Ludwigsfelde station

Ludwigsfelde
Through station
Ludwigsfelde railway station
Location	Ludwigsfelde, Brandenburg Germany
Coordinates	52°17′55″N 13°16′02″E / 52.29861°N 13.26722°E / 52.29861; 13.26722Coordinates: 52°17′55″N 13°16′02″E / 52.29861°N 13.26722°E / 52.29861; 13.26722
Line(s)	Anhalt Railway Anhalt Suburban Line (dismantled) connecting curve to the Berlin outer ring
Platforms	4
Tracks	4
Other information
Station code	3835
DS100 code	BLF
IBNR	8010215
Category	4
History
Opened	1 July 1841
Services
Preceding station   Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn   Following station Birkengrund toward Rathenow RE 4 Luckenwalde toward Jüterbog Preceding station   Deutsche Bahn   Following station Berlin-Lichterfelde Ost toward Stralsund or Schwedt RE 3 Thyrow toward Falkenberg (Elster) or Elsterwerda-Biehla or Lutherstadt Wittenberg

Ludwigsfelde station is located in the town of Ludwigsfelde on the Anhalt Railway south of Berlin and is one of the oldest railway stations in the German state Brandenburg. The station building, which was built around 1880, is a listed building and is the second oldest building in the town. It now houses a museum. Several houses in the railway station area are also listed buildings.

The station is located on the railway line between Berlin and Halle (called the Anhalter Bahn—Anhalt Railway) south of Berlin. It ran away from major towns. When the station was opened, the only settlements near it were two small localities called Damsdorf and Ludwigsfelde, which were a few hundred metres to the east. The latter settlement gave its name to the station. The present town of Ludwigsfelde was established in the 20th century, and its centre is located to the west of the station.

The town of Ludwigsfelde also includes Ludwigsfelde-Struveshof station, which is located on the Berlin Outer Ring to the northwest of the centre of the town. It was opened in 2012 and replaced Genshagener Heide station, which was isolated on the edge of an industrial area at the extreme north of the urban area. Another station, Birkengrund is north of Ludwigsfelde station on the Anhalt line within the town limits. Earlier this station was called Birkengrund Süd (south) to distinguish it from Birkengrund Nord (north), which was closed in the 1990s.

At the opening of Anhalt Railway in 1841 a water station for the supply of steam locomotives was built in Ludwigsfelde as well as in neighbouring Großbeeren. With the commencement of freight operations on the line in December 1841, a freight train also carrying passengers stopped at Großbeeren and Ludwigsfelde stations. It could be used to travel to Berlin in the morning and to return in the afternoon. The travel time between Ludwigsfelde and Berlin was about three quarters of an hour.

At first, patronage in Ludwigsfelde was not strong, unlike in Großbeeren, due to the small population nearby, so that the railway company was considering closing the station in 1846. This was prevented by protests by the regional and district councils. In the following period, passenger numbers increased, so that Großbeeren and Ludwigsfelde were stops for all scheduled passenger trains from 1849.

In the following years, the number of passengers increased significantly. 5,360 passengers were counted at the station in 1852 and there were 31,767 in 1873. The passenger numbers were approximately equivalent to those in neighbouring Großbeeren, although the village of Ludwigsfelde had only 122 inhabitants in 1892, while Großbeeren still had more than ten times as many people. However, a number of villages in the area were easily accessible from Ludwigsfelde station due to its excellent road connections. Freight traffic also developed to a similar extent: in 1873, 42.430 Zentner (cwt, the Prussian Zentner or hundredweight equalled 51.45 kg) of goods were shipped and 68,175 cwt were received in Ludwigsfelde.