The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape

by Brian Ladd

The airport was one of the largest Third Reich structures to survive the war, and the emphatic link between the Reich capital and air travel, as embodied in Tempelhof, was arguably a major Nazi contribution to city planning. But the growth of air transport was not unique to Nazis or dictators, so circumstances quickly weakened the link between Tempelhof and its creators. During the years of division, Tempelhof airport became associated with the U.S. military presence, since it served as the Americans’ airfield—exclusively so from 1975 to 1990, when Tegel airport handled all civil air traffic. More notably, Tempelhof was the most prominent site of the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49: the “raisin bombers” landing there brought West Berliners much of their food and fuel for eleven months. Since 1951 the approach to the terminal, now named Airlift Square, has been marked by a soaring monument commemorating the airlift. One further event in the history of the building reveals how completely it has become associated with German-American friendship.