Berlin Photo Gallery - Tempelhof Airport

During the 1930s, design work was under way to build the biggest airport in Europe at the time. It included a 1.2km-long curved building cladded in natural stone. Built to impress, it was actually never completed due to World War II. After the war, the US air force used the field and civilian traffic returned in 1951. The check-in hall was finally completed in 1962 and became West Berlin's airport. However, it couldn't accommodate the newer jets and eventually a new airport was built in Tegel, while the US air force and small aircrafts continued to use Tempelhof until 2008, when it closed for good. Today, the air field has turned into a huge park, which is a bit of the walk east of Platz der Luftbrücke U-bahn station. There is even a small container home community here housing Ukrainian refugees. A bit short on time, I couldn't take advantage of the guided tours that would provide a lot more information about this vast site and its monumental architecture.