D-Day nears for the ‘Mother of all airports’

It sits, magnificently or monstrously, depending on your point of view, in the middle of Berlin. Built between 1936 and 1941, the Tempelhof Airport terminal became Hitler's gateway into the Third Reich - first port-of-call for anyone flying to the Fuhrer's fantasy capital, 'Germania'.

Built in limestone and designed by the architect Ernst Sagebiel, it was the largest building in all of Europe. A cavernous passenger hall is attached to a 4,000ft crescent- shaped string of bays where planes taxi in. From the air, it is shaped like a giant coat-hanger.

As the British architect Norman Foster puts it - and he has a special interest in the city after designing the new cupola atop the Reichstag - it was the "mother of all airports".

The airport is still used today for short-haul European and domestic flights. Spacious and airy, the passenger hall is curiously - uncomfortably, given the historical associations - pleasant to be in.

But in October this year, a new use must be found for the terminal building because Tempelhof Airport is to close. Or will it?

City Mayor Klaus Wowereit secured a court ruling last October to ensure Tempelhof's closure. It loses €10m a year and, he claims, it's bad for the environment.

In 2011, two other Berlin airports will merge as Berlin-Brandenburg International, located in the city's south-east. Berlin's relatively low volume of flights - 25m passengers a year compared to 140m in London - could never, Wowereit claims, justify a second airport.

But a remarkable grass-roots campaign challenging the mayor's position has been gathering steam. The Society for the Protection of City Airport Tempelhof (ICAT in German) has, despite much scepticism, collected enough signatures - nearly 200,000 - to enforce a city referendum.

On April 27, Berliners will be asked to vote 'yes' or 'no' to keeping Tempelhof Airport open. Out of a total of 2.5m registered voters, around 600,000 will have to say 'yes' for the motion to carry - though even then Wowereit is not obliged to listen.

Many residents are for the closure on the grounds of noise, pollution and the possibility of a plane crash. A poster popping up around Berlin depicts a woman saying: "I'll gladly fly from Berlin but never Tempelhof".

Other Berliners, however, see the site as integral both to the city's geography and history. With modifications - cosmetics mogul Ronald Lauder, for example, has offered to convert the airfield into a fly-in medical clinic and conference centre - they're sure the airport could be made profitable.

More emotively, Tempelhof was where the 11-month-long Berlin Airlift took place 60 years ago. The mission kept Allied-occupied West Berlin alive after Stalin's blockade in June 1948.

At its height, supply planes were landing every 62 seconds. Berliners, especially older ones, feel strongly that the airport occupies a central place in their post-war history. For them, the airport's association with their freedom far outshines its dark Nazi profile.

Airlines flying into Tempelhof include Brussels Air, Cirrus, DauAir, Flysmaland and InterSky.  ·