The Berlin Airlift ended 70 years ago

Visible from afar, an American C-47 floats in front of the façade of the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Kreuzberg. It has become a symbol for a dramatic chapter of Berlin's history and an unprecedented aid campaign: for 14 months, West Berlin was supplied from the air by the Western Allies after the Soviets had erected the Berlin blockade in June 1948.

After the Second World War, the four victorious powers divided Germany into occupation zones. Berlin, which lay like an island in the Soviet zone, was also divided into four parts. On June 24, 1948, the Soviets blocked all land and water routes to West Germany, and the power supply was also cut off. The Western Allies responded immediately.

US military governor Lucius D. Clay gave the order to create the Berlin Airlift on June 25, 1948. One day later, the first transporter landed at Tempelhof. The airport in the American sector became the most important hub of the airlift. Today there are guided tours through the disused airport, which became a legend during the Berlin blockade.

For 14 months, 2.2 million West Berliners were supplied from the air. The Allies developed a sophisticated system: three air corridors functioned as one-way streets, two for outward and one for return flights. Close to each other, up to five airplanes had room one above the other! Within 14 months, the airport welcomed a total of 278,000 landings and 2.3 million tons of freight.

The second most important airport during the Berlin blockade was in Gatow, in the British sector. The British handled 42 percent of the Airlift landings here: Liquid fuel and supplies for the West Berliners were flown in, sick people and children were flown out. Today, the hangars contain an exhibition on military aviation in Germany.

Most tourists to Berlin today arrive in the German capital via Tegel Airport. Most don't know that this airport is also closely connected to the Airlift. Tegel was given its present shape with the hexagonal main terminal in the 1970s, but the foundation stone was laid in 1948.

Tegel Airport was the French contribution to the Airlift. In the autumn of 1948, the French Allies built what was then the longest runway in Europe, covering 2.5 km (1.5 miles), in just three months. They were supported by 19,000 Berliners, half of them women. Berlin's third airlift airport went into operation on November 5, 1948.

The Berliners simply called the Allied transport aircraft "raisin bombers" or "candy bombers." Before landing, the US pilots dropped small aid packages on homemade parachutes to make the waiting children happy. The packages usually contained chocolate, chewing gum and sometimes raisins.

Visitors to the Allied Museum in the Dahlem district, which belonged to the American sector, learn a lot about the history of the airlift and life in Berlin during the Cold War. The exhibition also shows how former enemies, after initial mistrust, became allies during the airlift.

Canned food, dried fruit, milk powder, and coffee: Today the care packages are on display in the museum. At the time, they were a lifesaver for many Berliners. Private US aid organization Care chartered its own planes, which brought up to 1,000 care packages to the city every day. The contents, worth $15 (13 euro), fed a family for a month.

Even the first trees for the reforestation of the Tiergarten park and zoo were flown in via the airlift. After the winter of 1948, the park in the city center was almost bare, as the Berliners had processed the trees into firewood. On March 17, 1949 the reforestation began.

"...look upon this city!" In his speech in front of the destroyed Reichstag parliament building on September 9, 1948, Berlin's Mayor Ernst Reuter called on the world not to surrender the city to the Soviet Union. At the same time, he pleaded with the people of Berlin to persevere. On May 12, 1949, after 322 days, the Soviets abandoned the blockade of West Berlin.

78 pilots crashed during the airlift. This monument near the former Tempelhof Airport commemorates them since 1951. Officially called the Airlift Monument, Berliners have nicknamed it the "Hunger Claw." The three pillars actually symbolize the three air corridors. Copies of the monument are in Frankfurt am Main and Celle, which are the West German cities from which the planes took off for Berlin.

The Berlin Airlift ended on May 12, 1949: the blockade of the Soviets had failed, the supply flights could be stopped. One year later, the Americans gave West Berlin the Freedom Bell. It was inaugurated by the "Father of the Airlift," General Lucius D. Clay. To this day, it rings daily at 12 noon and commemorates the spectacular rescue operation from the air.