Tempelhof Airport shut down as of 10/30/08

Full read:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g...gO7xQD944A6881

Snip:
=====
BERLIN (AP) — Tempelhof Airport has been many things to Berlin — a
lifeline to German areas cut off after World War I, a center of the
city's defense in World War II, and the hub of the airlift that
ensured West Berlin's survival during the Cold War.

But for 85 years, it has always been an airport.

That will change Thursday, when the last flights leave and Tempelhof
is officially closed. The future of the 900-acre (365 hectare) site is
uncertain.

Proposals have included turning the airfield and building — one of the
biggest in the world, protected as a historical landmark — into a
luxury spa, some condos, a museum, a park, a trade center or even the
centerpiece of a new Olympic bid.

"Tempelhof is nothing more and nothing less than the cradle of
aviation," said Ralf Kunkel, a spokesman for Berlin's airports. "A
very big and important chapter of European aviation is going to end."
========