#DankeTXL: FlyerTalker Shares Incredible Farewell Photos of Berlin Tegel Airport

As operations end at Berlin Tegel Airport, one FlyerTalker paid tribute with a photojournal shared in the forums. In the words of FlyerTalker angeloedades: “When TXL is replaced by new residential properties, outdoor spaces and a new technology hub, I will always remember the concrete shell and the contrasting red and bronze hues.”

For decades, Berlin-Tegel “Otto Lilienthal” Airport (TXL) was the primary air gateway in and out of the West German side of Berlin. When the nation was split into the western republic and eastern communist states, Berlin Tegel was the only way to avoid Soviet-backed East German soldiers while traveling in and out of the German capital.

Today, the airport sits silent for the first time in over 60 years. On Sunday, November 8, 2020, the final commercial flight out of TXL – Air France Flight 1235 – departed the historic terminal, 50 years after they were the first carrier to offer passenger service. It is replaced by Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), a brand-new international airport opened during the most difficult time in aviation history.

The occasion is particularly bittersweet for FlyerTalker angeloedades, who memorialized the airport in an emotional photojournal thread on the forums. Entitled “Berlin Tegel (TXL): My Favourite Airport,” the FlyerTalker shares photos of the terminal at their last visit, as well as the special memories it brought since their first arrival in 2014.

Berlin Tegel (TXL): My Favourite Airport

Signage directs flyers where to go, as well as points out how far it is to get to different points of the world. Photo courtesy: angeloedades on the FlyerTalk forums.

“You can read and watch everything there is to know about Berlin Tegel Otto Lilienthal (TXL) airport but nothing can explain the feeling of arriving or departing this airport,” angeloedades writes in their post. “Nearly everything was easy and efficient. From kerbside (sic) to departing gate is approximately thirty metres. The very definition of efficiency; very German if you ask me.”

Check-in counters, once bustling with flyers, now sit quiet and abandoned at TXL. Photo courtesy: angeloedades on the FlyerTalk forums.

In a memorial to the historic airport, angelodades shared a wealth of recent photos of the airport. Although the buildings will still stand, it will no longer serve aircraft. Rather, it will become a multi-use property, housing everything from a technology hub to (potentially) a nightclub and music venue.

Passenger buses pay homage to the terminal, thanking them in the German language: “Danke TXL.” Photo courtesy: angeloedades on the FlyerTalk forums.

“As for its style, its functional design and its method, the pictures will do some justice,” angeloedades writes. “They are some of the pictures from my recent birthday trip and my last round trip to TXL on October 31st with British Airways. I wanted to impart some of its charm, textures, patterns, segments and warmth for posterity.”

There’s truly nothing left to say but thank you, TXL. Photo courtesy: angeloedades on the FlyerTalk forums.

While aircraft will no longer depart and land at the airport, providing passengers and cargo from the west (and all other parts of the world), the photos will live on forever. As angelodades writes: “When TXL is replaced by new residential properties, outdoor spaces and a new technology hub, I will always remember the concrete shell and the contrasting red and bronze hues.”

To see the full photojournal and share your memories of TXL, visit the FlyerTalk forums.

Feature image courtesy: angeloedades from the FlyerTalk forums.