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DDR-Flüchtlinge bei der Ankunft am Flughafen Berlin - Tempelhof zur Abfertigung von Sonderflügen
© ullstein bild - Czechatz

Symbol of freedom

The airlift and flight of many thousand people from the Soviet sector or GDR made Airport Tempelhof an international symbol of defence of freedom during the Cold War. At the same time, stars from films, fashion and politics brought long-lost “glamour” to West Berlin.

  • Airlift
    © ullstein bild - E & O

    Airlift

    The blockade of West Berlin by the Soviet Union was the first highlight of the Cold War. The Western Allies responded to the blockage of their land and waterways to Berlin with an airlift for supplying the population in west sectors of Berlin. Thus the Western Allies showed their determination to enter into Berlin for freedom and democracy.

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  • Vanishing point of Tempelhof
    © ullstein bild - Czechatz

    Vanishing point of Tempelhof

    Between 1952 and 1961, thousands of people left Soviet sectors of the city or GDR West Berlin every month in the direction of Federal Republic of Germany. Even refugees from East European countries initially headed for West Berlin.

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  • Gateway to the World
    © ullstein bild - dpa

    Gateway to the World

    When Airport Tempelhof is often referred to as “Berlin’s Gateway to the World”, it primarily means the airlift that linked West Berlin with the western zones and the rest of the world. It has especially characterised the history of the trapped West Berlin as an identity-creating event.

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  • Chronicle
    © Bodo Koch

    Chronicle

    From parade ground to international airport - an overview of the history of Tempelhof Airport

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  • National Socialism
    © ullstein bild

    National Socialism

    The history of the Tempelhof field also provides an insight into the ideology and reality of the National Socialist regime. The premises were a stage for propagandistic mass rallies and a location for the only official Berlin concentration camp. The new airport building with its characteristic features of NS architecture was used for arms production and forced labour during the Second World War.

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  • Aviation history
    © ullstein bild - A. & E. Frankl

    Aviation history

    The history of aviation in Tempelhof begins with gas balloons at the end of the 19th century. A few decades later, in the 1950s, the airport was already one of the largest in Europe in terms of passenger volume besides London and Paris.

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