Historical perspectives
Tempelhof Airport has a long history, the 1920's airport building built during the NS-regime. The airport is probably most famously known for the airlift (or Berlin Air Bridge) during the blockade of the Soviet Union which cut off West Berlin from June 1948 to May 1949. During that time, supplies for the West Berlin population was exclusively flown into Tempelhof Airport.
Research questions considering past events and their impact on current geographies may include:
- How is the past represented, preserved and memorialized today? What legacy from the past is being retained? What is not retained and represent?
- How i.e. in what form (e.g. original buildings, monuments, documentation) is the past preserved?
- Are there processes of commodification?
- How does the past shape the present face of the city?
- What image of the city is being presented?
Suggested readings
Bachmann V. (2010) From jackboots to birkenstocks: the civilianisation of German geopolitics in the twentieth century. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 101(3), 320-332.
Cochrane A. & Jonas A.E.G. (1999) Reimagining Berlin: World City, National Capital or ordinary place? European Urban and Regional Studies, 6(2), 145–164.
Latham, A. & McCormack, D.P. (2009) Thinking with images in non-representational Cities: Vignettes from Berlin. Area, 41(3), 252-262.
Marcuse, P. (1998) Reflections on Berlin: the meaning of construction and the construction of meaning. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 22(2), 331-338.
Till, K. (2005) The New Berlin: Memory, Politics, Place. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Tolle A. (2010) Urban identity policies in Berlin: From critical reconstruction to reconstructing the Wall. Cities, 27, 348-357.
