A blanket of snow covered the vast, flat runway – there would be no planes taking off today. Actually – there will be no planes taking off from Tempelhof airport ever again. The famous airport that was used during world wars and the cold war was shut down in 2008 – but it’s legacy lives on in various ways.
The uber traveler in me has always been intrigued by the thought of an abandoned airport. I had heard so many things about Tempelhof park in Berlin that I was quite excited to finally see it. I envisioned me running around the open, flat, empty runway – a unique experience any intrepid traveler would dream about. However when I woke up, looked out my window and saw Berlin blanketed in snow yet again – my visions of running down the runway were dashed. Maybe a snowman on the runway instead?
Looking forward – not backward.
You can easily learn about all of the fascinating history of Tempelhof – from its beginnings to WWII, to Cold War airlift, to commercial airport. However, instead of looking back I want to look forward into what the future holds for this vast structure and park. City development and infrastructure fascinate me – especially in Berlin – a city with so many abandoned and run down structures. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people about Berlin’s gentrification and development issues during my month in Berlin. However I find Tempelhof to be the place with the most exciting potential in Berlin – and that’s why I want to look forward.
I was led around the airport by Martin, one of the PR people from Tempelhof Projekt – a company the Berlin parliament founded in 2010 to manage the urban development project. The Tempelhof Projekt has a big task ahead of them – repurposing the Tempelhof buildings and area for Berlin while trying to keep the public happy. As we all know, this is about impossible – but I was impressed with their plans and progress up to this point.
The Plan
The overall plan focuses on social, cultural and economic diversity in the development. Currently there are really two sections to this project – the Airport buildings and the Airport park/runways/green space. There are over 9,000 rooms in the various airport buildings as well as some large open spaces that are truly unique such as the Apron, the plane hangars, a basketball court , bowling alley, and the main hall. The buildings are already kept up and used for business trade shows, concerts, conventions, and fashion shows. This unique space is perfect for earning revenue and having some truly huge events.
Tempelhof Projekt has further plans to do new development around the edges of the runways/park adding some housing, business offices, a library, as well as a café on the roof which bring it back to the roof’s original purpose – a viewing area for the public. This work of course needs to be approved by the city and is still a few years from getting off the ground (no pun intended!) – it’s projected for 2016.
The runway/park area is another story – it includes 360 hectares of land – a big space and a very flat, treeless space currently. The old runways are a focal point and no changes are intended to take away the airport feel – but instead enhance around the edges. They want to add aprox. 1,500 trees to the perimeter areas and add a few more walking paths that work with the current runways and open space. They are also planning to add a water basin that will collect the gallons of rainwater runoff and funnel it into the landscape. Some of these park projects have been approved to begin as soon as this year with some of the tree plantings and water basin.
I’m most excited about what they are planning with the park – as I looked over the snowy field – I tried to imagine such a vast space all green and filled with kite boarders, runners, walkers, families, and pets. Even on this snowy day there were a couple of kite surfers and walkers – I can only imagine the summer months!
The Opposition
Of course not everyone thinks this plan for Tempelhof is a good one. Some Berliners are worried that the park will be overdeveloped and will drive the prices up around the area making it unaffordable to the long time residents of this community. Classic gentrification concerns. I too would hate to see any of that happen – however I do think that the some progress and change is necessary for the space to really thrive and make it a real community gathering place that honors the original structure and purpose of the land.
The proposed changes are going through the proper political hoops now so we’ll see where all of this urban planning really ends up in the next few years.
The Future
As I walked around in this massive empty structures – I felt like I was on a film set. I kept on imagining Borne Identity being filmed here, or Leo DiCaprio filming Catch Me If You Can. There’s something intriguing about big empty buildings – they make you realize how important people are to bring things to life.
Walking around the grounds and the buildings with Martin made me think about the success of the New York City High-Line and the years of indecision around it. Now many of the people in NYC embrace it as a wonderful green space and tourist landmark. These types of community projects that preserve the history are a win/win for everyone normally. I can’t wait to come back in a few years and see what type of progress happens at Tempelhof.
And if you want to see what an empty airport looks like – then check out the daily tours that are run through the buildings here:
Public tours – www.tempelhoferfreiheit.de/en/visit/tours/building-tours/public-tours/
Development tours – www.tempelhoferfreiheit.de/en/visit/tours/building-tours/special-tours/
General Information – www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Tempelhof_Airport
During my stay in Berlin I was a guest of Go with Oh who furnished my apartment in Friedrichshain. I was also a guest of Tempelhof Projekt Projekt for this Tempelhof tour. However all of the opinions expressed here are my own.
Sherry Ott is a refugee from corporate IT who is now a long term traveler, blogger, and photographer. She’s a co-founder of Briefcasetobackpack.com, a website offering career break travel inspiration and advice.
Additionally, she runs an around the world travel blog writing about her travel and expat adventures at Ottsworld.com.com.
