Name of Object:

Hijaz Railway Station, Damascus

Other name of the Object (second name):

Main Station of the Hijaz railway leading from Damascus to Medina

Location:

Berlin, Germany

Holding Institution:

Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, State Museums

 About Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, State Museums, Berlin

Date of Object:

1955; 1996

Description:

The Hijaz station was originally built in 1903 to provide faster transportation for Pilgrims to Medina. So the today closed-down railway station used to be an essential transport and communication link. Furthermore it was built to integrate aloof provinces better into the Ottoman state and hence establish a closer political and economic connection. The new building completed in 1917 also embodies a desire for innovation in terms of design: its architecture is a mix between traditional local Ottoman elements and monumentalizing features of historicism.

Type of Object

Photograph; postcard

Citation of this web page:

Stefan Weber "Hijaz Railway Station, Damascus" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;de;5;en

Prepared by: Stefan Weber

MWNF Working Number: DE 005