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The Secret Tempelhof Airport Tunnels Just Outside Berlin!

By: Author Jim Vail

Posted on Published: 29 October 16  - Last updated: 2 January 24

Home » DIY Travel » Germany » The Secret Tempelhof Airport Tunnels Just Outside Berlin!

An extensive guide to the best tour of the Tempelhof airport tunnels in the city of Berlin. Because the Berlin Tempelhof is truly a one-of-a-kind experience!

The first time I went to Berlin was in the 1980s, during the cold war. At that time, the USAF was using Tempelhof airbase as its main base in the divided city.

That one huge building housed the entire Air Force Base: airport operations, maintenance facilities, commissary, a bowling alley, chapel, lodging, schools, even a basketball court.

It is a behemoth of a building, circular in design and several stories high with secret passageways, hidden bunkers, and, perhaps, even a ghost or two. Flash forward a few decades and we were back in Berlin , this time for a tour of this incredible iconic structure that is now a Berlin airport that is quite old.

In this article, you’ll learn about:

• Ghosts in the Tempelhof Airport Tunnels

Taking the Berlin Tempelhof Tour

Tempelhof airport tunnels practical information.

• Tempelhof Airport Tunnels Facts

Ghosts From The Past in the Tempelhof Airport Tunnels in Berlin?

According to our Tempelhof tour guide, Ernst, if you wander around the halls, tunnels, and passages of Tempelhof Airport at night you will encounter the ghosts of the past. And after our two hour walking tour through this interesting building, I’m fairly sure he’s right.

For us, it was just like visiting our own ghosts from travels long ago. We had been in Tempelhof before, in the early 1990s, and had a limited time to explore the building while it was still an active military installation. But for Corinne and I, both Cold War veterans, Berlin has always had a strong draw and taking a Tempelhof airport tour was especially high on our list.

Ghostly Opportunities at the Tempelhof Airport Tunnels

Tempelhof Hafen has been a symbol of Berlin from its beginning. First as the world’s premiere airport, it was a symbol of German efficiency and style. For Hitler’s Third Reich, it stood as a symbol of power and strength through air power.

During the Cold War and the Berlin Airlift the building stood as a symbol of freedom for the Western world. It does have its dark side, though. During World War Two, Tempelhof field was used as a forced labor camp where prisoners were forced to fabricate munitions in the deeper basements of the building.

We were very excited to get back to Berlin, Germany and even more excited to find that this historical Berlin airport is being preserved and tours are available of the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin!

On our first real visit several years ago, we stayed in the Air Force lodging wing of Tempelhof Airbase and explored that little section, just barely scratching the surface. The Berlin Tempelhof tour, one of the most fun things to do in Berlin , takes you on a journey through time to several levels within the building.

The tour starts in the main “airport” sections of the building. The reception hall for departures and arrivals is a grand meeting place, very airy and light. Though it wasn’t hard to imagine the spacious hall and long windows darkly festooned with the red, black, and white swastika flags of Nazi Germany hanging eerily in the tall windows.

Tempelhof During The Berlin Airlift

At one time, the Tempelhof Airport Berlin hangar space, built right into the massive building, was teeming with activity. Imagine a constant flow of aircraft, one every 10 minutes, as thousands of tons of food, medicine, clothing, coal, and other supplies were delivered non-stop.

Aircrews set the record for the most tonnage of airlifted cargo in one 24 hour period: nearly 13,000 tons of coal delivered through more than 1300 flights in one 24 hour period.

During the Cold War, Soviet-backed troops in East Germany built a wall around Berlin to blockade the “Western” controlled parts of the city in an effort to drive out American and British influence.

The response was to supply West Berlin entirely through airlift. The result was a constantly flowing air train of goods and supplies to keep the inhabitants fed and warm during the cold winter. The C-54 was the workhorse of the airlift and came to be known as the candy bomber after crews began air dropping small bundles of candy for the children of the city.

In any operation of this magnitude there were bound to be mishaps, and 39 British and 31 Americans lost their lives defending freedom and supplying the Soviet encircled city.

The Luftbrucke memorial was built at Tempelhof and Rhein Main as a remembrance to the aircrew and ground support personnel that died during the effort. I’m sure the ghosts of these men still walk the flight line at night, hoping to make one last cargo run for the people of Berlin.

Into the Depths on the Berlin Tempelhof Tour

With the flight line and airport operations area behind us we started to descend into the depths of the building. This is where things started getting really interesting.

I knew, from my explorations in the 1990s, that there were hidden passages and tunnels throughout the building. I just didn’t know to what extent.

We climbed down three or four levels of sub-basements and behind a defunct heating plant to find this decrepit passageway leading into the Nazi war staff bunker system.

