The traces of history

The history of Tempelhof Airport is many-layered. Pioneers wrote chapters of aviation history here; with the Berlin Airlift, Allied aircraft gave Tempelhof a leading role in Cold War mythology, turning the airport into an internationally known symbol for the defence of freedom.

 

Meanwhile, the broader public has largely forgotten that the National Socialists established Berlin's only official SS concentration camp, on the grounds of this former airport. The site was critical to the war effort, with forced labourers from German-occupied countries put to work building and servicing combat aircraft.

 

The Senate Department for Urban Development has convened a panel of experts tasked with further revealing and exploring the historical traces of the Nazi years here at the former airport grounds, as well as those of other periods. At regular intervals, experts – both professionals and knowledgeable community members – will meet to discuss the appropriate way to deal with the history of this important site.

 

Participants include, among others:

 

Dr. Gundula Bavendamm - Allied Museum

 

Prof. Dr. Dirk Böndel - German Museum of Technology Foundation

 

Bettina Effner - Berlin Wall Foundation / Marienfelde Refugee Centre Museum

 

Association for the remembrance of Nazi crimes on and around the Tempelhof airfield

 

Dr. Christine Glauning - Topography of Terror Foundation/Nazi Forced Labour Documentation Centre

 

Tenant Advisory Service Chamissoplatz e.V.

 

Prof. Dr. Günter Morsch - Brandenburg Memorials Foundation

 

Prof. Dr. Andreas Nachama - Topography of Terror Foundation

 

Prof. Dr. Johannes Tuchel - German Resistance Memorial Centre Foundation

 

Petra Zwaka - Tempelhof-Schöneberg Museums

 

The authors of the texts that can be read here are members of this team. Under the auspices of the Berlin Forum for History and the Present, among other organizations, Prof. Dr. Stefanie Endlich, Monica Geyler-von Bernus and Beate Rossié have produced a historical commentary on the Olympic Stadium park, and are currently designing a history trail as a first step towards historical development of that site. The Berlin Forum is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1991 by museum professionals, cultural studies scholars, historians and urban planners. The authors would like to thank all scholars and authors whose previous work has made this website on the history of Tempelhof Airport possible.

 

These texts represent only the beginning of the exploration of the historical traces inscribed in the former Tempelhof Airport's past. The offerings will be continuously expanded.