BERLIN, Oct 29: Hundreds of people bade farewell on Wednesday to Tempelhof airport, a massive Nazi-built landmark in the heart of the German capital that served as a lifeline for West Berlin during the post-war Soviet blockade.

Dubbed “the mother of all airports” by architect Sir Norman Foster, Tempelhof dominates a huge stretch of land the size of New York’s Central Park just south of the city centre.

A functioning airstrip since 1923, its monolithic limestone terminal building was built by forced labourers between 1936 and 1941 on the orders of Hitler’s architect Albert Speer.

The airport became a powerful symbol of the Cold War when Soviet forces prevented supplies from getting into West Berlin in 1948. The West responded by airlifting more than two million tons of food and other goods into Tempelhof for nearly a year.

It has continued to operate as a commercial airport, but its fate was sealed in April after a referendum to prevent its closure failed because of low turnout. Even Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out against shutting it down. —Reuters