Editing Alexanderplatz (section)

=== Destruction of {{lang|de|Alexanderplatz|italic=no}} (1940–1945) ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 204-022, Berlin, Bahnhof Alexanderplatz, Schäden.jpg|thumb|The destroyed {{lang|de|Alexanderplatz|italic=no}} station, May 1945]]
One of Berlin's largest [[air raid shelter|air-raid shelters]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]] was situated under {{lang|de|Alexanderplatz|italic=no}}. It was built between 1941 and 1943 for the {{lang|de|[[Deutsche Reichsbahn]]}} by {{lang|de|[[Philipp Holzmann]]|italic=no}}.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |url=http://berliner-unterwelten.de/alexbunker.331.0.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418085629/http://berliner-unterwelten.de/alexbunker.331.0.html |url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-04-18 |publisher=Berliner Unterwelten |title=Tiefbunker unter dem Alexanderplatz |date=2015-04-18|access-date=2019-01-30}}</ref>

The war reached {{lang|de|Alexanderplatz|italic=no}} in early April 1945. The [[Berolina]] statue had already been removed in 1944 and probably melted down for use in arms production. During the [[Battle of Berlin]], [[Red Army]] artillery bombarded the area around {{lang|de|Alexanderplatz|italic=no}}. The battles of the last days of the war destroyed considerable parts of the historic {{lang|de|Königsstadt|italic=no}}, as well as many of the buildings around {{lang|de|Alexanderplatz|italic=no}}.

The {{lang|de|[[Wehrmacht]]}} had entrenched itself within the tunnels of the underground system. Hours before fighting ended in Berlin on 2 May 1945, troops of the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] detonated explosives inside the north–south {{lang|de|S-Bahn|italic=no}} tunnel under the [[Landwehr Canal|{{lang|de|Landwehr|nocat=y}} Canal]] to slow the advance of the Red Army towards Berlin's city centre. The entire tunnel [[flood]]ed, as well as large sections of the {{lang|de|U-Bahn|italic=no}} network via connecting passages at the {{lang|de|[[Friedrichstraße]]|italic=no}} underground station. Many of those seeking shelter in the tunnels were killed.<ref name=":3" /> Of the then {{convert|63.3|km|abbr=in}} of subway tunnel, around {{convert|19.8|km|abbr=on}} were flooded with more than one million cubic meters ({{convert|1|GL|USgal|disp=out}}) of water.