Trundling along Tempelhofer Airfield’s cartoonishly massive runway on my wobbly rented bicycle during a balmy August morning, I find it hard to visualise the remarkable events that took place here from 26 June 1948 to 30 September 1949. Trapped by a road blockade through East Germany, American and British air forces flew in and out of West Berlin over 250,000 times to supply necessities like fuel and food.
But the howl of the Douglas C-54’s engines subsided a long time ago and in 2010 Berlin repurposed Tempelhofer into a genteel urban savannah of fluttering kites, rolling bikes and greenfingered allotments. Watching this languid and liberal scene unfold on such a scarred canvas is strange, but it’s quintessentially Berlin and just another reason why I find the place so intriguing.
Home to both ministers and misfits, bureaucrats and bohemians, the German capital is a rather chaotic but always compelling corner of Europe, and it’s somewhere I’ve constantly returned for almost 20 years. And from 8-15 November, Berlin will host the first-ever Berlin Freedom Week, with every district of the city pulsing with dialogue, music, art and movement – all focused on one theme: freedom. Some 36 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the diverse programme of exhibitions, workshops, guided tours, concerts and film screenings will become an annual event, though I never need to look far here for examples of the city’s laissez-faire character.
It’s well-trodden ground, but it’s worth noting that modern Berlin isn’t really like the rest of Germany. The fragmented sections of the Wall form arguably Europe’s most macabre outdoor museum, while neighbourhoods like Neukölln and Kreuzberg are a graffiti-splashed bouillabaisse of breezy cafes, low-lit bars, enticing kebab joints and small urban parks. Yes, the city has the conventional attractions that will always draw in visitors, including the elegant Brandenburg Gate, the glassy dome of the Reichstag and the big hitters of Museum Island (celebrating its 200th anniversary this year) like Egyptian Queen Nefertiti’s bust at the Neues Museum or Caspar David Friedrich’s ethereal landscape scenes at the Alte Nationalgalerie.