Flughafen Tempelhof: Inside Berlin’s Abandoned Downtown Airport (Fascinating)

[A HERETIC I AM]

I am just fascinated by abandonded or re-purposed infrastructure like this, and Tempelhof played an extraordinary part in the history of Berlin, being the primary landing airport for the Berlin Airlift, among other important milestones.

The fact that the city has kept it open as "Green Space" for the residents of the city says much about the way Berlin is governed these days.


Article and photographs by Kyle Dunst.

"During my trip to Berlin this past March, I had the opportunity to visit one of Europe’s most historic and interesting airports. Having served as the center of the Berlin Airlift during the Cold War and more recently as one of Berlin’s main commercial passenger airports, Flughafen Tempelhof (Tempelhof Airport) now sits abandoned just a few miles from the city center. The crazy thing is that the airport grounds are actually open to the public and serve as a massive green space for Berliners to enjoy. They also offer limited tours of the terminal and other airport buildings and I just happened to be there on a day that an English tour was being given. Needless to say, I was in.

Situated within Berlin’s city limits, Tempelhof Airport opened in the early 1920’s and served as one of Europe’s main regional airports with frequent flights to cities within Germany as well as London and Paris. Built about a decade later, its iconic quarter-circle terminal, complete with a roof that aircraft can literally park under, is one of the largest buildings in the world. The airport had two relatively short (about 6,000 foot) parallel runways that required low approaches over nearby neighborhoods and city buildings. The advantage of this was that it only took about ten minutes to reach the center of Berlin from the time your flight landed."

Distance shot of the complex;


Terminal Building;


Hangars;


Runway 9L, now part of a massive public park;

"The passenger terminal and other airport buildings are one of the most well-preserved examples of Nazi-architecture remaining in Europe. The circular shape with a massive accessible roof overlooking the aircraft parking ramp was designed such that the airport could serve as a giant theater. And it wasn’t a theater to showcase some of Germany’s newest hit musicals or operas. The airport was to serve as a massive gathering spot for Hitler and his Nazi party rallies where thousands of onlookers could be in attendance (see first photo below). Viewed from above, the airport buildings are in the shape of a flying eagle, a symbol of the Nazi party."

The aircraft parking ramp, viewed from the rooftop terrace;


Stairs leading from the terminal to the aircraft parking ramp. Tempelhof was the only airport in the world where the airplanes could actually park under a roof so that passengers wouldn’t be exposed to the elements (All Photos by Kyle Dunst)


The massive check-in and baggage claim area. It was designed to also serve as a ballroom








Much more here;

http://www.thirtythousand.us/2015/05/29/tempelhof/#.VXLiiXD3arX

Edit to add that if you are interested in this sort of thing, and aviation history in general, I highly recommend the Wikipedia article on this facility as well as looking it up on Google maps in order to get a better look at the layout and where it is located in Berlin (You can get to various satellite shot providers Google, Bing, etc. - of the airport by clicking the longitude/latitude hyperlink on the Wikipedia page, generally located at the top right of an article on a geographic location). I'm on the road posting from my iPad and it is not quite as simple to put up links as it is on my home PC.

[rurallib]

1. that was quite interesting.

love the idea that it is basically a park now

[Divernan]

2. Thanks for this link & great story

Berlin is my favorite city. I only had 10 days there but hope to return someday. I flew in & out from Tegel airport, but what I really loved were some daytrips using Berlin's very modern train station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof. And the U-Bahn and S-Bahn were fantastic. Our public transportation system in the U.S. is in such low tech disrepair, one doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. If we had dedicated money spent on drones alone to our transportation infrastructure, we would be the envy of the world.

[NBachers]

3. Couldn't they put up condos or timeshares there or something?

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. Condos or timeshares?

Seriously?



lol....yeah, I suppose they could.

After a few years we can do the same to Cape Kennedy.

[NBachers]

22. No, of course not seriously. I'm in San Francisco, and the flippers and developer class are

determined to rape every single inch of the city. The people living here are just annoying impediments to their grand designs.

My comment was a slap at that element, and a compliment to those who've allowed the public space to flourish.

[A HERETIC I AM]

23. Fair enough

My snark-o-meter needs calibration!