The area had been burned out under Nazi orders and the commander killed himself here rather than surrendering to the approaching red army. If there was a haunted area of Tempelhof, this is surely it.

In another part of Tempelhof we found these old World War II air raid shelters. There were several self contained rooms, large enough to hold nearly a hundred men, women and children. 

I’m not sure what the meaning of these old German murals was, but I’m pretty sure they were meant to raise the spirits of the people that would spend long hours, night after night, in the shelters as bombs rained down on the city above.

Any Other Ghosts in the Tempelhof Airport Tunnels?

Did we find any ghosts on our tour? No, none that felt compelled to show themselves to us at any rate. Still there is a sense of loneliness in this once bustling building.

At one point we entered into the old gymnasium on one of the upper floors and found the basketball court still displaying the USAF squadron emblem emblazoned on the parquet wood floor at center court. The sound of running feet seemed to still be echoing in the cavernous room.

While the Berlin Tempelhof Airport is a very utilitarian building, the architect took great lengths to instill his sense of style that imparts a stately strength to the structure in the details inside and out. It’s easy to imagine the clattering footsteps of war time workers, clerks, secretaries, running up and down these stairs, some critically important dispatch in hand.

• The English guided tour takes approximately two hours with many steps to climb
• English tour dates are Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday
• We recommend buying tickets online, as it may be difficult to get to the tour office during normal operating hours.
• Nearest public transport –  bus 109 or U Bahn U6 to Platz der Luftbrucke
• For more information visit  https://www.thf-berlin.de/fuehrungen/english-guided-tours/
• Looking for more of the best attractions Berlin has to offer?

Tempelhof airport is an architectural wonder that came out of Nazi Germany and Hitler’s plan to transform Berlin into a utopian metropolis, all centered around the airport. If you ever get the chance to take a tour, do so, there are regular English tours daily.

A Cold War Trip to Berlin and the Tempelhof Airport Tunnels

The cold war rules of the day limited the number of planes we could have on the ground, so our aircraft taxied up to the open bays of Tempelhof and, engines still running, out I jumped, toolbox in hand.

I barely had time to take in the immensity of the building’s open face hangar bays before I was beckoned into the neighboring plane.

The one I had flown in on was already heading out to the runway by the time I climbed aboard the “broken” plane. I was sure I would be able to make repairs and then spend the night in Tempelhof, how exciting!

Unfortunately, it turns out the malfunction had cleared itself and the crew was in the process of checking things out just as I got there. The engines were already running! I watched Tempelhof recede into the distance as we taxied out and took off right behind the other C-130. All my hopes dashed!

Flash forward to 1990 and Corinne and I are on a road trip to Poland. Berlin is right along the route and since the Air Force still had its base in Tempelhof we had plans to spend the night there. My dream was soon to come true.

Driving up to this limestone and concrete colossus was even more impressive than flying in. Everything just seemed so massive, and our amazement continued even once we got inside and started climbing the grand staircase to the hotel reception.

The ceilings were incredibly high but even still, the number of stairs between the floors just didn’t add up. It seemed we were climbing two levels for everyone.

Once we had settled into the room I was ready to explore. We only had one night here and I wanted to see as much of this mythical building as possible. I took the girls, both small children at the time, and we went out for an adventure. Maybe we would find a forgotten room holding some stolen Nazi treasures.

Exploring the Passages of Tempelhof Airport Tunnels

It wasn’t hard to find the maintenance access that led to the floor between the floors. There were no signs that said visitors were allowed to proceed down the winding staircase behind the door but there weren’t any that said we couldn’t, so in and down we went.

There was a passageway lit only with bare incandescent bulbs spaced every 50 feet down a slowly curving hall that followed the shape of the building.

We found empty rooms, dusty furniture like old office desks and filing cabinets, there was even one area that opened up and had cots along the outer walls. We kept walking. The passageway narrowed and the lighting became dimmer and dimmer.

Soon it was nearly dark and I was wondering if I should really be down here with my young daughters. Still we were having the time of our lives, this was real adventure!

Up ahead, we were walking into pitch black when suddenly a bright red overhead light came on illuminating a mirror-faced door closing off the passageway. There was nothing else there save a big, blocky old-style telephone. Just as I was noticing the “Restricted Area” sign under the glass, the door swung open in the Tempelhof airport tunnels.

A scowling uniformed security policeman emerged holding an M-16. “Can I help you folks?” he asked gruffly.

“Umm, we were just looking for our room,” I stammered lamely in reply.

“You’ll have to come with me,” and he gestured back the way we had come.

One of the girls started to cry.

“Oh, don’t worry yourself little lady,” the guard said bending down with a huge grin. “I’m just going to help you find your way back out. People are always walking around down here. Don’t know why, though, it’s just a bunch of old junk.”

