Paradestraße

Paradestraße is a Berlin U-Bahn station on the line. It was opened in 1927 as Flughafen (airport) and at that time provided the world's first direct connection between a metro system and an airport (Tempelhof Airport).HistoryThe station opened on 10 September 1927, taking over as the southern terminus of the north-south line from Kreuzberg, now Platz der Luftbrücke. It remained the terminus until 1929, when the extension reached Tempelhof. As indicated by its original name, Flughafen, it was intended to provide direct access to Tempelhof Airport. The platform is broad and four of the stairs from it led to a large mezzanine from which two exits led into the airport terminal building. This was the world's first direct airport-underground railway connection.However, the airport was rebuilt in the 1930s, both because it proved too small and because part of Hitler's plan for converting Berlin into Welthauptstadt Germania was for the main entrance to the airport to be aligned with the triumphal arch on the North-South Axis. The station was no longer in the correct position and in January 1937 was renamed Paradestraße; the Kreuzberg station became the new connection between the U-Bahn and the airport and was renamed Flughafen. The eastern exits at Paradestraße, which had led to the former terminal, were sealed and the mezzanine reduced in size. The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (Berlin Transport) used the closed-off portion as a shooting gallery.