Airlift Memorial, Memorial monument at Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Germany
The Airlift Memorial at Platz der Luftbrücke in Berlin is a cast reinforced-concrete sculpture designed by Eduard Ludwig. Three ribs, also called claws, rise from a form suggesting the start of a bridge arch; the monument stands on a semicircular base of concrete and travertine about 42 cm high, topped by a bronze band about 32 cm high bearing the inscription "Sie gaben ihr Leben für die Freiheit Berlins im Dienste der Luftbrücke 1948/1949" and, below it, the ranks and names of those killed in airlift accidents.
Eduard Ludwig designed the monument to remember the airlift from 1948 to 1949, when Allied planes supplied West Berlin during the Soviet blockade. The dedication took place in July 1951, two years after the transport operation ended.
Berliners nicknamed the monument Hungerharke, or hunger rake, after its three prongs, which resemble a farm rake. The name recalls the 1948–1949 blockade, when Allied aircraft supplied West Berlin. The three ribs stand for the air corridors linking Berlin's airports of Gatow, Tempelhof and Tegel with the western zones.
The monument stands on the square in front of the former Tempelhof Airport, reachable from the Platz der Luftbrücke metro station. The three prongs are oriented toward the west, pointing along the air corridors. The site is a listed cultural monument.
The Frankfurt copy was funded by the Luftbruecke Chapter of the Airlift Tanker Association, which raised 940,000 marks for it and placed it on 26 June 1985; the Celle version, initiated by councillor Karl Duffner, is a smaller replica weighing 13.5 tonnes and standing 6.5 metres tall, dedicated on 24 June 1988. Duffner died in December 1987, half a year before his idea was completed.
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