The German Way: Life in Austria, Germany, Switzerland

Germany > Berlin > Airlift > East Side Gallery > Berlin Photos/Links
 

Die Luftbrücke | The Berlin Blockade & Airlift

It was the Cuban missle crisis of its day. The building of the Berlin Wall may be more famous, but few Berlin events brought about as much world tension as the Berlin Blockade of 1948-1949. The Allied reponse to that Russian attempt to take over all of Berlin was one of the greatest events of the Cold War.

The Soviet Union’s occupation zone included the eastern section of Berlin as well as the East German territory surrounding the city. West Berlin, occupied by Britain, France and the United States, was a land island completely surrounded by what was known in German as die Ostzone (the East Zone).

Airlift memorial
This memorial to the Berlin Airlift stands in front of Tempelhof Airport. It’s bigger than it looks! Larger view. PHOTO © Hyde Flippo
In 1948 there had been ongoing tensions over Allied moves to create a single economic zone out of the British, French and American zones. Following the introduction of the new Deutsche Mark currency for the western zones in June, Josef Stalin thought he could squeeze the Allies out of Berlin completely by declaring the governing four-power Kommandantur invalid and blocking all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin. On June 24, 1948 the Russians officially blockaded all rail, road and waterway traffic into Berlin. It was Stalin’s intention to strangle the city into submission.

What Stalin had failed to anticipate was U.S. President Harry Truman’s stubborn “the-buck-stops-here” determination to thwart any communist takeover. Nor were the West Berliners prepared to give in to the Russians. Two days after Stalin’s blockade began, Allied aircraft began flying supplies into the city. On June 26, 1948 the Berlin Airlift—die Luftbrücke (air bridge) in German—began operation. Everything the Berliners needed to survive — from groceries to gasoline—would come to them only by air until the end of September 1949. The airlift lasted over 15 months and cost more than $224 million.

Tempelhof Airport
Tempelhof closed down as a working airport in October 2008, but during the many months of the Berlin Airlift the airport was ground zero. A U.S. or British plane landed there every few minutes (and later also at another airfield that had been built just for the airlift, today’s Tegel, Berlin’s main airport). There were no giant Galaxy transports in those days. Most of the supply flights were made by tiny C-47s (DC-3s). The “big” planes were four-prop C-54s (DC-4s). But over two million tons of goods were flown into Berlin in a huge logistical operation under the command of the American General Lucius D. Clay. A veteran C-54 aircraft stands at the edge of Tempelhof Airport today as a silent witness to the events of 1948-49. This classic four-engine “Rosinenbomber” (“Raisin Bomber” or “Candy Bomber”) is its own small memorial to the Airlift. (See photos.)

Today there is a struggle going on over the fate of the historic Tempelhof terminal (the third largest building in the world), designed by the Nazi architect Ernst Sagebiel and built from 1934 to 1936. With the planned opening of Berlin’s new Berlin Brandenburg International (BBI) airport in 2011, the German capital wants to have a world-class airport worthy of a major European city. It will also close Tegel, but the city was being crushed by the millions of euros it took to keep Tempelhof operating as an inner-city commuter airport. Long before it closed, the terminal looked abandoned — with few flights and its huge passenger hall virtually deserted.

Back in 1999 Tempelhof was made part of the architectural project “Europa der Lüfte, drei Flughäfen der 30er Jahre”—which commemorated three European airfields of the 1930s: Berlin’s Tempelhof, Paris’ Le Bourget and Liverpool’s Speke. More recently, the Tempelhof terminal has also been proposed for listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (see link below), but its future status is very much up in the air. Berliners have been debating Tempelhof’s fate for over a decade without any agreement. The building is under landmark protection, but how it and its extensive grounds may be used in coming years is the big question. - Guided tours of the Tempelhof building complex are available by prior arrangement for a modest charge.

NEXT > Airlift Landmarks (Photos)

MORE > Tempelhof Airport Photos
MORE > Berlin City Guide

Germany > Berlin > Airlift > East Side Gallery

Web page Copyright © 1997-2009 Hyde Flippo

Related Pages - Berlin Airlift

This Site

The Web

NEXT > Airlift Landmarks

MORE > Tempelhof Airport Photos

Germany > Berlin > Airlift > East Side Gallery

Original Web content ©1997-2009 Hyde Flippo | Graphic design by Erik Flippo www.erikflippo.com
Hyde Flippo is solely responsible for the content of this site and, other than permission granted to publish copyrighted material, McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Publishing has no direct involvement, financial or otherwise, with this site. When in Germany, Do As the Germans ©2002 McGraw-Hill; The German Way ©1997 McGraw-Hill/Passport Books. All rights reserved | Site Map | Advertise with us!