Art of Underground – 3

And for today another station on the line U3 that I want to present. Hohenzollernplatz. As you know from the last post it is another station designed and constructed by Wilhelm Leitgebel in 1913.

The seiling is very low, yet it doesn´t feel opressive as its structure is perfectly accentuated due to the use of light and shadow.

Wilhelm Leitgebel – the station visionary

take a close look to the seilings

Who is Wilhelm Leitgebel? That is a question that I was not able to answere even after unbelieveable 20min of internet research. So why do I care? Well, after I found out that he was responsible for many classy underground stations in Wilmersdorf, I wanted to pay tribute to him by presenting him to you. But…no way.

underground owl

All I can tell you is that he was a Wilmersdorfer functionary and architect in 1913, who has designed U Bahnhof Hohenzollern Platz, Fehrbelliner Platz , Heidelberger Platz, Rüdersheimer Platz and last but not least Breitenbachplatz.

All those stations have some really special details to discover. While taking the pictures I didn´t even notice how time passed by.

So, that´s it… tribute paid. At leat for as much as I could…

Art of Underground – Part 2

almost cathedrallike

Visiting a friend last week I had to go all the way to Onkel Tom´s Hütte (U3). It´s been a long way, but some of the underground stations totaly made up for it! As you might have noticed I´m kind of into design and thus interested in everything concerning architecture, lights, colours, proportions, patterns, material, surfaces,…simply everything that makes my eyes happy. And one of those stations was Heidelberger Platz. 1913, architect Wilhelm Leitgebel, who is also responsible for some more classy stations of the U3, wanted to design a station looking like a cathedral using stone and tiles.

look out for details

The entire construction is pretty impressive, especially those big lights hanging from the seiling. Everything kind of gives you the feeling like you were in the middle ages. And if you are bored waiting for your train, just take a look at the walls and find out about the city after which the station has been named: Heidelberg.

Art of Underground – Part 1

 

Entrance Klosterstraße

So here beautiful Klosterstraße:

Klosterstraße is one of my favorite stations in terms of  art and design. The ArtDéco Style and the yellow light which makes you feel like you were in some public space design exibition in the 1920, are perfectly capturing the time in which it has been build up. U Bahnhof Klosterstraße has been built in 1913 shortly before world war 1 and is today part of the line U2. It has sustained some damage during the two world wars, but fortunately it has been reconstructed in 1987 and thus became a tangible museum.

history of S-Bahn and BVG trains

Presented are trams and S-Bahn trains which have been used throughout the time.

The yellow light makes everything appear to have a very soft contour and even makes trash look arty. When you enter the station the ArtDéco designs made of blue and yellow tiles always make me feel like I´ve stepped back in time.

So if you ever pass it, take a minute and have a look. It´s worth it!