Kaiserbahnhof Halbe

Kaiserbahnhof Halbe is a railway station located in Halbe, on the main line between Berlin, which begins at the Gorlitzer railway station, to Cottbus in Brandenburg and on to Görlitz in Saxony. It was built during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm I and used by his son Emperor Frederick III and his grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II between 1865 and 1912, when it as converted to offices and accommodation for railway workers. Having falling into disrepair in the 1990s it is now being restored to its 1865 state. Major works were completed in 2010, being the construction of a new roof and the restoration of two decorative towers at the north western and eastern corners of the building. In 2011, the first floor windows were repaired and all external brickwork repointed. In 2012, work will commence on the restoration of the ground floor windows and doors, and the restoration of the large garden, to the south of the building.

The Kaiserbahnhof Halbe is a receiver station of which a number were built in Germany. A receiver train station is a separate building in a train station for highly placed individuals - in this case the German emperors or kaisers. This receiver train station was built in 1865 in the town of Halbe for the exclusive use of Germany's emperors until 1912 when the station was converted to civilian residential use.The Kaiserbahnhof Halbe lies just outside the town of Halbe which is about 40 km southeast of Berlin. East of the town is a level crossing from the main street which leads to Halbe's train station.In parallel to the railway track about 10 meters apart from each other to the north is the Public Building and Station to the south the extraordinary and historic listed property, the Royal train station building, also known as the Royal reception building. In older sources and postcards of the station it is known as the Emperor station or is designated the Imperial Hunting Seat for the Hohenzollern family. Separate receiver stations are known in Germany as . Others are the at Potsdam, at and at .

The history of Halbe station is closely linked with the development of the Prussian railway system after 1838 the first Prussian railroad track had already been opened from Berlin to Potsdam. In the following decade, almost further connections to the capital Berlin were developed. A second rapid development phase of the railway began in the 1860s. In little more than a decade the number of the tracks emanating from Berlin doubled.

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