Tempelhof Airport

Back in the US, a neighbor had heard that we were moving to Berlin so she loaned me her book, The Candy Bombers, The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America’s Finest Hour by Andrei Cherny, as her father was one of the US pilots during the Air Lift of 1948/49.

The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948–12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies‘ railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control.

The Western Allies organized the Berlin airlift (26 June 1948–30 September 1949) to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, a difficult feat given the size of the city’s population. Aircrews from the United States Air Force, the Royal Air Force, the French Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the South African Air Force flew over 200,000 flights in one year, providing to the West Berliners up to 8,893 tons of necessities each day, such as fuel and food. The Soviets did not disrupt the airlift for fear this might lead to open conflict.

I vowed to finish the 550 page tome before we left, which I did. Barely. And I’m glad I did.

{helped bring history to life}

Today’s highlight was going to the airport where all of the magic happened. But not on purpose.

{Place of the Airlift}

I was planning on going to a yoga class near Tempelhof when my knee really started hurting. Once I reached the S Bahn stop, I knew the class was not happening.

{history of Tempelhof}

But I felt lucky to be at the historic airport that I had read about.

So I took a few pictures. And then headed home. In pain.

{airlift memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives during the air lift}

{taken from the S Bahn platform}

Otherwise, we’ve been taking it easy with the continued heat.