Tempelhof: A Battle for the Green Heart of Berlin

Tempelhof Airport, an iconic building with rich history in the middle of Berlin, was closed for traffic in 2008 and the airfield turned into a huge park, much loved by inhabitants from the adjacent neighbourhoods as well as by Berliners from further afield. However, after the Berlin Senat, as a governing body of the metropolis, announced its much-trumpeted "Masterplan" to re-develop the airfield, a wave of activism emerged. What was in stake was not only a loss of a unique place of biodiversity, positively mitigating the urban climate, but also an irreversible transformation of a site with special atmosphere: green lungs of Berlin and one of the largest open green spaces within an urban landscape in the whole of Europe. Moreover, Tempelhof is a witness of 20th century history: Nazism, Berlin Airlift, Cold War and the 1989 Wende.

Therefore, various kinds of creative activism appeared in order to save the park, consisting mostly of engaged volunteers and enthusiasts, yet of different educational and income backgrounds and age: from garden colony (established in the 1920s), fighting against the loss of social learning to public initiatives campaigning against gentrification and rocketing rents. Thus, it is obvious that the perception of "urban renaissance" is dissimilar amongst different strata of society: it is not only the conflict of the power elites and citizens, but also of people who believe they belong to Tempelhof (and keep its memory) vs. those who do not.

This paper looks at how the topics of urban renaissance and public initiatives are related to themes of memory and collective place-making activities (developed by Karen Till) and how their momentum reflects on Pierre Nora's concept of lieux de mémoire. What is the role of collective cultural and social memory in public engagement? What could be learnt from the case of Tempelhof?