Tempelhof Airport still is associated with the cold war, the resistance against stalinist extortion and the stamina of the Berlin people. Until last October there were still regular flight operations, although not on a grand scale. Nevertheless this intriguing city airport was still popular among businesspeople and private pilots alike. Even the nearby residents took pride in “their” Tempelhof.
The political decision (seemingly prepared long ago) to shut it’s operations down seems not understandable unless one considers the trauma of old communist cadres. The succesful breach of the “Berlin blockade” left a thorn in their flesh; they regained influence in Berlin politics and now Tempelhof was closed even though noone had any plan how to use this area. (The operations still earned some money and the huge hangars were very popular for start-up companies.)

The City of Berlin launched several competitions to find a new use of this huge free space in the heart of this metropolis and these marvelous illustrations (Pauls! He’s the man!) show some propositions how parts of these grounds could be used.