Tempelhof to close

[Paul Clerkin]

Final call for grand Nazi airport that saved Berlin from starvation

ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN


IT WAS used by Adolf Hitler as the springboard to barnstorm around the country in the days before he seized power. At the height of the Cold War it fed the city when it was encircled by the Soviet Union during the Berlin Airlift.

Now Tempelhof Airport in the centre of the city, the last vestige of the Nazi regime’s grand civil engineering projects, will close in October.

When it was built between 1937 and 1941 it was hailed as one of the wonders of the modern world, second only in size as an office complex to the Pentagon. The airport was part of Hitler’s architect Albert Speer’s grand plans for the German capital.

According to Hitler, Berlin was to become the capital of Europe and be renamed "Germania" by 1950, with Tempelhof being the continent’s main airport.


http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=614972004

[Hugh]

One of the most evocative places on earth. See this from 1999:

http://www.hughpearman.com/articles/tempel.htm

[Paul Clerkin]

Brief bio of architect (translated from German)

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/SagebielErnst/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DErnst%2BSagebiel%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8

[Erkki Mikola]

see http://www.europe-air.culture.fr/europe-air/uk/fr-temp.htm

and

http://www.flughafen-berlin-tempelhof.de/home-engl.html

[Paul Clerkin]

Interesting piece
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,451212,00.html

and photo gallery
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,17944,00.html