History of Tempelhof Airport
With the closed of Berlin airport Tempelhof it laid the era for the airline industry of Germany. It was a time of the Second World War the cold war and the “rebuilding” of the German capital at the start of the nineties in the twentieth century.
Tempelhof airport is located in the part of Berlin which was once owned by the Knights Templar in the Middle Ages, hence of course the name. The Knights Templar was the order which appeared during crusades, but over those centuries it had been financially getting more powerful and expanding the territory of its activity all over the world through purchasing the land, inter alia– the land in medieval Berlin.
Aviation started in 1923 when the airport complex was built and when the famous German airline Luft Hansa began operation at Tempelhof airport in 1926 when the construction work was completed. Landing of a DC-3 and Junkers Ju-52 from the thirties were emblematic, and after they the runway lights were never switched on again.
Tempelhof was officially opened in October of 1923 and the current airport complex developed while under Nazi control. Adolf Hitler decided to make the site “air stadium” and began to use large stone blocks and pillars. One supported Nazi architect, Albert Speer who built an entirely new terminal that was to symbolize the “new and beautiful Berlin,” and was expected to become the capital of the world. The complex comprises of fifty four buildings; seven are for use as hangars while approximately nine thousand are offices. And the fact is that before the Second World War Tempelhof became one of the most popular airport in the world. As far as the presented data are concerned, it was concerned that there were 50 international arrivals per day and 40 domestic ones.
In the Second World War German aircrafts flew out to try and prevent the bombing of the capital. But it operates for civil aviation until one day that the government worried the Allies had planned to bomb the airport. In general, airplanes took off during the emergencies only. Soviet forces seized Tempelhof while the fight for control of the German capital and it is rather curious that the officer who commanded the airport at the time did not demolish it during withdrawal, but decided to die there instead.
This airport was only provided with delegates of the Allies as Berlin was captured; and Germany completed the formal surrender. In after-war period Tempelhof was used as the significant American army airfield. It became a symbol of the great airlift in 1948, when necessities were airdropped to Berlin when the superpowers had sealed off all roads and waterways to the city – with the goal of expelling the Western Allies from the capital of Germany.
Starting from these incidents, the American Overseas Airlines opened the connection of air communication between Berlin, Hamburg and Dusseldorf in the year 1950 only. By 1960 PanAmerica was not only the first airline to offer all the varieties of passenger services for passengers destined for or coming from West Berlin among all the companies. With serious investment in air traffic in mid seventies the flow of passengers exceeded the mark of 5 million a year.
Subsequent to the reunification of Germany this air traffic declined and in 1996, under a document called “Nothaftsbeschluss” commonly referred to as the “Consensus resolution,” the traffic was completely shifted to the Berlin-Schönefeld airport. In mid-2008 referendum was also conducted and the public voted against the shutdown of the airport. However, similar measures were in place airport was closed.
Nowadays, Tempelhof airport is an object that has become a park . Its use and further destination is still being designed, however, at the moment it is curious for tourists and Berlin’s inhabitants, especially fans of wind-skating, who have two runways, each 2.5 km, for their memorable stunts.
