Talk:Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport

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The following statement in this article does not read well to the uninformed observer.

Because of its location outside of the city boundaries of Berlin, German aircraft (usually of the GDR airline Interflug, before German Lufthansa of the GDR) could take-off and land from Schönefeld (unlike Tegel and Tempelhof) due to the fact that Berlin was surrounded by the Iron Curtain during this time). With the reunification of Germany and Berlin, Tegel and Tempelhof could once again receive German aircraft as well.

Two points:

i) What on earth did Schönefeld being outside Berlin have to do with the ability of German aircraft to land there? Is the reader expected to have the same knowledge around this topic that the author has?

ii) Given that we are talking about the former division of Germany, terms like "German aircraft" are completely meaningless anyway. This needs clarified.

Kennethmac2000 15:45, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

Well, Kennethmac2000, look like you're the ideal person to edit this article and improve it's quality. Remember, be bold! I would encourage you to go ahead and make the changes you suggest in this talk page. -- Fudoreaper 21:56:46, 2005-08-17 (UTC)

I don't know what the answer to (i) is! Kennethmac2000 13:32, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

Oh, i see. And neither do i, really, except that part of the city of berlin was under allied control, perhaps this airport was outside that zone of control, and thus usable by east german craft. Or something. hopefully someone else can clarify in a proper way. -- Fudoreaper 18:50:33, 2005-08-28 (UTC)

IIRC German aircraft was not allowed to land/take off in Berlin. That is why there was no German participation in the Berlin Airlift. Schönefeld was outside of the borders of Berlin. See History_of_Berlin#The_divided_city--Hhielscher 20:02, 28 August 2005 (UTC)

It would really be very helpful if people could stop using the term 'German' in the context of a divided Germany. Do you mean West German, East German or both Hhielscher? Schönefeld was in East Germany, so presumably (although I may be wrong - which is why this has to be properly explained!) East German aircraft could quite happily land there. No?

I meant all of German aircraft.--Hhielscher 10:51, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

@Kennethmac2000:

i) Berlin was under an occupied regime of the 4 Allies between 1945 and 1990, the division into four sectors was a result of this. One part of the Allied agreement said that they would jointly control the Berlin airspace. As a consequence, only civilian and military aircraft of British, French, American or Soviet registration were allowed to land in any of the airports located within the city boundary. This rule did not apply outside the territory controlled by the 4 Allies, i.e. outside the boundary. This is one of the reasons the GDR chose Schönefeld as their main airport in the first place, so they could have Interflug aircraft land there.

ii) Admittedly, not just German aircraft were prohibited in Berlin, but all from non-Allied nations. Yet the term "German" as a term meaning "from East or West Germany" is perfectly valid, just as "Korean" today can mean "from North or South Korea". They may not have lived under the same government, but they shared the same nationality. And in this case, also the same restrictions applied. Anorak2 17:12, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merge

Both articles talk about the same airport. The shorter article, which I'm proposing to merge into this one, is neither substantive nor broad enough to warrant its own article. thadius856_{talk|airports|neutrality} 03:29, 7 December 2006 (UTC)