Tempelhof

Guided visit to Tempelhof airport, Intervention, video and photography, 2011 Tempelhof airport has an important relation to the recent history of West Berlin. The old terminal was originally constructed in 1927 and was reconstructed by the Nazi government in the 1930s. It was the airport of the resistance during the Berlin airlift. During the Soviet-imposed Berlin Blockade (1948/49), the western part of city was sustained by the Berlin airlift that was established by the Americans. In response to the threat, the citizens in the western sectors had to come together. Ernst Reuter became their spokesman and leader, a symbolic figure of the "Free Berlin". In my intervention in Tempelhof, I reenact part of the famous speech that Ernst Reuter gave in the front of the burned-out Reichstag: "Ihr Volke der Welt..." The speech speaks about resistance and it can be recontextualised in the actual situation of the city and of Europe in general.

tempelhof from carme on Vimeo.

Audio: "Ihr Völker der Welt, ihr Völker in Amerika, in England, in Frankreich, in Italien! Schaut auf diese Stadt und erkennt, dass ihr diese Stadt und dieses Volk nicht preisgeben dürft und nicht preisgeben könnt!"

"You, people of the world, you people from America, from England, from France, from Italy! Look at this city and realize that you can´t and must not surrender this city and this people"

"Vosotros pueblos del mundo, pueblos de América, de Inglaterra, de Francia, de Italia! mira a esta ciudad y sabed que vosotros no debeis ni podeis entregar a esta ciudad y este pueblo"