In the end, we had a pleasant enough conversation and he told us a few stories of people getting lost in the lower floors. It seems I’m not the only one who learns by peeing on fences!

Tempelhof Airport Tunnels, Berlin – Important Facts

If you’re wondering, “Where is Tempelhof Airport?” It sits in the south-central Berlin borough of Tempelhof and is only a 15-minute drive away from the center of the city.

At one point Tempelhof  was in the top 20 largest buildings on Earth, over 300,000 square meters

Airport operations began in 1927, making it one of the oldest airports in the world

The airfield has been turned into a massive city park open from sunrise to sunset, a great place for kite flying!

The current building was built in the 1930s during Hitler’s reign of terror

USAF operations closed and the building was handed back to a unified Germany in 1993

Civilian airport operations continued until 2008 when the airport was finally closed

After exploring all that Berlin has to offer, including Ritter Sport and the immortal Reichstag , take some time to explore the darker side of this amazing city during a Berlin Tempelhof tour. It makes a great day, especially when enjoying spring in Germany .

Author Bio: Jim Vail , is a travel, food, and video creator and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 15 years. For many years he lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands, and he’s visited over 90 countries.

Pin Tempelhof for later!

Monday 13th of May 2024

I tead the story so they have a policeman armed with an m-16 protecting a "bunch of old junk"?

Corinne Vail

Monday 20th of May 2024

This story was when they were actively using Tempelhof. Now it's just a museum. Those were the guard's words, not ours. Are you planning a trip to Berlin?

NICHOLAS F MILANO JR

Monday 12th of April 2021

I lived at Tempelhof for a year and a half 1966 to the end of 1967. I was with Army Aviation and lived in one of the Hangers. These pictures brought back memories. I could write a book on what went on back then.

Wednesday 14th of April 2021

Yes! Then you know how we felt walking through that old place. It was such a nostalgic feeling. We loved it.

Wednesday 28th of October 2020

I was stationed at Templehof with the 6912th 79-81 and we used to "borrow" the emergency lights off of the walls and explore the lowest confines under the base. Spooky stuff for sure! I firmly believe that there are ghosts at Templehof and had a scary incident one night going to visit my girlfriend after my shift "mid" shift had ended and I headed towards the women's dorms which were at the other end of the base. To get there you passed through a handful of hangers. They were dimly lit and with the curved walkways, you could not see very far ahead or behind. I distinctly heard boot steps walking yet no one was around. I got pretty spooked to say the least! Supposedly Nazi guards still walk the gang planks above the hanger floors!

Spooky stuff indeed! I only flew in to Tempelhof once and while it was still an active AF installation, but I remember looking up in the hangars and seeing those cat walks. I can just imagine those swastika'd guards walking slowly along and glaring down with their menacing machine guns.

Tuesday 28th of March 2017

Do you have a post about the cost of living? I am really curious as to what that is in Germany where you are living!

Wednesday 29th of March 2017

Greg, I'm sorry no. If you have specific questions, I could probably answer them.

Friday 25th of November 2016

Here's to Adventure!

Inside Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport

12/03/2017 by Kristin Addis 3 Comments

When I think about some of the most interesting and unique things to do in Berlin, regardless of weather or time of year, Tempelhof comes to mind.

It’s an old airport right in the city that has a fascinating history. What began as one of the busiest airports in Europe soon became a lifeline to West Berlin during the years that the city was divided, and t hese days it truly embodies the spirit of Berlin – repurposing something old into something quirky and cool. 

“Berlin is a pioneer in re-using buildings that were left over after the division of the city,” Tempelhof Projekt chief Gerhard W. Steindorf says.

I totally agree.

When the weather is fine, Tempelhof is a 300-hectare public space perfect for summer BBQs, kite surfing, and taking a stroll through the past.

The grounds are free to enjoy though the airport itself is also worth checking out, which can only be done on a guided tour these days.

It’s a treat for lovers of history. It feels stuck in time.

The Beginning

In the early 1920s, Tempelhofer Feld was a parade ground for troops on weekdays, and a leisure park on the weekends. The gigantic site was also used to test some of the first aircrafts in the world, and in the 1930s, it welcomed more passengers than any other airport in Europe .

When the Nazis came into power in 1933, it did not take long for them to take over the airport and turn it into a concentration camp that housed journalists, politicians, prominent Jews, communists, lawmakers, homosexuals and any other “undesirables”.

Hitler commissioned architect Ernst Sagebiel to design the airport in monumental Nazi style. The airport was never completed, but today, you can still see traces of what was installed at the site, including a reinforced concrete skeleton, and red scorch marks from the fire that took place at the end of the war on top of the window frames. Because of its enormous size, it was cited as the “ mother of all modern airports.”

It’s also where Lufthansa was founded.

