All Things Considered
Mood:
d'oh
Earlier this blog entry was about the potential closing of Berlins airlift airport , but then I discovered this...
FROM A NEWS REPORT...
Stretching for more than 600 yards along the north and west sides of the airfield in central Berlin, the Tempelhof airport building is second only to the Pentagon in size.
From the street, the 80-foot-high rectangular bastions that periodically break up the gray stone facade give the illusion of a walled, medieval town.
Yet even its gigantic dimensions don't come close to representing the airport's central place in Berlin's recent history. From an experimental airfield in the first years of the last century through its enlargement by the Nazis in the late 1930s to its role in the 1948-49 Berlin airlift, Tempelhof accompanied Berlin through the city's 20th Century tumult.
This fall, however, Tempelhof's ride is to abruptly end; Berlin has decided to close the airport.
...in 2004!
Link to a story about an effort to bring about a Berlin written declaration that would stop the Tempelhof airport from closing.
200,000 Berliners have said YES and 400,000 more are needed to participate to force the vote, now set to be held on April 27.
After which, the officials would be obliged to "re-consider".
BERLIN AIRLIFT LEGACY
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Born in 1972, Dr. Schmitz studied History of Art, Philosophy, and Linguistics in Aachen and Berlin.
He wrote a book (a monograph) about the airport in the German language.
"Tempelhof airport is extremely important to the history of Berlin,"
"It is one of the few airports in the world that is really deeply intertwined with the history of the city it serves. I think the city will really miss Tempelhof airport when it is gone."
In a recent editorial, the influential German daily Die Welt put it this way: "Without Tempelhof, the Cold War would have ended much differently."
Follow the link from his web site to buy one...
Before it was turned into an airport, Orville Wright from Dayton Ohio used the field in 1909 where the airport was later to be built to test flight marking first
time Germans and Berliners would see motorized flight ...see a old company document
here.
New York Times from August 20, 1909, Friday
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See also
"Operation Little Vittles"
at URL google.com
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Posted by mach1231
at 11:59 PM PDT
Updated: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:11 PM PDT
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