Railway stations - new meeting places, cultural centres or places of the future?

Old railway stations are places of arrival and departure, of waiting and transition. They are empty in many places today. Researchers at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) see enormous potential in these places. "Abandoned railway stations are cultural repositories, symbolic places of collective memory and at the same time spaces of opportunity for new forms of belonging, participation and regional development," says Claudia Arndt. She is a research associate at the Chair of Social Services for Structurally Weak Regions and part of the "AlterPerimentale" transfer initiative. Together with researchers in the Chair of Regional Planning, her aim is to develop formats that bring people with different biographies into dialogue on the topic of 'shaping home'.
"Especially in a region like Lusatia, which is severely affected by structural change, places like abandoned railway stations are crucial: they create new narratives, strengthen local identification and show that the future can also grow in so-called 'lost' places," says the researcher. "Home is a social process based on dialogue, shared responsibility and the courage to embrace diversity. Science can and should accompany this process: through research that focuses on participation, through formats that bring people with different biographies into conversation and through an attitude that not only analyses, but also enables social co-design."
The excursion "Old places, new (T)spaces - railway stations as places of the future" is one of these formats that combines science and practice. It takes place as part of the transfer series "Zuversicht: Heimat?!" organised by the Praxisforschungsstelle Cottbus ("AlterPerimentale") and Losmachen e.V.

Date: Tuesday, 10 June 2025, 9.30 am - 5 pm
Location: Starting point: Spreewaldbahnhof Cottbus (tunnel) Destination: Neupetershain station
All interested parties are cordially invited. Travel costs cannot be reimbursed. Registration is requested at

T +49 (0)355 69 3917
E pfs-cottbus(at)alterperimentale.de

The "AlterPerimentale - Alter-Peripherie-Experiment" project is part of the "T!Raum - TransferRäume für die Zukunft von Regionen" programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is being carried out in cooperation with the Association of German Scientists (VDW). It is funded by the Partnership for Democracy City of Cottbus.

Programme of the excursion

• Impulse: "From vacancy to living environment - railway stations as places of the future"
  Dr Lars Scharnholz (Institute for New Industrial Culture)
• Train journey with exchange: "Rolling input" Cottbus → Neupetershain
• Arriving at the "meadow for all" - a meeting place in the "Ruinenviertel Bahnhof Neupetershain - Nowe Wiki" project
• Discussion & input on regional development and railway station ideas in Welzow, Neupetershain & Drebkau incl. presentation of the citizen energy project "Mach ma' Watt" (Spreeakademie)
• Bratwurst-Schwatz": Exchange over lunch together with students on the "Pantarai" of INKA GALAKTIKA - water free of charge, other drinks at cost price
• Summary by students: Impressions - in a nutshell
• Cultural contributions from Lausitziade gGmbH: cultural programme from Lusatia "My thing is HOW I catch it" - with Alex Wilke, Patrick Niegsch, Mario Heß
• Transformation of the Barbara custom "The new Barbara" - with Lars Katzmarek