S-Bahn Museum in Berlin: A farewell threatens, where are the helpers?

S-Bahn Museum in Berlin: A farewell threatens, where are the helpers?

Berlin, Deutschland - The future of the S-Bahn Museum in Berlin is on the brink. Udo Dittfurth, who has been taking care of the volunteer work in the museum for years, looks exhausted and describes his emotional state: "I have the feeling that I have no more strength to fight". The museum, which had to close its gates in Potsdam over eight years ago, is now threatened again. Since then, Dittfurth and his colleagues desperately have been looking for a new location for their valuable collection, but all previous attempts have been unsuccessful. The situation comes to a head because the excerpt from the current room in the Ostbahnhof is imminent for exhibitions and contemporary witness talks, such as the Berliner Zeitung reported.

The room in the Ostbahnhof closes on June 2, 2025. Due to the lack of financing, volunteer work cannot be continued, which means that the implementation of ideas and suggestions from visitors is no longer possible. A farewell event will take place on June 20, 2025 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. with free admission. On this day you want to say goodbye to the loyal visitors. It is particularly noteworthy that in 2025 the 101st year of the Berlin S-Bahn anniversary after the 100th birthday was celebrated with a large exhibition in the previous year. The work of the museum was supported by the Senate Chancellery, S-Bahn Berlin GmbH and DB Infrago, as on the website of the Museum s-bahn-museum.de

challenge and hope

The challenges are great and the volunteers are faced with a setback that endangers the future of the S-Bahn Museum. Especially at a time when you look back on the 101st anniversary of the Berlin S-Bahn and would like to try to keep history alive, the view of becoming “homeless” is a sad condition. Dittfurth fears that the S-Bahn Museum will be facing the end of not only the volunteers, but also the many visitors who appreciate the history of the Berlin S-Bahn.

In the extensiveity of Berlin, there are many other museums that take up valuable topics as the Futurium , which deals with future themes in science, society, art and politics. This variety of museums shows how important cultural educational offers are for the city. It remains to be hoped that a new location for the S-Bahn Museum will be found in order to continue to be part of this dynamic museum landscape and to keep the history of the Berlin S-Bahn alive.