This is a former airport that Berliners refused to let anyone develop. In a 2014 referendum, the city voted overwhelmingly to keep the 386-hectare site as open public space — no buildings, no housing, no shopping centres. Just an enormous flat field with two concrete runways where people now cycle, kite-surf, barbecue, and garden.
The airport building itself is one of the largest structures in the world — third by floor area when it was built. Nazi architect Ernst Sagebiel designed it in 1936 as a showcase for the Third Reich. The curved terminal building stretches over 1.2 kilometres, and the cantilevered steel canopy over the tarmac was designed so that passengers could walk from plane to terminal without getting rained on. Hitler wanted visitors arriving in Berlin by air to be immediately impressed. The architecture is monumental, intimidating, and deeply uncomfortable when you know who commissioned it.
But Tempelhof's finest moment was the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49. When the Soviets blockaded West Berlin, cutting off all road and rail access, the Western Allies flew in everything the city needed — food, coal, medicine — landing a plane every ninety seconds at the operation's peak. 2.3 million tonnes of supplies in eleven months. The 'candy bomber' Gail Halvorsen dropped small parachutes of sweets for children gathered at the fence.
The field is now one of the most unusual urban spaces in Europe — a runway where you can fly a kite next to a building designed for a dictator.
Verified Facts
In a 2014 referendum, Berliners voted to keep Tempelhof Field as open space without development
The terminal building stretches over 1.2 kilometres and was designed by Ernst Sagebiel in 1936
During the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift, planes landed at Tempelhof every 90 seconds at peak capacity
Gail Halvorsen, the 'candy bomber,' dropped sweets on small parachutes for Berlin's children during the Airlift
Get walking directions
Tempelhofer Damm, 12101 Berlin
