Berlin Hauptbahnhof fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, city planners began work on a transport plan for reunified Berlin. One element of this became the "Pilzkonzept" (mushroom concept), in which a new north-south railway line intersecting the Stadtbahn was to be constructed. The name derived from the shape formed by the new line and existing lines, which vaguely resembles a mushroom. In June 1992 the federal government decided that the new station should be built on the site of Lehrter Bahnhof. While close to the centre of Berlin and government buildings, the area was still not heavily populated. The following year,
Berlin Wall East German border guards shot and killed would-be defectors. Such fatalities were later treated as acts of murder by the reunified Germany. The Berlin Wall was more than long. In June 1962, a second, parallel fence was built some farther into East German territory. The houses contained between the fences were razed and the inhabitants relocated, thus establishing what later became known as the "death strip". The death strip was covered with raked sand or gravel, rendering footprints easy to notice, easing the detection of trespassers and also enabling officers to see which guards had neglected their task; it offered