Opened in May 2006, the Hauptbahnhof is Berlin's sparkling new train station, constructed after the fall of the Berlin Wall to provide a central transportation area for the entire city.In the early 90s, transportation officials decided that a new station should be built at the site of the old Lehrter Bahnhof, first opened in 1871 but demolished in 1959. They held a competition to choose an architectural firm and the winner was the Hamburg firm of Gerkan, Marg, and partners. Hauptbahnhof, BerlinConstruction began in 1995 and the railway station was officially opened on 26 May 2006.Structurally, the 321-meter (originally 450m was planned) glass and steel station hall runs from east to west and is intersected by the 160 meter-long, 40 meter-wide station building, running in a north-south direction. This transparent station is framed by two 46-meter-high arched structures that span the Stadtbahn line, thus emphasizing the station's role as a "crossing".