Tegel Airport Flughafen Otto Lilienthal
Tegel Airport in Berlin's Reinickendorf district has had a varied history. At first, around 1870, it was an army shooting range and in 1909 Count Zeppelin landed there in his airship Z3. Later it became a training ground for airship crews and finally a rocket testing site, where Hermann Oberth and Werner von Braun carried out their first rocket trials in 1931. During the Berlin Blockade of 1948-49 it was used by the aircraft bringing in supplies in the famous Berlin air-lift.
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It was specially extended for that purpose, and the 2,400 m/2,625yd runway, then the longest in Europe, was laid. Later it became a French military airfield, which from 1960 was also used for civil flights.
The development of the airport to its present size began in 1969. In October 1974 the new Tegel Airport was inaugurated and became fully operational on Sept. 1, 1975. Further extension in the nineties is being contested on environmental grounds; however, there is a strong lobby in favor of increasing the passenger capacity to 14million a year.
Tegel Airport, also known since 1988 under the name of the flight pioneer Otto Lilienthal (a reproduction true to the original of the Lilienthal glider is housed in the main building), has two runways, respectively 2,400 m/2,625yd and 3,000 m/3,280yd long, a hexagonal airport building and fourteen gates, dealing with just under six million passengers each year. The apron can accommodate up to 35 aircraft. There is a restaurant on the third floor of the airport building and an information desk in the main hall. The lost property office adjoins the left luggage section. A visit is recommended to the exhibition of old-fashioned aircraft on the visitors' terrace
On the car-park in front of the airport building stands the "Gateway to the Clouds" sculpture by Heinrich Brummack (1975).
The development of the airport to its present size began in 1969. In October 1974 the new Tegel Airport was inaugurated and became fully operational on Sept. 1, 1975. Further extension in the nineties is being contested on environmental grounds; however, there is a strong lobby in favor of increasing the passenger capacity to 14million a year.
Tegel Airport, also known since 1988 under the name of the flight pioneer Otto Lilienthal (a reproduction true to the original of the Lilienthal glider is housed in the main building), has two runways, respectively 2,400 m/2,625yd and 3,000 m/3,280yd long, a hexagonal airport building and fourteen gates, dealing with just under six million passengers each year. The apron can accommodate up to 35 aircraft. There is a restaurant on the third floor of the airport building and an information desk in the main hall. The lost property office adjoins the left luggage section. A visit is recommended to the exhibition of old-fashioned aircraft on the visitors' terrace
On the car-park in front of the airport building stands the "Gateway to the Clouds" sculpture by Heinrich Brummack (1975).
