For the
last few weeks my posts have used the back drop of a technical paper by
Christine Heeb as a way to look at the cultural history of Tempelhof Airport in
Berlin. My intentions were not only to
learn more about the place I lived while I was stationed for nearly five years
in the 1980’s, but also to come back around to a series of posts I did last
year on the airport as a city park to see how this current use acknowledges the
history of this nearly 1,000 acre property.
I’ll
include a link to both of the sources for this post at the end – Heeb’s thesis
as well as the homepage for Tempelhof Freiheit.
One of the introductory paragraphs about the plan of the park introduces
the concept as follows:
The
present form of the open space is a transitional stage and starting-point for
what will be an ongoing development process. From this space, once used only
for airport operations, publicly developed, multi-use, structured urban
parkland will gradually arise.
As a park, Tempehof is organized around six themes,
which I’ve sourced below from the Tempelhofer Freiheit page. For me, there were many new facts in these
descriptions; for example I knew about the nearby mosque, and had heard the
Imam’s call to prayer many times there while out on runs along the airfield
perimeter, but I didn’t know about the Hindu center over at Hasenheide. I knew that there had been military production
at Tempelhof during World War II, but I didn’t know that forced labor was used
here.
·
Stage
for the new – With its unique history, its inner-city
location, and its impressive architecture, it has the power to inspire the
widest variety of emotions and memories.
At the same time, it is a spot that produces new ideas.
·
Clean
future technologies –
The interplay between nature,
economy, and urban life at this location is unparalleled. Tempelhofer Freiheit offers space for
information, events, and discussions. As a historical transit hub, it can again
become a space for experience and adventure, as well as, in the future, the
display of modern transport concepts.
·
Knowledge
and learning – The historical memory of Tempelhof is
imprinted above all by the period of the Berlin Airlift. …these acts of memory
must go beyond the Allied period, and include the National Socialism era.
Tempelhof Airport is also a symbol of totalitarian ideology. Thousands of
forced labourers were here used for military arms production, and Berlin's
first concentration camp, KZ Columbia, was erected here. The principle of
"knowledge and learning" is impossible without recalling both of
these aspects.
·
Sports
and health – Through the interplay of sports, leisure,
and recreation, Tempelhofer Freiheit can take on a special place in Berlin's
health landscape. Tempelhof
already offers the freedom associated with vast open space, and with the
planned expansion of its sports facilities, it will become a magnet for
visitors across the city.
·
Dialog
of religions – Many Christian churches sit in the
immediate vicinity of Tempelhofer Freiheit, as does Berlin's largest mosque. In
nearby Hasenheide stands the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple. Drawing on this experience, Tempelhofer
Freiheit will become a centre for interfaith dialogue. Catholics, Protestants,
Jews and Muslims aim to create the "Religion at Tempelhof Field"
association.
·
Neighborhood
integration – A key element of sustainable social urban
development is the inclusion of and participation by citizens. A project with
the dimensions of Tempelhofer Freiheit can only be developed carefully and
gradually. The closure of the airport and the opening of Tempelhof Park in May
2010 has already had an influence on the dynamics within the surrounding
neighborhoods, particularly in northern Neukölln.
For now, to wrap up the series briefly, I wanted to
use a tabular analysis to cross-reference Heeb’s historic research with these
new themes for the city park at Tempelhof.
Using the six major “eras” in the historic development of the land that
comprises the airfield, the table assesses whether there was some aspect of the
cultural theme that took place during those timeframes. In a future post, I will come back to this
table for reference, setting out a few of my memories about the Cold War era,
when I was stationed there.
I am out of time for today’s post, so this is
definitely something I’d like to get back to – I need to clean up this image, transferred from MS Word, and perhaps a couple of posts are
yet to come from this exploration. In
any case, here are links to the two main points of reference for this material.
About the new park: http://www.tempelhoferfreiheit.de/en/
Christine Heeb’s thesis: http://www-docs.tu-cottbus.de/whs/public/alumniplus/master_theses/christine_heeb.pdf
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