Luftbrückendenkmal (Berlin Airlift Memorial)

The Berlin Airlift Memorial stands at the southern edge of Frankfurt Airport, near the old American base, marking the spot from which much of the Allied operation that kept West Berlin supplied during the 1948–49 Soviet blockade was flown. The monument — a curved 26-metre concrete prong arching towards the sky — was designed by Eduard Ludwig and erected in 1985 as a sister sculpture to the original Luftbrückendenkmal at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin.

A small information stone at the base lists the 39 American and British airmen killed during the airlift. The site is a few hundred metres south of Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof; not many people make the trip, but anyone interested in the history of the post-war Anglo-American occupation will find it moving.

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A story
During the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49, American pilots flying out of Frankfurt-Rhein-Main began dropping small handkerchief parachutes loaded with candy to children waiting at the end of Tempelhof's runways. The pilots became known as "Rosinenbomber" — raisin bombers — and the gesture remains the warmest single moment in Germany's post-war relationship with the US Army.

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