No one had a clue as to the political development of the coming decades when Stalin shut off all supply lines to Berlin only 3 years after the end of WW II. This posed the challenge to instantly supply a city of 2.5 million inhabitants by air.
This event is dramatically shown in the film "The Berlin Airlift/ Die Luftbrücke": Doubts and worries were nurtured by the uncertainty of the Western Allies as to the feasibility, promises of foot and coal to the Berliners by the East, an incessant division of the city and the fear of the winter.
Individual generosity and mutual support led to the reverse of Stalin´s expectations. The Airlift was not only a gigantic logistical challenge, but also one of the most important symbols of international Western solidarity in the times of the Cold War. The reminders of this first conflict of the two political systems are present all over Berlin. Every year the victims of the Airlift are commemorated at the Airlift monument at Tempelhof Airport. The Technical Museum shows a real "Raisinbomber" fixed at its roof, the Allied Museum exposes a British Hastings airplane. Not only the spectacular actions but the unpretentious signs remind the history. A simple plate at a lodgings house in the Handjerystrasse in Berlin-Friedenau calls to mind the accident on July 25, 1948, when an US plane crashed in the front of the building and all the crew members died. The Berliners realised the first time, that the occupying powers were giving their lives to supply Berlin with food and coal." This accident was one of the turning events in the relation between the Western Allies and the Berliners. The Airlift broke down the barriers of mistrust and opened an outpouring of sympathy and gratitude. A British eye witness in the film "The Berlin Airlift/ Die Luftbrücke": "Looking back, I am convinced this event was crucial for the political development of Germany and of Europe as we know it today." An American pilot: "This was the first time we were unified in a battle for democratic values and I believe it was a cornerstone in their young democracy. The values you defended by your own you will protect in the future."

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