The station was opened in 1881 under the name of Zentralviehhof, as the vast area south of the station then was the site of Berlin's central slaughterhouse that received animals by rail here. An over 400-metre (0.25 mi) long pedestrian bridge (called the Langer Jammer, i.e. "Long Misery") crossed the processing plant connecting the station with the Friedrichshain residential areas.
The northern entrance to the station on Storkower Straße
The station was renamed in the 1970s, while in 1991 the slaughterhouse finally closed. The notorious bridge except for about 150 m (490 ft) above the tracks was demolished in 2002. The remaining portion of the bridge, which stretches from Storkower Straße north of the station to Hermann-Blankenstein-Straße south of the station, was renovated and now serves as the only entrance and exit to the station.