The Berlin Air Lift

The Tempelhof airport played a significant role in Berlin’s separation. During WWII, when bombs fell on Berlin, people fled to the air-raid shelters in the airport . The airport was also converted into a combat aircraft and weapon making factory.

Shortly after the war, Germany’s defeat led to a division of Soviet, American, British, and French zones of occupation. This eventually segued into a Western and an Eastern, Soviet-occupied, sector, thereby contributing to the Cold War division of Europe. At that time, much of Berlin was nothing but rubble – more than 600,000 apartments were destroyed, and only half of the city’s original population remained.

Failing to come to an agreement on the country’s reunification, the Soviets blocked all road access between West Germany and West Berlin, essentially cutting off the occupation zone from the American, British, and French. The United States supplied West Berlin entirely by air over the next year, landing planes at Tempelhof filled with necessities for the people, until the Soviets lifted the blockade and allowed supply overland once again.

While normal contact resumed, the zone was still cut off from its Western counterpart, and basically reduced to a Soviet satellite. Thousands of East Germans began fleeing to West Germany to look for better opportunities on a daily basis. At that point, Tempelhofer Airport was the main departure point for the East Germans, until the infamous Berlin Wall was built overnight on 13 August, 1961, and officially separated Western and Eastern Berlin.

What was once Germany’s busiest airport is now one of the largest public spaces in Europe. The airport was closed to air traffic in 2008 and today, visitors fascinated by the airport’s history fill the park, which is now named Tempelhofer Freiheit, or Tempelhofer Freedom, though everyone just calls it Tempelhofer Feld.

For the most part, it’s a hangout now where locals have summer BBQs, and people fly kites, or wind surf on the old tarmac. It’s pretty cool, actually, to be walking through a city, to happen upon an old airport, and to see someone with a kite cruising down the asphalt just like planes did back in the day.

It’s also still possible to go inside the old airport, which appears stuck in time. You can sit on the conveyer belts, step behind the check-in counters, walk down the old staircases and into the various rooms of the airport, all of which is still decorated in the old style. It really does feel frozen in time.

Tours take place in English periodically throughout the week, which you can book here .

This is one of many weird and amazing things in the city of Berlin, where something old and something new seem to spring up all the time.

For more amazing things to do here, check out my full guide on what to do, eat, see, and where to stay in Berlin , and if you like stuff like this, be sure to check out Teufelsberg too, a street artist’s playground.

About Kristin Addis

Kristin Addis is the founder and CEO of Be My Travel Muse, a resource for female travelers all around the world since 2012. She's traveled solo to over 65 countries and has brought over 150 women on her all-female adventure tours from Botswana to the Alaskan tundra.

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12/03/2017 at 12:45 pm

I love history stuff like this! Good post!

12/03/2017 at 1:58 pm

This is so cool and love how you describe the history of Berlin so well and from the unique perspective of the airport (and how the airport transformed over the years including even being a concentration camp……love how it is now a place that embraces freedom for all). Many don’t realize what happened before the Berlin Wall was erected so very informative. In my current hometown, the airport is the reason the city has grown to be one of the biggest in the country, so airports really do have a lot of importance both economically and culturally. Anyway, when I get to go to Berlin one day, this is definitely near the top of my list of things to see, I am a history buff! I hope the tours give you time to look around!!

Ijana Loss says

12/05/2017 at 10:17 am

What a cool thing; I love how Germany doesn’t hide from their past at all, rather turning it into something positive

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Tempelhof Airport Tours

This post covers how to visit Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, including guided tours and a tour highlights section.

We also include ideas for things to do before and after your visit. 

• History and Overview
• Plan Your Visit
• Guided Tours
• Tour Highlights
• WW2 Sights of Berlin
• Free Tours in Berlin

HISTORY AND OVERVIEW

Tempelhof Airport is a retired airport (closed in 2008) that lies close to Berlin's city center.

Today, the airport is a recreation center and its terminal and its other buildings are used for offices, event space, guided tours, and as housing for refugees.

Tempelhof derives its name from the Knights Templar, who owned the land claimed by the airport today. 

The Prussian kings and eventually the German Kaisers used the land as military parade grounds, something the Nazis had planned on also doing.

Its earliest associations with aviation were in 1909, when among others, Orville Wright, conducted demonstration flights here.

Twenty years later, the first Tempelhof Airport was created.

However, the building that exists today owes its creation to the Nazi government.

They built the airport to serve as the grand gateway to Germania, the planned new German capital city.

Strangely enough, the Nazis would not use the airport for flights during WW2. Rather, the airport's buildings served as weapons and munitions factories.

During the Cold War, the airport served both civilian and military aircraft, with both the U.S. Air Force and Army Air Corp stationed here, and it was here that the planes that carried out the Berlin Airlift from 1948 - 1949 landed and departed.

