A sad day in aviation

[Dr.Bunsen Honeydew]

Tonight as of 23:00Z Berlin-Tempelhof, the worlds oldest airport still in operation, will be closed.

A friend of mine uploaded a whole bunch of pictures in recent months.

http://www.abpic.co.uk/results.php?q=Ralf+...st&limit=10

Ralf Manteufel lived for more than 40 years right at the eastern end of Tempelhof Airport. From the time of the Berlin Airlift untill 1998.

[zeke]

Why have they closed it? Surely there's still loads of air traffic that use it?

Excellent pictures by the way...

Edited October 30, 2008 by zeke

[T-Tango]

Brilliant photos, a sad loss indeed.

[Alan P]

Why have they closed it? Surely there's still loads of air traffic that use it?

Because all the cash is going to Schonefeld of course!

[wingslinger]

I remember, once, missing my Tegel flight out of Stuttgart and they put me on the last flight out to Tempelhof... we went screaming across the tarmac in a little car and straight up to the plane which was a Dash-7 or something. It had already run out to the runway and come back when they realised my bag was on it (the inbound flight was late and they took my bags straight to the connector but sadly made me jump through hoops to get to it).

I sat down next to the engine and watched it's pitch and speed change as we moved back out to the runway. I fell asleep as took off... and woke up as the plane was descending through dark rain clouds into the night of Berlin. I'd always flown into Tegel before so it was a whole new experience flying in close over the rooftops. Out of the windows you could see all of Berlin spread out below, the roofs got closer and closer until you dropped down into the 'bowl' of Tempelhof. The plane taxied in to the great sweeping terminal and deposited us out on to the tarmac.

I remember that it was late at night, I think we were the last flight in. As a German domestic flight it seemed that all but two of us had carry on luggage. So just two of us stood in the cavernous Terminal waiting for our bags. No one else around except a cleaner or so... Once the other guy got his bag I was alone. I remember that the Terminal was just enormous and echoing. Like everything in Berlin back in those days it felt like I was in a different era, a different time... I stood for a few minutes, all alone and then walked the length of the building to go through the front doors and out into Berlin. The rain soaked floor reflected the street lights and the taxis...

Like the backstreets of Mitte - Tucholskystraße and Oranienburgerstraße - It felt more as I imagined Berlin to be than anything I can remember.

[Kit's Kits]

Lovely post Wingsleader - thankyou - and got me thinking of my time in Berlin circa 1980. Oranienburgerstrasse was where I met a group of lads and lasses having a beer and I joined in with them, eventually and stupidly having a few too many, and back at one of the lads pads after a few glasses of vodka getting out my passport and offering it to them for free... They were decent though, and helped me back to the tube station to travel back through time to West Berlin. At the barrier I was allowed to proceed, they weren't. What you wrote brought it all back. I'll never forget the atmosphere of that divided city.

Shame about Tempelhof, great shame.

Regards,

Chris.

[Kit's Kits]

Great photos - just had a look. Thanks again.

Chris.

Edited November 3, 2008 by Kit's Kits

[Danny]

Was that the airfield used during the Berlin airlift?

[Dr.Bunsen Honeydew]

Yes, that´s the "american" one. The RAF used Gatow (closed 1994) as well as the Havel River and Wannsee lake for Sunderland operations, while Tegel was built out of nothing within two months in 1948.

Tempelhof was the place where the history of the "Berlin Candy Bomber" started.

The first RAF aircraft to land at Tempelhof after WWII was Dakota KJ994. It carried the british delegation for the signing of the ceasefire on 8 May 1945.

[GoonerChris]

I read this in The Times the other day. Berliners voted for it.

The city is now served by three airports, this one isn't needed plus the cost of running it is expensive.

It's an iconic building, of it's time and very atmospheric. It's been used countless times as a location in films, tv, etc.

Hopefully it will be preserved. It's a fabulous building despite who built it.

[Danny]

Yes, that´s the "american" one. The RAF used Gatow (closed 1994) as well as the Havel River and Wannsee lake for Sunderland operations, while Tegel was built out of nothing within two months in 1948.

Tempelhof was the place where the history of the "Berlin Candy Bomber" started.

The first RAF aircraft to land at Tempelhof after WWII was Dakota KJ994. It carried the british delegation for the signing of the ceasefire on 8 May 1945.

Thanks!

Danny