterbahnhof Pankow (End of the line for the railroad yard)


The S-Bahn still whizzes by from time to time, stopping next door with all its bells and whistles, but that only makes it worse for the once-proud Güterbahnhof, as it looks over with disdain fueled by the jealousy of not being wanted. Passengers, bah!





Krieger reportedly wants to invest €5 million to restore it for cultural use.
“Maybe we’ll turn it into the opera of Pankow,” he joked in his broad Berliner dialect, according to Tagesspiegel. Pankow and opera are a strange mix, to say the least.

One of the buildings I found myself in had a load of bricks and sheets of paper arranged in the middle of the floor like a voodoo temple. Each to their own. At least it’s not as far-fetched as opera.
For now Güterbahnhof Pankow is at the end of the line. But development work could start as soon as next year. Seems it won’t be long before it goes off on a new track.

Güterbahnhof Pankow. Former railroad yard or freight station with two train turntables, one inside, one outside, that used to handle up to 1,800 freight cards a day. Now it handles none. But that’s progress.
Where

Beside the S-Bahnhof Pankow-Heinersdorf. Literally, right beside it. Here’s a map to make it even easier for you to find.
How to get there

Getting in

When to go
I reckon daytime is best. There are no vistas for watching romantic sunsets, unfortunately. But, it could also be a decent spot for a party under moonshine.
Difficulty rating
1/10. It used to be 4/10 because it was tricky enough getting into the Rundlokschuppen. You needed to walk around, find the broken window, climb up and hoist yourself in through that, but that’s no longer the case now. See the update below.
Who to bring

Girlfriend/boyfriend (but not both at same time) or simply friends for a party. Trainspotters are a weird species but they’d also be into this.
What to bring
Beer. You’d survive if you brought nothing but beer. Bring a camera if you want to take a few snaps. Bring some snaps if you want to drink some snaps. Bring vodka, whiskey, and rum too if you want to get shitfaced.
Dangers
There’s no security and I don’t think the Polizei give too much of a Scheiße. Just watch out for the usual things when venturing around such places. The ceiling in the Rundlokschuppen is none too safe anymore on account of the idiots setting fire to it. (Again, update below.) Don’t trip up over anything, or cut yourself on the plentiful broken glass lying around.
For more reading about this place, the Digital Cosmonaut wrote about it here.

It’s such a shame to see an important historical building like this go up in flames. Again, it proves Denkmalschutz (for a listed building) means absolutely nothing at all. Denk mal.
Of course, for well-meaning visitors it means there’s no longer any need to crawl in through the broken window over smashed glass and shards that tear your clothes. The fun’s been taken out of it. Now you can simply stroll in, as I did today with my bike in one hand and my camera in the other, and snap away to your heart’s content.

I also wanted to see if there were really goldfish under the train turntable as a commenter mentioned. There are! There seemed to be quite a few of them having a bit of a feeding frenzy at the surface.
Otherwise I didn’t see another soul, though the familiar Berlin whiff of marijuana as I walked by one of the buildings indicated at least one soul wasn’t far away.
I’ve downgraded the difficulty rating from 4/10 to 1/10 – as another commenter kindly suggested – to indicate the ease of exploring this site. It really is no bother at all. Just be careful, you know, like you generally have to be in these places.

Nice write up! Took you long enough ;)
ReplyDeleteDid you manage to get into the large Administration building?
Yes of course! Wasn't much to see in there though. Well, papers and stuff like that. Only checked your post afterward. Pics are much better! That "Reichsbahn" pic is a good find!
DeleteThe Rotunda, if it can be called that, is amazing. Disappointed to hear it might be turned into some cruddy Opera House. Maybe he'll decide on a 'working cultural centre', whatever that is - ateilers, café, rehearsal studios, artisan shops or whatever - something other than an 'Operating Theatre' - all clinical like. What a load of bollocks. The Globe, Pankow. Curse the shopping centres as well. Another Ikea - feel quite empty at the thought of that. Am allergic to shopping centres. Really want to see this place now before it's gone.
ReplyDeleteps. Unbelievable - Urlaubsanträge on the floor! Whatever happened to Datenschutz?! Can't believe there's still stuff like that lying around.
ReplyDeleteDatenschutz is a myth. It doesn't exist.
DeleteIndeed, very old news. But it's still funny those Anträge are lying around from yonks ago - nothing compared to what can be found online, though, of course. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/nsa-top-secret-program-online-data
Delete