Berlin–Hohenschönhausen tram
Opened in 1899, the line was operated by the Continentale Gesellschaft für elektrische Unternehmungen from Nuremberg until 1906, and then by the Aktiengesellschaft der Neue Berliner Straßenbahnen Nordost.
Large parts of the route are still in operation and are currently served by the M5 tram line of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG).
After the construction of the Stettiner Bahn in 1842 and the Ostbahn in 1867, Hohenschönhausen was in a region that was only inadequately connected to the Prussian railway network.
With the construction of the central cattle and slaughterhouse along the ring line south of Landsberger Allee in 1881, the community experienced major population growth.
In 1890, Manon Gropius sold the Hohenschönhausen manor to the merchant Gerhard Puchmüller, who had it divided into parcels from 1892 onwards.
The Neue Boden Aktien-Gesellschaft later acquired the land north of it on the Obersee from the brewery, and a second villa colony was built on it around the turn of the century.
With the Landsberger Allee ring station, which opened west of the municipal border on May 1, 1895, Hohenschönhausen had another connection point to local public transport.
[2][3] In the same year, Suermondt submitted an application to the Niederbarnim district committee for approval of a Berlin–Hohenschönhausen tram line.
The line ran on Berliner up to the control house at the intersection of Landsberger Allee and Thaerstrasse, then up to the junction of today's Berkenbrücker Steig in the Lichtenberg municipal area.
The company had to bear the costs of paving or resurfacing the streets, as well as removing the tracks if the line was closed.
The tree protection measures demanded by the rural municipality of Lichtenberg (with town rights from 1907/08, Berlin-Lichtenberg from 1912) at the company's expense did not have to be complied with.
Both sides agreed to extend the railway over the NBPf tracks to the corner of Landsberger Strasse and Waßmannstrasse.
In it, Continentale undertook to pay eight percent of the gross revenue generated annually to the city of Berlin for the use of the toll route.
The company, represented by legal counsel Julius Grosse-Leege, was willing to agree to this provided the municipality made a corresponding contribution towards the costs.
[2] The municipality initially declared itself willing to cover the costs of paving Berliner Strasse, amounting to 50,000 marks, as well as an interest guarantee of five percent for six years.
Despite the concession still being outstanding, the company made initial construction preparations in the same year and immediately began laying the line.
The carriages, eight motor cars and six trailers, were "adorned with fir leaves" and bore the Bavarian flag as a reference to the Nuremberg company.
In addition to passenger traffic, the company also had to transport waste, sewer contents and corpses in specially designed wagons at the request of the magistrate and in return for compensation.
As early as 1900, Continentale tried to extend the route via Kaiserstrasse, Alexanderstrasse, Grunerstrasse, Neue Friedrichstrasse and Wallstrasse to Spittelmarkt.
In the outward direction, the company was granted a preliminary concession in 1906 to extend the line to Ahrensfelde with an option to the new Ostkirchhof.
[6] On December 10, 1906, the newly founded Neue Berliner Straßenbahnen Nordost AG took over the railway from the Continentale Company.
The new section of route was taken over by GBS line 164, which had been running on the NöBV tracks to Landsberger Allee station since 15 April 1912.
On March 3, 1919, the association assembly then gave its consent to the merger of the individual railways with the GBS, which was finally completed on May 15, 1919.
Lines NO and 164 remained in existence after the formation of the Berlin tram system and served the section between Waßmannstrasse and Orankestrasse together.
From 1952, it supplemented line 63,[14] which, after being renamed twice, has been running as the M5 between Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station and Hohenschönhausen, Zingster Strasse since December 12, 2004.
Behind Ebertystrasse, the road rose to cross the ring railway tracks at Landsberger Allee station.
For the use of the bridge, the Continentale Company had to pay an annual fee of 250 marks to the Prussian railway treasury.
[17] In the event that another drive system proved to be more suitable for Berlin conditions, the company was granted the right to introduce it.
As a result of the line extension to Kurze Straße, the railway acquired five more trailers in 1908, including a deck seat car.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the building also served as a second venue for the cabaret Die Distel, with performances taking place three times a week, alternating with those in the Admiralspalast.
