April 1, 2018 Comments Off on Abandoned Berlin: an iconic airport transformed into a huge recreational park for public use Views: 1837 Berlin, Virtual Memoirs

Berliners may agree that their city has always been a pioneer in finding new usages of buildings that were left abandoned following the division of the city. There are still some abandoned buildings to be seen across the German capital, but the notion of finding a new purpose for these sites have lingered on in the city. One of the more recent transformations was how the Tempelhof Airport, now a former airfield in Berlin, has been turned into the world’s largest building in a central location, dedicated for public use.

Nestled in the south-central Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, the airport closed in 2008, after which only Tegel and Schönefeld continued operation. The new, yet-to-be-built Berlin Brandenburg Airport is still under construction as of 2018.

During its lifetime as an airport, Tempelhof gained iconic status, starting its services as early as 1923. As the Nazi government, which came to power during the mid-1930s, anticipated increased air traffic, it commenced with an enormous reconstruction effort of the airport and its terminals.

Tempelhof eventually became one of the three best-known airports across Europe in the pre-World War II era. The other two airports of the day were the currently defunct Croydon Airport in London and the old Le Bourget in Paris. The iconic status of Tempelhof was further sealed with the Berlin Airlift at the end of the 1940s.

Back in the day, Tempelhof was also considered among the top 20 largest edifices on earth, through ironically at the same time it had the world’s smallest duty-free shop. One of the building’s most distinctive features, its massive canopy-style roof extending over the apron, was able to suit most contemporary airliners in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s.

The years of services as an airport has now been over for a decade, as the last planes took off from Tempelhof in 2008. In the meantime, the site has been reinvented to a recreational space called the Tempelhof Feld. Once a famous lifeline for West Berlin in the Cold War era, now suddenly transformed into the most significant park area of 21st century Berlin.

Opened from sunrise to sunset and accessible through its three entrances, Columbiadamn, Tempelhofer Damm and Oderstrasse, Tempelhof is visited by families who may come with a basket of food and enjoy a picnic on a sunny day, kids can be seen flying a kite, and young people engaging in different outdoor activities.

Besides them, there are also the Polizei who have rented areas of the airport site since the early 1950s. In fact, the German police namely occupies about 15% of the airport’s territory, which in total extends to 300 acres.

The site is also the home of at least hundreds of businesses, the central lost property office, a school for dancing, a school for yoga, a kindergarten, and one of Berlin’s oldest revue theaters.

During the last ten years, however, urban developers have already shown interest to pursue activities in areas of the park. As Ciarán Fahey also writes for the Guardian, Berliners have not been persuaded by city planners that they have the best intentions for the park. Reportedly, during the country’s 2011 local election, the urban development plan has suggested claiming 25% of the Tempelhof to build thousands of homes, including social apartment buildings and a large public library among other amenities.

The situation culminated in 2014 when there was also a public vote for the future of Tempelhof. With a final 64% of the vote to keep the Tempelhof as it is, investors were left “empty-handed.” While the ballot angered those who sought interest in new urban development on Tempelhof territory, a great majority of people cherished the fact they just saved the loss of a quarter of this beautiful area.

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In the recent years, Tempelhof has also hosted bigger events such as fairs, extravagant automobile industry unveilings, concerts and big festivals. According to the conservation law, the Tempelhof airfield is to remain largely intact. Any developments in the park will also have to involve the community at any point, but new buildings, at least for now, are not an option.

Tags: Berlin, Tempelhof Airport, Virtual Memoirs Berlin