This post is about what you will see on a guided tour . There are options in German and English.

We also present ideas for other activities that you could pair with your tour, such as places to eat.

Due to its connection to both WW2 and the Cold War, Tempelhof Airport is one of the stops on our Cold War and Third Reich Berlin self-guided tours.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

In this section, we detail how to get here and how to plan your day, especially if you are coming to take an English tour .

Tours last 2 hours. Expect to spend between 2-3 hours, especially if you plan on visiting the open field and/or the Berlin Airlift Memorial (Luftbruckedenkmal). 

HOW TO GET HERE

The tours begin from the GAT Terminal Tempelhofer Damm 1-7, 12107

No matter how you choose to travel here, we recommend using this Google Maps link for directions to the airport .

The GAT Terminal entrance is approximately a 3-min walk (250m) from the Paradestrasse U-Bahn Station.

Please read our guide to using Berlin's public transportation systems .

If you are considering purchasing the Berlin Welcome Card , then be aware that your transit ticket is already included at no extra charge.

Additionally, you get a 25% off on tours of the airport.

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS

If you are coming to take an English tour, then you will have time both before and after your tours to sightsee and eat.

Most visitors will access the airport via the U6 subway line. This line also services many top Berlin tourist attractions, including the following:

• Checkpoint Charlie
• The Topography of Terror
• Brandenburg Gate
• Holocaust Memorial
• Hitler's Bunker

Actually, you can easily visit many sights listed on our self-guided tour of Berlin's main sights.

For food, you could visit the Mall of Berlin.

Alternatively, you can use the morning to learn about a slightly off-the-beaten-path neighborhood of Kreuzberg and plan to have lunch in Bergmannkiez, which is a roughly 10-min walk from the airport. ( more information )

GUIDED TOURS

The Legend of Tempelhof

This tour is offered daily (except on Tuesdays) @ 13:30 (1:30 pm).

The tours last for 2 hours and cover the general history of the airport.

We detail what you will see on this tour in our " What You Will See " section below.

• €16.50 - Adult | €11 - Student | €11 - Children (6-14)
• @13:30 (1:30 pm) on Wednesdays and then from Friday through Sunday.
• There is a €1.50 charge for advanced booking.
• Get ticket information here .

This same tour is also offered in German

• @16:00 (4 pm) Mondays through Friday
• @13:00 (1 pm) on Fridays
• @12:00 pm and 15:00 (3 pm) on Saturdays and Sundays

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOUR

This is a description of the experience of the author.

According to Tempelhof's website, tours can be altered with little notice due to construction or events taking place at the airport. 

The tour begins just outside the visitor center entrance where you will get a brief overview and history of the airport.

One of the most interesting parts of the tour is when you are led out onto the tarmac. It's been just a decade since the last passengers walked the same path that you did.

It's just outside that you really get a sense of the enormous size of the airport.

From one end of the terminal to the other measures 1.3 km (almost 1 mile) and the airport covers a whopping 4 million sq. meters (roughly 43 million sq. ft).

Our tour guide told us that the airport is roughly 2x the size of the city-state of Monaco.

As of 2024, parts of the airport house refugees, mostly Ukrainian. Understandably, they are not part of this tour.

You are brought outside mainly for one reason, to get an up-close view of a Candy Bomber, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster, one of the star aircraft of the Berlin Airlift.

During the Berlin Airlift, the U.S. Airforce, alongside British Commonwealth aircraft, flew over 200,000 missions delivering food and supplies to West Berliners between June 1948 and September 1949.

So many flights came and went that at one point, we were told, that a plane landed here every 90 seconds all day and all night.

Several dozen American and British airmen, as well as roughly 30 German civilians, died as a result of plane crashes during the airlift.

There is a memorial to those who died outside of the airport (we mention this below). 

You will also walk through the main terminal of the building, where you will see the old baggage claim carousel and the check-in desks.

It was odd to discover that the Nazis didn't use Tempelhof as an airport during WW2, rather they produced warplanes and ammunition here. 

Due to damage during the war, much of this interior was rebuilt in the 1950s and '60s.

Our tour then proceeded to the deeper recesses of the airport, where we were led to view several bunkers, or what in German is called air protection rooms.

This is where local residents and factory workers and their families could go to protect themselves from a gas attack.

In many of these bunkers, you will find artwork from the children's books of Wilhelm Busch.

These were drawn on the walls to help provide a sense of comfort for the children trapped inside during the bombing raids and street fighting.

Several of the civilians hiding here in the airport's underground were killed by Soviet forces in the closing days of WW2, who mistook the civilians for soldiers or Nazi loyalists.

From the air-raid shelters, we then proceeded to the underground baggage center.

