Suspicious Berliners have succeeded in their struggle to keep the city’s famous airport, Tempelhof, out of the hands of developers.
Tempelhof is probably best known to people outside of Germany as the airport where the 1948 Berlin airlift kept West Berlin alive and out of the clutches of the USSR.
After air traffic ceased there in 2008, the whole area was converted in 2010 into a vast public park, well used and loved by citizens for jogging, flying kites, barbecues, yoga and allotment gardening.
But the value of the land was not lost on developers who developed plans to use some of it, leaving 230 of its 300 hectares untouched. City planners announced ideas for new commercial areas and offices, nearly 5,000 new apartments, some affordable, and a large public library.
Wary of “empty promises, no guarantees”, enough signatures were gathered to force the city government to hold a referendum. Despite the media backing the developers during the months of debate, a clear majority of 64% voted to keep Tempelhof untouched.
Tempelhof’s position in central Berlin guarantees a high value on the land. “No other city would treat itself to such a crown jewel [of open space],”according to the state company running the site. “There’s 300 hectares there. Monaco is 200.”
The Tempelhof Conservation Act prohibits construction anywhere on the former airfield and allows only limited development but Berliners were given until mid-March to propose ideas for recreational development although any new buildings or such things as public toilets and changing rooms for sports were already ruled out.
Some existing buildings are in use, including the radar tower which monitors flight traffic. The vast terminal, dating from the Nazi era, is mostly leased out with more than 100 tenants including the Berlin police, a kindergarten, a dance school and several theatres.
Some hangars have hosted major events, fairs, fashion shows and concerts. A Formula E race is scheduled for May.
Tempelhof’s history is long, beginning with Prussian army manoeuvres there in 1722, a Zeppelin flight in 1909 followed by eight laps flown by Orville Wright the same year.
German airline Lufthansa grew out of Tempelhof in the 1920s although they had to wear swastikas on their livery from 1933 to 1945. By 1930 there were more passengers using Tempelhof than any other airport in Europe.
The 1948-49 Berlin airlift saw plane landing day and night every two minutes to thwart the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin.
