Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Last Flight from the Tempelhof

Associated press reported that the last plane left from Berlin, Germany's historic Tempelhof Airport October 29th. Its history spanned World War II, the Cold War, and Germany's rebirth. Just before midnight, a DC-3 and a Junkers JU-52, both from the 1930s took off and the runway lights went off forever.

The future of the 900 acre site is still to be known.

It officially opened as an airfield October 1923, but had been used for flights before that. The current configuration and structure took place when Adolf Hitler decided to create an "air stadium" with massive stone blocks and pillars, along with 49 buildings, 7 hangars, and 9000 offices.

During World War II, German fighters scrambled from it to intercept Allied bombing strikes.

In 1948, it played a central role in the Berlin Airlift when the Allies supplied West Berlin with the food and necessities to keep it going after land transportation was cut off by the Soviets.

Here's Hoping They Keep Some of the Structures. --Old Coot

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