Tempelhofer Flughafen

Description:

• The destruction of many of Berlin's buildings during the War did not bother Hitler's architects. They wanted to transform the face of the capital in any case. One of the great projects that bears testimony to their megalomanic plans is Tempelhof Airport, built in the years 1936-1941. The brown stone building is over one kilometre long, and is one of the longest buildings in Europe. It was here that American cargo planes landed with food for starving West Berliners in the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49. During the Cold War, it was an important US airforce base and remained Berlin's main airport until the opening of Tegel Airport in 1975. Nowadays, however, it is merely a minor airport concentrating on domestic and business traffic. Rumours of closure have circulated for years, but its location close to the new headquarters of the German government could yet save it.
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