Today, 8 November, historic German airport Berlin-Tegel will close. Back in 1960, Air France was the first airline to land a commercial flight at Berlin-Tegel. And today it will also be the very last airline to take off from this airport before its final closure. Flight AF1235, operated by an Airbus A321, will take off at 15:00 (UTC +1), arriving at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 16:50.
Unfortunately, due to pandemic restrictions, there is no public event in TXL today. The terminal is therefore also no longer open. The RBB television channel will broadcast live this afternoon. So all interested people can follow the farewell.
But what will happen to the airport after its closure? A research and industrial park for urban technologies will be developed in that space in the following years: Berlin TXL – The Urban Tech Republic plus a new residential district: Schumacher Quartier.
In the Urban Tech Republic as many a 1,000 large and small businesses with 20,000 employees will work in research, development, and production. And more than 2,500 students will move into the former terminal building along with the prestigious Beuth University. In total around 5,000 students will populate the Berlin TXL campus. Berlin TXL will focus on what keeps the 21st century’s growing major cities alive: the efficient use of energy, sustainable construction, eco-friendly mobility, recycling, networked control of systems, clean water, and application of new materials.
These new blueprints for future city living will become available in the neighbouring areas from now on: In Schumacher Quartier there will be upwards of 5,000 homes for more than 10,000 people in a vibrant urban district with daycare centres, schools and shopping facilities.
More information:
- The future of Berlin TXL (PDF-file)
- Tegel Projekt GMBH (official website)
