Trams in Berlin
The Berlin tramway is the main tram system in Berlin, Germany. It is one of the oldest tram networks in the world, dating back to 1865 and is operated by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, which was founded in 1929. It is notable for being the third-largest tram system in the world, after Melbourne and St. Petersburg. Berlin's tram system is made up of 22 lines that operate across a standard gauge network, with almost 800 stops and measuring almost in route length and in line length. Nine of the lines, called Metrotram, operate 24 hours a day and are identified with the letter "M" before their number; the other thirteen lines are regular city tram lines and are identified by just a line number.
Most of the current network is within the confines of the former East Berlin, as tram lines within West Berlin were replaced by buses during the division of Berlin. However, the first extension into West Berlin opened in 1994 on today's M13. In the eastern vicinity of the city there are also three private tram lines that are not part of the main system; the Potsdam tram system, with its own network of lines, is just to the south-west of Berlin.
History
In 1865, a horse tramway was established in Berlin. In 1881, the world's first electric tram line was opened in the city. Numerous private and municipal operating companies constructed new routes, so by the end of the 19th century the network had developed quite rapidly, and the horse trams had been replaced by electric ones. By 1930, the network had a route length of over 630 km with more than 90 lines. In 1929, all operating companies were unified into the BVG. After World War II, BVG was divided into an eastern and a western company but was once again reunited in 1992, after the fall of East Germany. In West Berlin by 1967 the last tram lines had been shut down. With the exception of two lines constructed after German reunification, the Berlin tram continues to be limited to the eastern portion of Berlin.Horse buses
The public transport system of Berlin is the oldest one in Germany. In 1825, the first bus line from Brandenburger Tor to Charlottenburg was opened by Simon Kremser, already with a timetable. The first bus service inside the city operated from 1840 between Alexanderplatz and Potsdamer Bahnhof. It was run by Israel Moses Henoch, who had run the cab service since 1815.On 1 January 1847, the Koncessionierte Berliner Omnibus Compagnie started its first horse-bus line. The growing market witnessed the launch of numerous additional companies, with 36 bus companies in Berlin by 1864.
Horse trams
On 22 June 1865, the opening of Berlin's first horse tramway marked the beginning of the age of trams in Germany, stretching from Brandenburger Tor along today's Straße des 17. Juni to Charlottenburg. Two months later, on 28 August, it was extended along Dorotheenstraße to Kupfergraben near today's Museumsinsel, a terminus which is still in service today. Like the horse-bus, many companies took advantage of the new development and built horse-tram networks in all parts of today's urban area. In 1873, a route from Rosenthaler Platz to the Gesundbrunnen was opened, to be operated by the new Große Berliner Pferde-Eisenbahn which would later become the dominant company in Berlin under the name of Große Berliner Straßenbahn.Electrification
On 16 May 1881, the region of Berlin again made transport history. In the village of Groß-Lichterfelde, which was incorporated into Berlin-Steglitz 39 years later, Werner von Siemens opened the world's first electric tramway. The electric tram in Groß-Lichterfelde was built to and ran from today's suburban station, Lichterfelde Ost, to the cadet school on Zehlendorfer Straße.Initially, the route was intended merely as a testing facility. Siemens named it an "elevated line taken down from its pillars and girders" because he wanted to build a network of electric elevated lines in Berlin. But the skeptical town council did not allow him to do this until 1902, when the first elevated line opened.
The first tests of electric traction on Berlin's standard gauge began on 1 May 1882, with overhead supply and in 1886 with batteries, were not very successful. Electric traction of standard-gauge trams in Berlin was definitively established in 1895. The first tram line with an overhead track supply ran in an industrial area near Berlin-Gesundbrunnen station. The first line in a more inhabited area operated with batteries for its first year; a catenary was installed four years later. In 1902, electrification with overhead wiring had been completed, except for a very small number of lines on the periphery.
The last horse-drawn tram line closed in 1910.
Underground trams
On 28 December 1899, it became possible to travel underground, even under the Spree, upon completion of the Spreetunnel between Stralau and Treptow. Owing to structural problems, it was closed on 25 February 1932. From 1916 to 1951, the tram had a second tunnel, the Lindentunnel, passing under the well-known boulevard Unter den Linden.Great variety of companies until the formation of the BVG
The history of tram companies of the Berlin Strassenbahn is very complicated. Besides the private companies, which often changed because of takeovers, mergers, and bankruptcies, the cities of Berlin, Spandau, Köpenick, Rixdorf; the villages Steglitz, Mariendorf, Britz, Niederschönhausen, Friedrichshagen, Heiligensee and Französisch Buchholz, and the Kreis Teltow had municipal tram companies.The most important private operating company was the Große Berliner Pferde-Eisenbahn, which called itself Große Berliner Straßenbahn after commencing electrification. GBS acquired nearly all of the other companies through the years. In 1920, the GBS merged with the municipal companies BESTAG and SSB to become the Berliner Straßenbahn, which was reorganized in 1929 into the newly formed municipal Berliner Verkehrs-AG . Besides the tramway, the BVG also took over the elevated and underground rail lines and the bus routes which were previously operated primarily by the Allgemeine Berliner Omnibus-Actien-Gesellschaft .
