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The Berlin Airlift | Die Luftbrücke 1948-49 | The German Way

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Die Luftbrücke | The Berlin Blockade & Airlift

It was the Cuban missle crisis of its day. The building of the Berlin Wall may be more famous, but few Berlin events brought about as much world tension as the Berlin Blockade of 1948-1949. The Allied reponse to that Russian attempt to take over all of Berlin was one of the greatest events of the Cold War.

The Soviet Union’s occupation zone included the eastern section of Berlin as well as the East German territory surrounding the city. West Berlin, occupied by Britain, France and the United States, was a land island completely surrounded by what was known in German as die Ostzone (the East Zone).

Airlift memorial

This memorial to the Berlin Airlift stands in front of Tempelhof Airport. It’s bigger than it looks! Larger view. PHOTO © Hyde Flippo > More Wall Photos

In 1948 there had been ongoing tensions over Allied moves to create a single economic zone out of the British, French and American zones. Following the introduction of the new Deutsche Mark currency for the western zones in June, Josef Stalin thought he could squeeze the Allies out of Berlin completely by declaring the governing four-power Kommandantur invalid and blocking all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin. On June 24, 1948 the Russians officially blockaded all rail, road and waterway traffic into Berlin. It was Stalin’s intention to strangle the city into submission.

What Stalin had failed to anticipate was U.S. President Harry Truman’s stubborn “the-buck-stops-here” determination to thwart any communist takeover. Nor were the West Berliners prepared to give in to the Russians. Two days after Stalin’s blockade began, Allied aircraft began flying supplies into the city. On June 26, 1948 the Berlin Airlift—die Luftbrücke (air bridge) in German—began operation. Everything the Berliners needed to survive — from groceries to gasoline—would come to them only by air until the end of September 1949. The airlift lasted over 15 months and cost more than $224 million.

During those many months a U.S. or British plane landed every few minutes at Berlin’s central Tempelhof airfield and another airport that had been built just for the airlift (today’s Tegel, Berlin’s main airport). There were no giant Galaxy transports in those days. Most of the supply flights were made by tiny C-47s (DC-3s). The “big” planes were four-prop C-54s (DC-6s). But over two million tons of goods were flown into Berlin in a huge logistical operation under the command of the American General Lucius D. Clay. A veteran DC-4 aircraft stands at the edge of Tempelhof Airport today as a silent witness to the events of 1948-49. This classic four-engine “Rosinenbomber” (“Raisin Bomber”) is its own small memorial to the Airlift.

Guided tours of the Tempelhof building complex and grounds are available by prior arrangement for a modest charge. Tempelhof is part of the architectural project “Europa der Lüfte, drei Flughäfen der 30er Jahre”—which commemorates three European airfields of the 1930s: Berlin’s Tempelhof, Paris’ Le Bourget and Liverpool’s Speke.

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Related Pages - Berlin Airlift

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  • Airlift Landmarks - Present-day photos of Berlin Airlift landmarks. For historic photos see the Web links below.
  • Photo Gallery 4 - Historic and more recent Berlin Wall photos by the author of the German Way.
  • East Side Gallery Photos - Photos of one of the last remaining sections of the Berlin Wall.
  • Berlin Web Links - The German capital on the Web
  • Recommended Reading - Selected travel books, some related directly to Berlin
  • Our Expat page offers links of interest to those now living or planning to live in the German-speaking world.

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