Abandoned former Berlin-Tempelhof Airport by Silva Wischeropp

About "Abandoned former Berlin-Tempelhof Airport"

by Silva Wischeropp

About the artwork

This photo was taken with the NIKON D800 camera (lens: NIKKOR 18.0-50.0 mm f/2.8) on 12 October 2021 in the late afternoon hours.
Once planned as Europe's largest air hub, the disused Tempelhof Airport in southern Berlin with its monumental buildings and open tarmac now has a new purpose. Berliners love the open space that has been transformed into a park.
Once planned as Europe's largest air hub, Tempelhof Airport is now quietly finding a new purpose. Only birds, pollen and kites fly here: The traditional Berlin Tempelhof Airport was closed as an airport in 2008. The grounds outside have been turned into an inner-city park, while the listed airport building is used for major events and trade fairs. It is no exaggeration to say that Tempelhof Airport was once world-famous. Built by the Nazis on a monumental scale between 1936 and 1941, the inner-city airport saved the lives of Berliners just a few years later. Germany had lost the Second World War and the victorious powers divided Berlin into various occupation zones. From 24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949, the Soviet occupation blocked all road and rail connections from the western occupation zones to West Berlin. During this Berlin blockade, the Western Allies supplied the city's inhabitants with supplies by aeroplane - most of which landed at Tempelhof Airport.
With the end of flight operations at Tempelhof, Berlin regained a large inner-city open space and one of the largest buildings in the world in a central location. Today, you can take beautiful walks on the former tarmac. Tempelhofer Feld has become an exciting park. The expanse is impressive, the horizon distant and it is easy to understand why the area is now called Tempelhofer Freiheit.