report no.: 186
informant: AA
source: Joseph Roth, What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920–33
location: Potsdam Station
date: 1925

[On the day of the funeral of Friedrich Ebert (1871–1925), SPD leader and president of the repiblic 1919–1925] The Potsdam Station is no longer a station, no longer a gateway to the world, but a gateway to death. One descends black steps. Put away behind black cloths are all the noisy, merry sounds of travelling, jingling, calling, tooting world. Signals are asleep, silent in silent corners. Do any trains still depart from here? Are there still such things as ticket counters, lights, red and green signals, switchmen? The waiting room has become an anteroom to eternity.