FAQ

The size of the former airfield with the building is 355 hectares. The Tempelhof Field takes up 300 hectares and the airport building with its concrete apron and outdoor areas 55 hectares.

The airport building is about 1.2 km long. It has a gross floor area of 300,000 m², of which about 200,000 m² is usable. As a traffic infrastructure building, the Tempelhof airport has many technical and traffic areas (approx. 100,000 m²).

There are 7,266 rooms in the airport building, although it should be noted that many are technically functional rooms for operating an airport. In addition, there are 44,000 keys and 818 restrooms for the airport building.

As early as the beginning of the 20th century, well-known aviation pioneers conducted their first flight tests here. In 1923, the site opened as "Tempelhof Airport." The first airport building on the eastern Tempelhof field was constructed from 1926. This was soon no longer sufficient. 1936 is the start of construction for the current airport building.

Investigations of the building material, which began in 2018, revealed an unexpectedly high need for renovation of the entire building. This relates primarily to the supporting structure, fire protection and the remediation of pollutants. Extensive renovation measures will be necessary in the coming years. You can find out more about the upcoming refurbishment here.

The airport building accommodates more than 80 lessees from a wide range of industries, from the Chief of Police to a dance school. Approximately one-third of the building is unrenovated and will be gradually developed over the coming years.

Since its opening in May 2010, the Tempelhof Field has been intensively used for recreational activities. Here you can inline skate, barbecue, jog, fly kites, walk dogs, etc.

The State of Berlin must adhere to the requirements of the State Budget Code and therefore generally conducts appropriate tenders for services. A transparent and comprehensible procedure for awarding space for art and cultural uses is also currently being developed. It is also under consideration to develop further conceptual procedures for other areas .

As a result of the 2014 referendum, the Tempelhof Field Act was passed to preserve the field as an open space and to delineate responsibilities for the building and the field by the companies Tempelhof Projekt GmbH and Grün Berlin GmbH, as well as to visibly separate the airport building from the field with a fence. However, the company's long-term goal is to open the fence so that the field and building are once again connected in an ensemble.

To hold an event at THF, the concept must meet certain criteria and be compatible with the ongoing construction work and the preservation of historic monuments. Concepts that fit in with the cultural and creative location are given preference. In principle, each event organizer pays rent so that TP can compensate the expenses of the State of Berlin for the redevelopment of the site at least to some extent. Examples of events include the Golden Camera, Position Art Fair Berlin, Formula E, VELO Berlin, (Half) Marathon, Expo Berlin ... You can find information about upcoming events here.

It is intended to open the building to the public in the long term. In particular, the ground floor should get public uses and there should be a passage to the field. However, it will be some time before this happens, as the building must first be renovated to make it safe. The first opening projects will be the Tower and the Head Building West and the walk-through roof gallery.

Various guided tours of the building will give THF visitors their first insights. The tours start at the CHECK-IN visitor center, which opened its doors in February 2020.

Total financing requirement 2 billion euro.

The Tempelhof airport is the largest architectural monument in Europe and one of the few remaining monumental buildings from the national socialist era. As a document of 20th century aviation, architecture and construction technology, it has been listed as a historic monument since 1995. The combination of the handling area and hangars under one large roof is unique.

Another special feature of the Tempelhof airport is that the site combines the most diverse stages of Berlin's urban history: From the maneuvering area to one of the first commercial airports in the Weimar Republic, to the monumental expansion and military use (production) of the airport during the NS era, the Allied military presence after World War II and the supply of the divided city through the airlift in 1948/49, to the end of civilian use of the airport in 2008. More recently, the juxtaposition of major events, emergency refugee housing and recreational activities characterize this unique site, whose future role in the mental space of urban society is still uncertain.

• The largest architectural monument in Europe
• Document of aviation, architecture and construction technology of the 20th century (in 2011 the building received the award: Landmark of Engineering)
• With the 1948-49 airlift, the airport became a symbol of the people's aspiration for freedom in West Berlin ("gateway to the world").

All areas that can and may already be used are currently leased.

In the coming years, the Tempelhof airport is to become an experimental site and a new urban quarter for art, culture, creative industries and public uses. It will also become a tourist magnet with the opening of the visitor center, the tower and the history gallery.

However, the 80-year-old building is in very poor structural condition. Before it can be used, both the structural facilities and the infrastructure must be renovated and secured to meet current legal requirements for fire protection and structural engineering, for example. This gradual general renovation of the building will therefore take the next fifteen years.

The airport building should be safe for all future tenants and offer optimum conditions of use.

In order to ensure transparency and equal opportunities when renting out the space, criteria for the allocation of this space will be drawn up and put out to tender in a transparent conceptual process. Information regarding this matter will also be available on our website in due course.

Every day, we receive many inquiries about parking on the airport grounds. Although the area is obviously very large, parking spaces are nevertheless limited. Due to extensive construction work, which will occur frequently in the future, it will be necessary to relocate existing parking spaces, thus further exacerbating the parking situation.

All parking spaces on the airport grounds that can be made available by Tempelhof Projekt GmbH are currently rented. For this reason, we kindly ask you to refrain from inquiring regarding parking possibilities. We will inform you here as soon as capacities become available again.