Another interesting stop on the tour is a visit to parts of the airport used by the Americans as part of their Air Force base.

You visit the airmen's lounge, including a bar, but also a basketball court.

The Americans were stationed at Tempelhof Airport from the end of WW2 until January of 1993.

The U.S. Army aviation forces were deactivated the very next year, ending an era of U.S. occupation in West Berlin.

Another interesting highlight of the tour is the visit to the airport roof, where you have a great view of the city, as well as, Tempelhof Feld (the runways).

Today, Tempelhof Feld is a large recreational park where you will see bikers, skateboarding windsurfers, and people enjoying picnics on nice days.

The Nazi government intended the airport to be a military parade grounds and designed the roofs of the airport to hold up to 70 thousand spectators.

They also planned to build embankments opposite the stands to accommodate an additional 40 thousand viewers.

And it's from up here that you can start to really understand the role that the airport was to play in the architecture of Germania. 

Lastly, we also visited the Great Hall, which today is stripped of its marble.

This was intended to be a reception hall and the gateway for arriving passengers to enter the new capital city, Germania.

However, it was never fully finished, and its marble was used to make repairs after a bombing at the airport.

There are 2 additional related items to mention that are not on the tour per see, but you are likely to see nonetheless.

The first is an eagles head, which was the symbol of the Nazis that they installed on top of the airport.

Since the eagle is also the national bird of the United States, the head was taken off, painted white (for a bald eagle), and left on the building.

Today, just the head can be seen mounted just outside the doors to the main terminal, which is where your tour officially ends.

Lastly, be sure to consider visiting the Berlin Airlift Monument, which is dedicated to the military personnel who lost their lives during this famous operation.

It is located in the Platz der Luftbruecke and the U-6 Station bearing the same name ( map ).

A 20 meters (65-foot) tall concrete sculpture commemorating the airlift.

It consists of 3 prongs, one for each of the air corridors that were opened during the operation, and the names of the roughly 70 servicemen, who lost their lives during the airlift.

That's it. Be sure to check out our free tours of Berlin .

Related Posts

• WW2 Sights and Museums in Berlin
• Free Berlin Walking Tours
• Things to Do in Berlin

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Guided Tempelhof Airport Berlin Tour - with unbiased reviews

Transportation | RTD trains will not run to the airport Tuesday…

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Transportation | RTD trains will not run to the airport Tuesday morning during A Line closure

The closure will last from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. tuesday.

Federally required work by the Union Pacific Railroad along the Regional Transportation District’s A Line — specifically at Dahlia Street and Quebec Street crossings — will shut down the commuter train between Union Station and Central Park Station, according to an RTD news release.

A Line trains will operate as normal between Central Park Station and the Denver Airport Station, and RTD bus shuttle service will be offered between Union Station and Central Park Station during the closure, the release stated.

Travelers can access the shuttle service at Union Station’s Gate B22, in front of the 38th and Blake Station, 40th and Colorado Station’s Gate B and Central Park Station’s Gate B3.

The partial A Line closure will last from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, with the first train for continuous service to DIA being scheduled to leave Union Station at 1:15 p.m., according to the release. The first train with continuous service to Union Station is scheduled to depart the Denver Airport Station at ­12:57 p.m.

Customers should allow extra time for bus shuttle transfers to and from the airport and can track the status of the next train online.

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Tempelhofer Feld Berlin

A park instead of an airport

The people of Berlin are delighted with their new, yet old-established recreation area. The former Tempelhof airport is now a public park.

The former Tempelhof airport is now a public park – and not for the first time in its history. Originally the Tempelhofer Feld Berlin was a parade ground. At the weekends and on public holidays, as soon as the military cleared the site, the locals would swarm in their thousands to Tempelhof to enjoy their leisure time. Whole families would come with their baskets full of food, deckchairs and sunshades to have picnics there. At the beginning of the 1920s, Tempelhof airport was built on the site. After the airport closed in 2008, the city of Berlin reclaimed the 386-hectare open space and one of the world's largest buildings in a central location for public use. 

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the Luftschloss

A wedding is planned, but the lovers' quarrel sparks a magical and exciting whirlpool into the depths of the forest and into the night. Humans become mythical creatures, fairies meet humans. Shakespeare classics with lots of live music  

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Today, the area has a six-kilometre cycling, skating and jogging trail, a 2.5-hectare BBQ area, a dog-walking field covering around four hectares and an enormous picnic area for all visitors.

Freedom for the entire family

On windy days, Tempelhofer Freiheit not only offers families the best place to fly a kite, but due to the many stretches of asphalt that were once runways among other things, and in the absence of any motorised transport, athletes big and small can safely practise skateboarding, in-line skating and bicycling or unicycling here. Dogs can also romp to their heart's content - without disturbing other visitors. Three fenced-in dog runs ensure that animals and humans won't get in each other's way. You can marvel at even more urban nature in the urban gardening section , where residents and others grow lettuce, carrots and tomatoes on raised beds.