[reorg]

12. "they" tried, but the people of Berlin decided against it

about a year ago:

Berlin voters claim Tempelhof

Berlin residents have rejected plans to develop the former Tempelhof Airport site. They want to keep the urban space as a public park. Now the capital needs another strategy to tackle the city's housing crisis.

http://www.dw.de/berlin-voters-claim-tempelhof/a-17663944

[ananda]

4. That is one ugly eyesore.

Couldn't they tear down the building and
plant some trees and grass?

[rpannier]

5. It's likely a historic landmark

Judging from what the OP has written it sounds as if there is a lot of history to it
I hope it stays and next time I'm in Europe I'm gonna go see it

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. Saying there is a lot of history to it is a serious understatement!

The Berlin Airlift took place there!

Yeah...there's some history, alright.

[Nevernose]

11. That's part of the plan

At least for the runways and hangers. The problems, though, are myriad. For one thing, those Nazi buildings were all designed to survive a world war, so they don't come down easily. For another thing, what to do with all of the rubbish and refuse? Thirdly, Berlin seems to be focused on mass transit and improving it's downtown areas. They're big on parks, but don't seem to be big on maintainence, at least not like we are here (ironic given the stereotypes of Germans). For instance, in Berlin, most of the medians in the road -- and many sidewalks and park areas -- are filled with weeds, untrimmed bushes, and debris. I make it sound worse than it is; it's just what Berliners seem to be focused on.

Berlin's two actual, functioning airports are total pieces of shit in varying degrees and everyone knows it. The new airport is five years behind schedule and billions over budget, and if city leaders tried to spend time and money on the old airport, there would be riots in the streets.

[Botany]

6. Thanx for posting!

If you click on the people on the runway picture in the article you can get a
full sized picture and it is really neat to see all the different ways that people
are using it ...... kites, bikes, trikes, roller skates, walking, jogging, kids, and
even a food cart.

People need green spaces.

[jwirr]

13. Actually I know a lot of kids in this country who would love to have a paved surface in the parks.

I have seen kids kicked out of the parks for using the shelter house with a concrete floor to skate on or to stake board on.

[marmar]

9. Cool. Love Berlin.

And I see that Brandenburg Int'l STILL hasn't opened to replace Tegel. They started building that airport when I was there a decade ago.

[cantbeserious]

10. Flew In Shortly Before It Closed

eom

[villager]

14. I was just there.

Drove around the area -- and through Templehof a little -- as part of a Berlin tour that a Location Manager was giving me.

There was a festival going on in the park area. And some production going on in the other areas.

Evidently it gets used quite a bit for film and TV.

[Mira]

15. Utterly fascinating and I thank you

very much for posting this.
Next year I plan to visit my adopted sister in Berlin. Now I know one place to go look at myself. I was only in Berlin once - in 1962. Imagine that. They had just recently built the wall!

[moondust]

16. Cool.

Back during the Cold War the USAF had some stuff out there including an enlisted club and a stereo store. I think it was home base for USAF-Berlin.

[secondvariety]

17. Cool looking building

and still in use for events. Glad they haven't tore it down.

[packman]

18. Love postings that echo history -thanks

sort of reminds me of Tiananmen Square .

[Blue_Tires]

19. They have an unused airport runway and they aren't using it as a drag strip?

Berlin, you're killing me over here...

[longship]

21. Bring on Shirley Muldowney!

Here she is versus "Big Daddy":

Sorry. Not a good video, just a bunch of pics.

Try this one, her 1982 win at the Nationals:

on edit: Actually a mindless, idiotic sport. A quarter mile? Burning tires? Who are they kidding. But Shirley was the real deal. One has to love her a lot.

Then, there's Danica Patrick.

I love women breaking into traditionally male sports. It warms my black heart when that happens. That is a lesson I learned early in life, two sisters, no brothers, one older, one a twin.

Never, ever discount women.

I am waiting for a woman to break into professional baseball first, probably as a pitcher, or in US Football as a place kicker. (Probably more likely the former.)

Women can do anything. It is about the time people realized that.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. Shirley the Top Gear crew has filmed there.

Just because they can.

[longship]

20. The Baggage Check Ballroom!

Gotta love it. Certainly a fun and useful repurposing. Dancing is freedom; baggage check is the opposite.