- Source: Richard-Wagner-Platz (Berlin U-Bahn)
Richard-Wagner-Platz is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on the U7 in the Charlottenburg district.
History
The original station opened on 14 May 1906 under the name Wilhelmplatz, together with Deutsche Oper the first of several U-Bahn stations designed by Alfred Grenander. At the time it was the western terminus of the first Berlin U-Bahn line (Stammstrecke) after the line's extension from Knie (today Ernst-Reuter-Platz) to the Charlottenburg town hall. However, further extensions in 1908 branched off at Deutsche Oper straight westwards to Reichskanzlerplatz (today Theodor-Heuss-Platz) and the affluent Westend area, so the track to Wilhelmplatz remained a stub. In 1935 the station was renamed after the composer Richard Wagner. It was directly hit during the Battle of Berlin.
A short-distance train from Deutsche Oper served the station until it was finally closed and demolished in 1970. The new Richard-Wagner-Platz station opened on 28 April 1978 with the extension of the U7 line from Fehrbelliner Platz. It features several Byzantine style mosaics of medieval historic figures, the decoration from a former hotel near Potsdamer Platz that had been demolished in 1975. As the old tunnel has been preserved there is still a direct connection to the U2 at Deutsche Oper, used solely for maintenance purposes. The next station is Bismarckstraße.