The following table includes all companies that operated tramways in today's Berlin before the formation of the BVG. The background color of each line marks the drive method which the respective company used to serve their lines at the time of the formation.
| First line opened | Operating company | Gauge | Takeover date | Taken over by | Special remarks |
| Berliner Pferde-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft | 1,435 | BChS | first horse tram in Germany | ||
| 1871-11-01 | Westend-Terrain-Gesellschaft H. Quistorp & Co. | 1,435 | 1878 | BPfEG | |
| 1873-07-08 | Große Berliner Pferde-Eisenbahn | 1,435 | 1898-01-25 | GBS | |
| 1877-01-01 | Neue Berliner Pferdebahn-Gesellschaft | 1,435 | 1900-01-01 | GBS | |
| 1879-04-01 | Große Internationale Pferde-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft | 1,435 | 1886 | GBPfE | founded already in March 1872 |
| 1881-05-16 | Elektrische Straßenbahn der Gemeinde Groß-Lichterfelde | 1,000 | 1895-03-04 | ESGLSS | Germany's first electric tramway |
| 1882-10-18 | Cöpenicker Pferde-Eisenbahn | 1,435 | 1903 | SSC | |
| 1885-06-13 | Pferde-Eisenbahn der Gemeinde Rixdorf | 1,435 | 1887-01-01 | GBPfE | |
| 1886-05-05 | Davy, Donath & Co. | 1,435 | 1888-12-22 | BDK | |
| 1887-08-06 | Pferde-Eisenbahn der Gemeinde Mariendorf | 1,435 | 1888-01-01 | GBPfE | |
| 1888-05-18 | Wilmersdorf-Schmargendorfer Dampfstraßenbahn Reymer & Masch | 1,435 | 1888-12-22 | BDK | |
| 1888-07-01 | Dampfstraßenbahn Groß-Lichterfelde – Seehof – Teltow | 1,435 | 1891-05-31 | DLSTS | |
| 1888-12-22 | Berliner Dampfstraßenbahn-Konsortium | 1,435 | 1898-10-01 | WBV | also operated some horse trams |
| 1891-05-17 | Straßenbahn Friedrichshagen | 1,000 | 1906-12-16 | SSC | in 1894 taken over by the village, electrificated and regauged to standard gauge as of the takeover by SSC |
| 1891-05-31 | Dampfstraßenbahn Groß-Lichterfelde – Seehof – Teltow – Stahnsdorf | 1,435 | 1906-04-01 | TKb | |
| 1891-06-04 | Pferdebahn Tegeler Chaussee – Tegel | 1,435 | 1891-06-04 | GBPfE | |
| 1891-08-01 | Pferde-Eisenbahn der Gemeinde Britz | 1,435 | 1891-08-01 | GBPfE | |
| 1892-06-05 | Spandauer Straßenbahn Simmel, Matzky & Müller | 1,000 | 1920-12-08 | Berliner Straßenbahn | on 1894-09-01 management taken over by Allgemeine Deutsche Kleinbahn-Gesellschaft, electrification finished on 1896-03-18, from 1899-03-04 management by AEG, regauged to standard gauge on 1907-10-26, bought by the city of Spandau on 1909-07-01 |
| 1892-07-01 | Pferde-Eisenbahn der Gemeinde Niederschönhausen | 1,435 | 1892-07-01 | GBS | |
| 1894-09-26 | Berlin-Charlottenburger Straßenbahn | 1,435 | 1919-05-15 | GBS | electrification finished on 1900-10-01 |
| 1895-03-04 | Elektrische Straßenbahnen Groß-Lichterfelde – Lankwitz – Steglitz – Südende | 1,000 | 1906-04-01 | TKb | |
| 1895-09-10 | Siemens & Halske | 1,435 | 1899-07-01 | BESTAG | |
| 1898-01-25 | Große Berliner Straßenbahn | 1,435 | 1920-10-01 | Berliner Straßenbahn | electrification finished on 1902-12-15, bought by the Zweckverband Groß-Berlin on 1909-09-20 |
| 1898-10-01 | Westliche Berliner Vorortbahn | 1,435 | 1919-05-15 | GBS | also operated some horse trams, electrification finished on 1900-06-19 |
| 1899-07-01 | Berliner Elektrische Straßenbahn-AG | 1,435 | 1920-12-01 | Berliner Straßenbahn | |
| 1899-07-01 | Südliche Berliner Vorortbahn | 1,435 | 1919-05-15 | GBS | |
| 1899-10-21 | Straßenbahn Berlin-Hohenschönhausen | 1,435 | 1906-12-10 | NBSNO | |
| 1899-12-18 | Gesellschaft für den Bau von Untergrundbahnen | 1,435 | 1909-06-22 | Berliner Ostbahnen | opened the Spreetunnel |
