Berlin Trip : Berlin Tempelhof Airport Tour (Part 2)

The next part of the tour (previous part here) went to the more hidden areas of the airport past this pump thing. I have no idea what it is. I asked AI and I was pleased to see that it didn’t much differ, noting that it was a “grey metal device: This could be a pump, ventilation system, or some other kind of machinery.” That’ll do.

The airport was built at a time when the Germans secretly knew that buildings needed to have safe areas in case of attack, with this room being one fitted out with calming imagery for children. The Dutch guide did explain the wording, which went across the room, and he said that it was typical German humour which no-one else found funny. AI tells me that this reads:

“Hey! – he thinks – that’s great!
and loosens the lid a bit.”

Never used during the war, but this was an emergency exit. The floor levels are confusing, I felt low down in the building at this point as we had entered a bunker area, but because the airport was built on numerous levels, it was still higher than the runway.

Some old corridors.

It wasn’t quite clear what rooms like this were built for, but this area of the airport was attacked and damaged by the RAF during the Second World War.

The guide mentioned that the red marks on the stone were fires caused by bombings. It’s some grand architecture, but more on that in a later post.

Soviet graffiti from when their soldiers took over the building. Back to AI (yes, I ask it a lot of questions), which says it means “sore throat”, although I’m not entirely sure what relevance that has here. The Soviets wanted to capture Tempelhof Airport to stop senior Nazis trying to flee the country, seizing it on 26 April 1945 after some fierce fighting. They didn’t have it long, it was put under the United States Army sector on 2 July 1945.

Then we headed back towards what was the public area of the terminal.