In Berlin, the campaign against the development of the Tempelhof airport area is gaining momentum

Berlín - In Berlin, the campaign against the planned development of part of the former Tempelhof Airport is gaining momentum. According to the city hall, new rental apartments, office buildings, and a new municipal library should be built on the outskirts of the area. However, opponents of the project fear that the city’s plan is just the first step towards complete development of the grassy area, which currently serves as a recreational space. They are therefore aiming to reject the project in a regional referendum, which will take place concurrently with the European elections on May 25.
    Operations at Tempelhof Airport near the city center ended in 2008. Since then, the area of approximately 300 hectares has served as a popular recreational spot. Hundreds of people ride bicycles and rollerblades on the former runways, and picnics take place on the green areas between them. In the eastern part of the area, a community garden has sprouted, where residents of the adjacent Neukölln district grow their own vegetables.
    According to the Berlin city hall's plan, the edges of the area should be developed, while most of the former airport land would remain untouched. The city expects that most of the development would consist of cheap rental apartments for young families and socially weaker individuals. "Since 2010, the population of Berlin has increased by 130,000. We expect that in the next ten years it will grow by another 200,000 people. And we must be prepared to provide them with housing," argues Berlin councilor Michael Müller.
    However, opponents of the project fear that the new construction will destroy the existing character of Tempelhof Airport, especially since according to the plans, a gardening colony would have to be sacrificed. They also warn that the new development could eventually expand into the central part of the area. "People who live here have no other green spaces to spend their free time. They cannot afford to lose the one they have," claims activist Felix Herzog, who is striving for the project’s cancellation.
    The civic association fighting against the development at Tempelhof is currently intensifying its poster campaign in the streets of Berlin. At the same time, it has started distributing its own newspapers to mailboxes in the German metropolis, highlighting the risks of the project. According to the plans, the construction in the area of the former airport was supposed to cost 620 million euros (17 billion crowns). However, the association believes that based on the current experiences of Berliners with the prolonged and increasingly expensive construction of the new Willy Brandt Airport on the southern edge of the metropolis, costs could ultimately be significantly higher.
    Thus, opponents of the project are also presenting the referendum as a form of reckoning with the unpopular mayor Klaus Wowereit, whose four-year term is now halfway through. Wowereit is facing frequent criticism due to issues with Willy Brandt Airport, and opponents of the Tempelhof construction are taking advantage of this. "Would you entrust this man with another airport?" asks one of the posters featuring Wowereit’s portrait, which can be seen in the streets of the German metropolis.
    Tempelhof Airport holds great symbolic significance for Berlin. It was built during the Nazi era, which is reflected in its architecture. However, it played a key role during the airlift, through which the allies sustained the western zones of Berlin from June 1948 to May 1949 when the Soviet occupying authority imposed a ground blockade.