Tempelhof Airport

A Zukunftsort with a long history

A showcase for smart city solutions
The spreading Tempelhofer Feld was once a military parade and exercise ground, later one of the earliest commercial airports, and is now a public park known as the Tempelhofer Freiheit (Tempelhof Freedom). On 23 May 2014, a referendum was held in Berlin on the future use of the park on the former airport grounds. Since the decision was to retain the park in its present form as a public space, the economic focus for the future will be on utilizing the resources of the vast airport terminal, which is Europe’s largest heritage building.

In the meantime, the first new start-ups and established businesses from the creative industries have already moved into the former airport terminal. One of the major challenges facing the federal state of Berlin is how to implement innovative approaches to developing this unique building while at the same time preserving it as a heritage site. In the long term, the building is to be gradually transformed into one of Berlin’s creative business incubators with around 9,000 m² space to specifically attract a range of companies from the creative industries, IT and communications as well as the educational sector. The former airport building is intended to become a benchmark location for smart city solutions. The projects already planned here, for example, include drafting a comprehensive innovative energy design, increasing the building’s energy efficiency and setting up a photovoltaic plant on the large roof.

• Tempelhofer Damm/Columbiadamm

• Creative Industries, ICT

• Sigmund Freud University (SFU)

The Berlin Senate has entrusted the limited company Tempelhof Projekt GmbH with the overall development of the Tempelhofer Freiheit. The company’s main tasks are strategic planning, clarifying planning laws and building rights, establishing the requisite infrastructure and preparing the investors’ specific building measures.

• Tempelhoferfreiheit