Oberbaum Bridge

The upper deck of the bridge carries Berlin U-Bahn lines U1 and U3, between Schlesisches Tor and Warschauer Straße stations.

The name Oberbaumbrücke stemmed from the heavy tree trunk, covered in metal spikes, that was used as a boom to block the river at night to prevent smuggling.

The Siemens & Halske company, which was planning to build the Berlin U-Bahn (subway), insisted on a combined crossing for road vehicles, pedestrians, and the new rail line.

[2] The architect and government official Otto Stahn (1859–1930) designed it in the North German Brick Gothic style of a city gate with many decorative elements, such as pointed arches, cross vaults, and coats of arms.

Its inaugural journey, carrying 19 passengers, ran from Stralauer Tor, at the eastern end of the bridge, to Potsdamer Platz.

In April 1945 the Wehrmacht blew up the middle section of the bridge in an attempt to stop the Red Army from crossing it.

A building for the East Berlin control authorities was built directly on the eastern bank of the Spree, across the street from the Oberbaumbrücke.

After the removal of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and German reunification the following year, the bridge was rebuilt and restored to the former appearance, albeit with a new steel middle section designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

Its two elements are engaged in a constant game of rock, paper, scissors, suggesting the arbitrariness of immigration decisions, both during the Cold War and for today's asylum seekers and poverty migrants.