| 1901-08-15 | Straßenbahn Niederschöneweide – Cöpenick | 1,435 | 1909-06-22 | Berliner Ostbahnen | |
| 1901-10-01 | Gesellschaft für elektrische Hoch- und Untergrundbahnen in Berlin | 1,435 | 1928-04-01 | BSBG | on 1910-01-01 tram line was sold to SSB, instead of it opening of a new tram line from Warschauer Brücke to Scharnweber-/Gürtelstraße, later extended to Wagnerplatz in Lichtenberg |
| 1903 | Städtische Straßenbahn Cöpenick | 1,435 | 1920-10-01 | GBS | |
| 1904–07 | Pferde-Eisenbahn der Gemeinde Französisch-Buchholz | 1,435 | 1907-12-19 | BESTAG | electrification as of takeover by BESTAG |
| 1905-12-03 | Straßenbahn der Gemeinde Steglitz | 1,435 | 1921-04-16 | Berliner Straßenbahn | |
| 1906-04-01 | Teltower Kreisbahnen | 1,000/1,435 | 1921-04-16 | Berliner Straßenbahn | steam tram of DLSTS was electrificated on 1907-03-30 |
| 1906-12-10 | Neue Berliner Straßenbahn Nordost | 1,435 | 1910-05-03 | NÖBV | |
| 1908-03-23 | Elektrische Straßenbahn Spandau-Nonnendamm | 1,435 | 1914-10-01 | SpS | founded by Siemens & Halske |
| 1908-07-01 | Städtische Straßenbahnen Berlin | 1,435 | 1920-10-01 | Berliner Straßenbahn | |
| 1909-06-22 | Berliner Ostbahnen | 1,435 | 1920-05-01 | GBS | |
| 1910-05-03 | Nordöstliche Berliner Vorortbahn | 1,435 | 1919-05-15 | GBS | |
| 1910-08-07 | Straßenbahn des Flugplatzes Johannisthal | 1,435 | 1910-10 | service suspended | last horse tram in Berlin |
| 1912-03-09 | Schmöckwitz-Grünauer Uferbahn | 1,435 | 1924-08 | Berliner Verkehrs-GmbH | electrification finished on 1912-07-23 |
| 1913-05-29 | Straßenbahn der Gemeinde Heiligensee an der Havel | 1,435 | 1920-10-01 | Berliner Straßenbahn | |
| 1920-10-01 | Berliner Straßenbahn | 1,000/1,435 | 1923-09-10 | BSBG | meter gauge routes are of former TKb |
| 1923-01-08 | Kleinbahn Spandau-West – Hennigsdorf | 1,435 | 1929-01-01 | BVG | electrification later by BVG |
| 1923-09-10 | Berliner Straßenbahn-Betriebs-GmbH | 1,000/1,435 | 1929-01-01 | BVG | meter gauge routes are of former TKb |
| 1924-08 | Berliner Verkehrs-GmbH | 1,435 | 1925-03-01 | BSBG |
On the day of its formation, the BVG had 89 tram lines: a network of 634 km in length, over 4,000 tramway cars, and more than 14,400 employees. An average tram car ran over 42,500 km per year. The Berlin tram system had more than 929 million passengers in 1929, at which point, the BVG already had increased its service to 93 tram lines.
In the early 1930s, the Berlin tram network began to decline; after partial closing of the world's first electric tram in 1930, on 31 October 1934, Germany's oldest tram line followed. The Straße des 17. Juni, formerly the Charlottenburger Chaussee, was rebuilt by Nazi planners following a monumental east–west-Axis, and the tramway had to leave. In 1938, however, there were still 71 tram lines, 2,800 tram cars and about 12,500 employees. Consequently, the bus network was extended during this time. From 1933, Berlin also had trolley buses.
During World War II, some transport tasks were given back to the tramway to save oil. Thus an extensive transport of goods was established. Bombings and the lack of personnel and electricity caused the transportation performance to decline. Due to the final Battle for Berlin, the tram system finally collapsed on 23 April 1945. Prior to the battle, many destroyed and gutted trams were turned into makeshift roadblocks through major roads in the city to halt the advance of Soviet tanks and vehicles invading Berlin.