TL;DR the buildings are mostly used, mostly by government agencies and the green space is mostly a public access park.
The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
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Re: The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
#12Every once in a while, you can visit Tempelhof. I have visited it some time ago and really enjoyed the main hall. It's in pristine condition, with the old signs and typography.
Tempelhofer Feld is also part of the Berlin experience, half way between a park and an open air festival, used simultaneously by picnickers, cyclists, skaters, gardeners, DJs, kite surfers, drone pilots and just about everyone else.
There have been talks of building on top of it, but I can't think of a better example of a public good worth preserving. It's one of the rare places where you are allowed to exist without spending a dime.
Tempelhof was also the stage of the Berlin Airlift [0], a fascinating moment of Berlin's history.
Re: The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
Make sure to visit it in Spring/Summer! The place is very lively with joggers, bikers, wind surfers, BBQs (although it is now banned because of lockdown I think), and tons of people just lying around and chatting. I understand that people needs houses but, I would consider letting go and demolishing this park would be as bad as demolishing Tiergarten. People need green spaces and parks as well.
I don't get why they won't plant trees there, could help to cool the part of Berlin down.
That's indeed a problem there. I was there for a walk on a cold and windy day. After walking for a while, we wanted to go back, and it turned out horrible, because back was against the wind, and there is nowhere to hide from the wind. Sure, you will not leave civilisation here, but trees would help.
They probably don't plant any because when they finally do decide to build a new residential quarter, they'd also have to fight against tree savers. And probably there's a regulation that for each tree you fell, you need to plant a new one. So better not plant too many trees without good reason...
Re: The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Make sure to visit it in Spring/Summer! The place is very lively with joggers, bikers, wind surfers, BBQs (although it is now banned because of lockdown I think), and tons of people just lying around and chatting. I understand that people needs houses but, I would consider letting go and demolishing this park would be as bad as demolishing Tiergarten. People need green spaces and parks as well.
> I understand that people needs houses but, I would consider letting go and demolishing this park would be as bad as demolishing Tiergarten. People need green spaces and parks as well. On top of this, as the article alluded to I'm dubious of what kind of apartments would be built. The kind of people who really need housing in the city are likely not going to benefit from whatever developers would do with the space.
Berlin is getting pretty good with mandating social housing.
But still, there are probably many places in the city that could be built over first before Tempelhof.
Re: The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
#15I remember walking through Tempelhof when their appeared to be a sort of cycling event on. It might have been a regular thing, but it was fairly incredible. A single massive continuous swarm of people of all ages looping the airfield, on bikes, trikes, recliners, even velomobile. There was a tandem towing a trailer with two kids in it. It was crazy.
Re: The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
#16Wow, I've always wanted to visit this airport, glad to read that they're not going to tear it down. In 2016 Conan O'Brien went there, because the airport was being used to house refugees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j39oTM2DLGs . According to the German Wikipedia article of the airport, this use would only be limited for 3 years until the end of 2019, but there were also a lot of protests against it.
Make sure to visit it in Spring/Summer! The place is very lively with joggers, bikers, wind surfers, BBQs (although it is now banned because of lockdown I think), and tons of people just lying around and chatting. I understand that people needs houses but, I would consider letting go and demolishing this park would be as bad as demolishing Tiergarten. People need green spaces and parks as well.
BBQ is allowed again :-)
Re: The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Make sure to visit it in Spring/Summer! The place is very lively with joggers, bikers, wind surfers, BBQs (although it is now banned because of lockdown I think), and tons of people just lying around and chatting. I understand that people needs houses but, I would consider letting go and demolishing this park would be as bad as demolishing Tiergarten. People need green spaces and parks as well.
BBQ is allowed again :-)
Now I know what I am doing next weekend.
Re: The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
#18I remember walking through Tempelhof when their appeared to be a sort of cycling event on. It might have been a regular thing, but it was fairly incredible. A single massive continuous swarm of people of all ages looping the airfield, on bikes, trikes, recliners, even velomobile. There was a tandem towing a trailer with two kids in it. It was crazy.
That was probably a critical mass event. It happens on the last Friday evening of every month.
Re: The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
#19Maybe I am a bit to critical or most people in Berlin central do not know this, but Tempelhof isn't even the mother of 'abandoned' airports in Berlin. That would be Johannisthal. Sure, it's even more abandoned so you barely see the remains of the runways and so on. But well, these days the parks are full enough anyways :)
Re: The Mother of All ‘Abandoned’ Airports (2015)
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't get why they won't plant trees there, could help to cool the part of Berlin down.
That's indeed a problem there. I was there for a walk on a cold and windy day. After walking for a while, we wanted to go back, and it turned out horrible, because back was against the wind, and there is nowhere to hide from the wind. Sure, you will not leave civilisation here, but trees would help. They probably don't plant any because when they finally do decide to build a new residential quarter, they'd also have…
I think that the open plain is what makes the Tempelhof Field what it is. If you want trees, Hasenheide is right next door, or you can go to any of the other forested areas. But for an really open place, there is no such place in the city. I agree that some tree cover at the sides could help against the traffic noise but the openness is what makes this place special.