On the trail of history

The history of Tempelhofer Feld goes back more than 700 years. Tempelhof, this name refers to a seat of the "Knights Templar". Whether as a parade ground for the Soldier King in the 18th century or as a landing site under the control of the Allied powers protecting Berlin after the Second World War until the 1990s - the field was used for military purposes almost continuously. And even worse: after the big propaganda rally on 1 May 1933, the National Socialists set up the only official concentration camp of the SS on Berlin city territory in the "Columbiahaus" on the northern edge of the field and forced labourers had to work for war production in a barracks camp. But during the Berlin Blockade of 1948/49, the Western Allies supplied the population here with everything they needed to survive via the legendary "Airlift". An information trail with 20 places of remembrance and memorials on Tempelhofer Feld provides information about the history of the site in text and pictures.

Around Tempelhofer Feld

Without doubt, the vast Tempelhofer Feld is the highlight of the district, but there’s plenty going on in the streets all around it. Near the former airfield are the Fliegerviertel, Papestraße and the Schwerbelastungskörper, which all have their own history and fascinating stories to tell.

Find out more about the city’s neighbourhoods with our Going Local Berlin app.

January 7.30 am – 5 pm February 7 am  –  6 pm March 6 am – 7 pm April 6 am – 8.30 pm May (1.st-15.th) 6 am  – 9.30 pm Mai May (16th - 31th) 6 am  – 11 pm Juni and July 6 am  – 11 pm August 6 am - 11.30 pm September 6 am - 9.30 pm Oktober 7am - 7 pm November 7 am - 6 pm December 7.30 am - 5 pm

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Tempelhofer Damm 12101   Berlin

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Cyndi Lauper Announces 2024 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour: See the Dates

The North American trek, her first major run in a decade, begins in October.

By Mitchell Peters

Mitchell Peters

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Cyndi Lauper is saying goodbye to the road.

Cyndi Lauper Biopic ‘Let the Canary Sing’ Gets Paramount+ Debut Date: Watch…

On Monday (June 3), the veteran pop star announced her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour , a 23-city North American trek that marks the singer’s first major run in more than a decade.

The Live Nation-produced jaunt is scheduled to launch Oct. 18 at the Bell Centre in Montreal and wrap Dec. 5 at the United Center in Chicago. The tour will also visit major such major cities as New York, Boston, Nashville, Atlanta and Houston. See the full list of dates below.

Special guests on the trek will be revealed at a later date.

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Lauper’s farewell tour announcement arrives alongside the release of her upcoming biopic , Let the Canary Sing , which debuts June 4 on Paramount+. The feature-length film, directed by Emmy-winning documentarian Alison Ellwood ( Laurel Canyon ), premiered at last year’s Tribeca Festival in New York.

Legacy Recordings will release a career-spanning companion album that takes listeners from the singer’s early days in the group Blue Angel (“I’m Gonna Be Strong”) through the global breakout success of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and other iconic hits such as “True Colors,” “I Drove All Night,” “Money Changes Everything,” “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough,” “She Bop,” “All Through the Night” and more.

See the dates to Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour below.

Oct. 18 : Montreal (Bell Centre) Oct. 20 : Toronto (Scotiabank Arena) Oct. 24 : Detroit (Fox Theatre) Oct. 26 : Boston (MGM Music Hall at Fenway) Oct. 27 : Washington, D.C. (Capital One Arena) Oct. 30 : New York (Madison Square Garden) Nov. 1 : Nashville (Bridgestone Arena) Nov. 3 : Columbus, Ohio (Schottenstein Center) Nov. 6 : Tampa, Fla. (Amalie Arena) Nov. 8 : Hollywood, Fla. (Hard Rock Hollywood) Nov. 10 : Atlanta (State Farm Arena) Nov. 12 : Dallas (American Airlines Center) Nov. 14 : Austin, Texas (Moody Center) Nov. 16 : Houston (Toyota Center) Nov. 19 : Phoenix (Footprint Center) Nov. 20 : San Diego (Viejas Arena) Nov. 23 : Los Angeles (Intuit Dome) Nov. 24 : Palm Desert, Calif. (Acrisure Arena) Nov. 26 : San Francisco (Chase Center) Nov. 30 : Portland, Ore. (Moda Center) Dec. 1 : Seattle (Climate Pledge Arena) Dec. 4 : Minneapolis (Target Center) Dec. 5 : Chicago (United Center)

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Lana del rey lauds taylor swift ahead of u.k. tour: “she’s told me she wants it more than anyone”.

