Well over 100,000 passengers board and disembark here every day:the Jungfernstieg underground station is the busiest station in Hamburg after the main train station and the Berliner Tor. On March 25, 1931, after particularly complicated construction work, it was officially inaugurated - as Germany's first underwater station. At that time it was the temporary end point of the U-1 predecessor - the so-called Kell-Jung line, which has since connected the north of Hamburg with the city center.
Endpoint of the Kell-Jung line
Work on the new subway line had already begun in the mid-1920s. The section between Kellinghusenstrasse and Stephansplatz went into operation in June 1929 as the first section of the Kell-Jung line. The construction of the 620 meter long last section up to the Jungfernstieg started a year later in March 1930.
Due to its location under the Alster drains, the construction work for the station was particularly demanding. "Cofferdams" made of sand were piled up in the Binnenalster, iron sheet piling was rammed in to secure the excavation pit, the water was pumped out of the excavation pit and the groundwater was also lowered.
Mud, rocks and stakes got in the way
Around a million hours of work were required - partly because the muddy subsoil, boulders and wooden piles made the construction work difficult. Initially, on March 25, 1931, only a temporary platform could be opened at the level of the Neuer Wall. The entire route did not go into regular service until April 1934. With the new building, Germany's first escalator in public space started.