Hotels near Tempelhofer Feld

Tempelhofer Feld is a decommissioned airport turned public park, and it is the strangest open space in any European capital. Tempelhof was the airfield of the Berlin Airlift in 1948 and 1949, closed as an airport in 2008, and opened to the public in 2010. Berliners then voted in a 2014 referendum to block all development on it, so the two runways, the taxiways and 300 hectares of open grass remain exactly as they were.

What happens there now is kite-surfing on skateboards, cycling the runways, urban gardening plots and barbecues. There is nothing to see in the museum sense, and that is the appeal: it is a flat horizon in the middle of a dense city, which October wind and low sun suit better than August heat. Entry is free and the gates open at dawn and close at dusk, so the closing time moves earlier through the month.

Pro Tip: Come at sunset and walk the length of a runway westward. The field is completely flat and unobstructed, which makes it the only place in Berlin where you get a full uninterrupted sunset, and the airport terminal behind you is one of the largest buildings in the world.