Lana Del Rey spoke about the dizzy heights of fame Swift has reached as the Eras Tour officially kicks off in the U.K. on Friday night.

By Lily Ford

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Here in the U.K., Swiftmania is upon us: the pop superstar kicks off the first of 15 concerts in Britain on Friday night.

Projected to contribute a whopping 997 million pounds (or $1.26 billion) to the U.K. economy, Taylor Swift officially descends on Edinburgh as thousands flock to the Scottish capital, donning sparkles, handmade bracelets and cowboy boots — the mark of the Eras Tour .

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Ticket costs are in the thousands. The Pennsylvania-born star has sold out her shows worldwide. She is second only to The Beatles with the most weeks at number one on the Billboard 200. Everyone’s asking the same question: Why is she so popular? Her peers have an idea.

“She wants it,” fellow star Lana Del Rey told BBC News . The Born to Die singer was featured on Swift’s 10th studio album Midnights , on the track Snow on the Beach . “She’s told me so many times that she wants it more than anyone. And how amazing — she’s getting exactly what she wants. She’s driven, and I think it’s really paid off.”

Brit Award winner Raye called Swift “an absolute powerhouse.” The singer continued: “She is just one of those rare timeless artists who gets it right every time.”

KT Tunstall, best known for her hit Suddenly I See , said Swift has the “resilience and the chutzpah to be the boss of an enormous machine, employing thousands of people.” Tunstall added: “To be able to handle that and handle what’s coming at her publicly, you’ve just got to be a one-off.”

Almost 1.2 million fans are estimated to attend the 15 U.K. tour dates with an average of 848 pounds ($1,085) spent on each ticket.

“When it comes to cultural icons like Taylor Swift — like we saw with Elvis and Beatlemania in the ’50s and ’60s — supporters have such a strong connection to the artist and to the rest of the fandom that the desire to spend becomes even more powerful. For non-fans, 848 pounds may seem like an enormous amount to splash out on a concert — but for Eras Tour ticketholders, every pound they spend is an investment in the memories they’ll create.”

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The THF TOWER

The THF Tower is one of the first parts of the building at Tempelhof Airport to be renovated to make it barrier-free and offers our guests an unforgettable visit experience. On the wood-panelled roof terrace you can enjoy the view over the city and the fields and be a little closer to the Berlin sky. The historic and statically renewed staircase, which seems to float on the historic building, leads you to the exhibition area on the 6th floor.

Our new exhibition “ Ready for Take-Off – 100 years of Tempelhof Airport ” awaits you. In nine exciting chapters, it tells the history of the place from flight experiments, monumental architecture and the Nazi era to the Berlin Airlift and espionage to its subsequent use as an open place for everyone.

You can book the Tickets here on the website, in the CHECK-IN visitor center as well as at the Berlin Tourist Information Office and on visitberlin.de  by credit card. It is also possible to book a ticket directly in the exhibition area of the THF TOWER using debit or credit card.

Please register travel groups via [email protected] .

for exhibition + roof terrace

*pupils, students, apprentices, social benefit receivers (Bürgergeld), unemployed recipients (ALG-I), severely disabled persons (degree of disability at least 50%),

**to 18 years, Children under the age of 6 only have access when accompanied by a supervisor.

***Refugees with proof of arrival at destination (Ankunftsnachweis) Refugees from the Ukraine, please provide a Ukrainian passport or an alternative form of identification.

The ticket entitles you to a maximum stay of two hours

Please note our visiting regulations .

Annual Season Ticket

A personalized annual season ticket is also available for THF TOWER lovers. It entitles you to entry for 365 days from the date of issue.

pupils, students, apprentices, social benefit receivers (Bürgergeld), unemployed recipients (ALG-I), severely disabled persons (degree of disability at least 50%), seniors

The ticket entitles you to stay for a maximum of two hours.

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building as part of the “National Urban Development Projects” program. In addition, the Berlin House of Representatives is making the construction work possible with SIWA (special fund infrastructure for the growing city).

Summer opening hours:

Wednesday - Thursday

11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m

Friday - Sunday             

12:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m

Tempelhofer Damm 45 12101 Berlin

Bus and train:

Bus: 248 and M43, U-Bahn: U6 S/U Tempelhof: S41, S42, S45 and S46

Two parking spaces for people with disabilities are available on site (corresponding parking permit required).

E-Mail: [email protected]

Telephone: +49 30 2000 374 261

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Visitor center

The CHECK-IN is located directly to the left of the main entrance to Central Airport. The visitor center is the starting point for guided tours of the building and also a stopping place – for a coffee, to visit an exhibition or attend an event.

The Airport Tempelhof in its current form was built between 1936 and 1941 according to the plans of Ernst Sagebiel.

Discover the diverse range of events at Tempelhof Airport. We look forward to your visit!