Candy Bombers to Revisit Berlin for Airlift Celebration

Apr 27, 2009

Berlin Airlift © picture-alliance/dpa
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Children in Berlin cheer on a "Candy Bomber" during the Berlin Airlift.
(© picture-alliance/dpa)

Sixty years after Allied forces liberated Berlin from the stranglehold of a Soviet blockade, an American plane will fly over the city and drop chocolate from the sky. The unique flight will take place during the festivities marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Berlin airlift on May 12, 2009 at Tempelhof Airport.

Between June 26, 1948 and May 12, 1949 American and British aircraft carried thousands of tons of food and supplies daily into the beleaguered city daily, and some special planes dropped packages of candy attached to tiny parachutes, earning them the name "Raisin Bombers" among Berliners.  Americans knew the famous planes as "Candy Bombers".

In honor of the anniversary, the city of Berlin is holding an official celebration for 2,000 invited guests in the airport's main hall in addition to the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the nearby Airlift Memorial.

Tempelhof © picture-alliance/dpa
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The last flight departed from Tempelhof in October 2008, but the horseshoe-shaped airport remains a powerful symbol of the Berlin airlift.
(© picture-alliance/dpa)

Final details about the program and keynote speakers are still pending, but the city has confirmed that the participants will include Berlin Airlift veterans as well as representatives of the British, American, and French governments.

An airlift-themed open house will also take place on the tarmac at Tempelhof, the West-Berlin airport that played a central role in the airlift. Although it was shuttered six months ago due to declining passenger numbers, Tempelhof remains a beloved symbol of the airlift to many Berliners.

Visitors will get to view the opening of the exhibit "Friends Always", which documents the airlift with historic photographs and artifacts. Berlin institutions including the John F. Kennedy School, the Berlin British School, the French School, the Allied Museum, the Technology Museum and the soccer club Herta BSC will also participate in the open house.

© Germany.info

Friends Always: 60th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift

Friends Always

The years 2008 and 2009 mark the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. Read more about how the heroic efforts of the United States and her Allies saved more than 2 million men, women and children in Berlin.

Last Flights Depart from Tempelhof Airport, Marking end of Era

One of the last planes to depart from Tempelhof © picture-alliance/dpa

Berlin's Tempelhof Airport, where Allied planes landed to supply the city with food and fuel during the 1948/49 Berlin Airlift, has officially closed.  The final flights departed from Tempelhof on October 30, 2008.