Type: Limited edition prints
Size: 33cm x 48cm
Tirage: 100 copies
A pencil drawing of the Tempelhof Eagle head.
The eagle was designed be the German architect Ernst Sagebiel, who, in 1935, was commissioned to build the new Tempelhof terminal building for the airport as part of “Germania.”
The large roof eagle was built in 1940 by Walter Lemcke and stood 4.5m tall and weighed over 9 tonnes. It was initially formed in plaster, then cast in iron before being coated in anti-corrosion paint followed by an oil-based paint to appear bronze. It stood upright with open wings and the eagle looked left as it held a globe in its claws. The large globe symbolised the international aspect of the airport. Several prototypes were produced in order to find the ideal form and placement. Eventually it was decided to place the eagle sculpture at the head of the main building at Templehof (Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof), thus accentuating the rigorous symmetry of the architecture.
In 1962 the eagle sculpture was finally removed. It was in a state of decay and new radar equipment had to be installed in its place. Originally it was supposed to be lifted down complete by helicopter, however the structure turned out to be too ramshackle and too heavy to lift. It was instead dismantled and disposed of on the roof – right up to the head. The head of the eagle was removed and presented by the West German government to the US, who sent it to the West Point Military Museum as a trophy. The rest of the body was scrapped
As a symbolic gesture of German-American friendship, the head was returned to Berlin in 1985. The airport was closed in 2008 and the head is now located near to the entrance of the nearby Platz der Luftbrücke This led to the area being named “Eagle Square”.
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