Berlin Tempelhof Airport was one of the first airports in Berlin, Germany. It is located in the south-central area of the city, within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It was closed to air traffic in 2008 when its replacement, Berlin Brandenburg Airport, was under construction just outside the city; however, as this new airport's opening was repeatedly delayed, Tempelhof actually closed over a decade before Brandenburg was finished.[1]
Coverage[]
Tempelhof Airport is featured in Sky's the Limit in one year after people when the show gave the answer to how the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base would be taken over by plants. Dieter Nickel recalls the events happened at Berlin Tempelhof Airport.
The Berlin Airlift[]
A plane taking off the Berlin Tempelhof Airport during the Berlin Airlift
Six decades ago, Berlin Tempelhof Airport was used as ground zero for the massive air relief operation known as the Berlin Airlift. Dieter Nickel recalls the event of the Berlin Airlift that there are constant sound in the air of the incoming airplanes and every 90 seconds there was traffic on those runways.
In 1948, Berlin was deep inside Soviet-occupied Germany and the city was divided in half between the Soviets and the West. When a struggle for territorial control boiled over, the Russians blockaded West Berlin, cutting off all food and supplies by ground and West Berliners faced starvation or capitulation to the USSR. Dieter Nickel recalls that the threat for West Berliners was that they would be taken by the Russians and would lose their freedom.
The West responded with the airlift. Fully loaded cargo planes roared in and out of Tempelhof every minute and a half which ferried up to 13,000 tons of food and supplies a day. The Soviet lifted the blockade after 10 and a half months and the Berlin Tempelhof Airport became known as "The airport that saved the city."
Peace and Quiet[]
Following several more decades of service, Tempelhof was shut down in 2008, when a more modern airport was due to open outside the city. In the abandoned airport, its ticket counters are empty, the vast hallways are filled only with shadows, and the growing grass obscures signs that once guided planes, with some hardier plants starting to colonise the apron and runway.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Despite Tempelhof being closed to make way for the opening of its replacement, it would take another twelve years before Brandenburg was ready to accept passengers - a delay of nine years, as the airport was originally intended to open in 2011 - due to various delays in construction and issues with utilities.
- The outfield of the Berlin Tempelhof Airport was later converted into a public park known as Tempelhofer Field, which opened in May 2010, two months after the airport was featured in the series. The airport itself has also been extensively preserved, as it has been listed as a national monument by the German government.