Barack Obama is to pay a visit to Tempelhof Airport
After pressure from the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit prevented Barack Obama´s speech in Tempelhof, a visit by the United States Presidential Candidate the the historic site is still on the agenda.
The extensive discussions in preparation to his visit have served to demonstrate that the future of Tempelhof is still an internationally controversial subject and that the Airport is a monument of historic importance.
No one has formulated this as succinctly as the veteran “candy bomber” Gail Halvorsen: “In America, we´ve got a symbol of freedom, the Statue of Liberty. I believe that Tempelhof Airport is the German equivalent of the Statue of Liberty. Freedom in Germany began in Tempelhof during the years 1948 and 1949.”
Volker Perplies of the citizens initiative 'Support Tempelhof become part of the UNESCO World Heritage': "Tempelhof and the Berlin Airlift was where the Nazi era finally ended and the basis for a new, liberal Germany was laid. Here was the beginning of freedom for Berlin, Germany and Europe. Here, the Allies - in Tempelhof particularly the Americans - showed that war opponents can become true friends. "
"And by the way, Tempelhof is also the oldest commercial airport in the world, the" Mother of all airports "(star architect Sir Norman Forster), the third largest building in the world and like no other place centre of the cold war. All this remained authentically and can still be visited. ", said Perplies.
In any other country, such places of history are preserved as "National Monuments". Not so in Berlin.
"Against the fierce resistance from citizens, federal government, economy, society and culture, the Berlin Senate decided to close the airport down and have it disappear from the world map. Officially this is necessary because of "legal risks for the construction of a new Airport Berlin (BBI). Unofficially it is suspected that the mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, follows the wishes of his coalition partner, the former East German communist party SED, now 'Linkspartei'"
Michael Paul; initiative www.be-4-tempelhof.de:
"Instead of the famous Tempelhof Airport soon there will be a 'sea of meadows' with residential and commercial areas," said Paul.
The hope of the Tempelhof friends now rests on the German federal government to speak a word of power. Unlike the usual monument in the city, Tempelhof is a monument of national and international importance. To subject it to the vagaries of local politics is not adequate in any way.
On the internet site www.rescue-tempelhof.org people from all over the world support Tempelhof become part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. Currently several thousand supporters call to the Federal Government and the State of Berlin for preservation. This shows that Tempelhof is an issue far beyond Berlin and Germany.
Now the people wait for chancellor Angela Merkel, to speak a word of power.
More: www.be-4-tempelhof.com
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
