Berlin Trip : Berlin Tempelhof Airport Tour (Part 6)
This was the final part of the tour, which are the two floors of rooms which are known as the ‘film bunker’ where film and photographs were stored during the Nazi regime.
It’s not known quite what happened here other than there was a substantial fire which destroyed everything left in them. Looking at the damage done, this was a fire of some considerable size to damage the reinforced walls and ceilings like this. Some accounts say that the Germans did this to destroy evidence and others say that the Russians did it by mistake when trying to open the locked rooms, although I don’t know either way, but the former seems most likely to me. Either way, the Russians decided that they wouldn’t do anything with these rooms after the Second World War and that’s why they’re the same now as in 1945. The joys of a building that’s so large that they could just leave bits of it untouched.
The graffiti is mostly recent, from urban explorers.
It feels sub-optimal, although in about fifty years this more modern graffiti will become part of the historical story.
There are two identical floors with a number of rooms which look like prison cells.
The rooms are located downstairs in one of the lowest levels of the entire airport complex.
That was the end of the tour and I mentioned earlier that it was one of the best that I’ve ever been on. The Dutch guide was humorous and knowledgeable, with plenty of different things to see and I was delighted that politics, history and travel were all intertwined here. The guide mentioned that parts of the building was rented out, but there are some structural issues that need expensive fixes and it will be a long time until more of the complex is rented out and used. He also mentioned that the electricity bill here is substantial and I admired the guide’s attention to detail in ensuring that the lights were always turned off after we left a room. I hope that they leave the sections alone that I visited on the tour, it’s a wonderful time capsule of some many parts of twentieth century Berlin. As for the tour, definitely recommended and it only cost around £14.
