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| My interest in Tempelhof Airport stems from my USAF enlistment - I was stationed there from 1981-1986. |
During some random web surfing about Tempelhof Airport in
Berlin, I came across a thesis from 2007.
It was written by Christine Heeb at Brandenburg University of Technology,
Cottbus, in pursuit of a Master of Arts in World Heritage Studies. The paper is titled A multifaceted monument
– the complex heritage of Tempelhof Central Airport, and there is a lot of
information here to digest. My plan is
to refer to Ms. Heeb’s thesis from time to time as the source of a couple of posts,
starting with today.
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| Here is a post WW II photo of Head Building East, the eastern end of the main Tempelhof building. My room, from 1984- 1986 was in the center part of the second row of windows from the top in this view. |
Ms. Heeb’s interest is in the cultural heritage of
Tempelhof, extending far back in history to the origins of the site’s use. In 2007, at the time she wrote the thesis,
she lived in Neu-Tempelhof, close by the airfield, and she had lived in the
vicinity of the field since 1974. She
writes, “…’Tempelhofer Field’, the area where the airport is situated, has a
history of its own – related to military use and early aviation – which prepared
the ground for the initiation of the first Tempelhof Airport, the predecessor
of the current airport complex.” For the
purpose of her paper, she divides the history of the airport into “TCA I”
dating from 1923, and “TCA II” as dating from the 1935 design by the National
Socialists.
Referring to the layout of Ms. Heeb’s paper, I will draw
from five areas – pre-airport times, the first use as an airport (TCA I) and the
Third Reich era (TCA II), The Berlin Airlift, The Cold War era (which is when I
lived there), and finally, the cultural significance of the airport from her
view, as it was entering the last years of its use as an airport. I’ll post these as they’re ready over the
next few weeks, with the title “Tempelhof Airport’s Cultural History” – and of
course they will be tagged with the label Berlin –Tempelhof, which will take
you to quite a few other posts about the place, if you are interested.
If you’re interested, Christine Heeb’s thesis can be found
here:
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