Summer Of Love At Hitler’s Airport

If Germany is to have a Summer of Love in 2009, it could happen at what’s often described as “Hitler’s favorite airport.”

Der Spiegel and the U.K.’s The Guardian have followed up on the rumors that Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport will be the site of one of a series of Woodstock-style free concerts to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original 1969 festival in New York.

Promoter Michael Lang and his partners are reportedly seeking sponsors for the events, scheduled Aug. 15-16 in New York and Aug. 22-23 in Berlin.

They hope to attract contemporary acts as well as some of Woodstock’s original participants, including The Who, The Grateful Dead, Neil Young and Santana, according to the Guardian.

Reports of a German Woodstock first appeared at the Web site of Media Consulta, a major international PR firm based in Berlin. At the time, Lang was surprised to hear a presentation PDF was online and told Pollstar the information was for possible investors in a project that was being floated, but by no means in real consideration at the time.

In comments that have since disappeared, organizers described Tempelhof as “an ideal backdrop” for the re-launched festival of peace and love.

Media Consulta spokesman Philipp Stoehr told Berliner Morgenpost the company was “actively planning and currently acquiring sponsors” for the Berlin event.

The Tempelhof airfield was taken out of service in October and city officials have since struggled to figure out what to do with it. So far, the suggestions for the inner-city airport’s 49 giant buildings, seven hangars and 9,000 offices include converting it into a skateboarding center or creating an enormous red-light district.

Tempelhof, which opened in 1927, became the world’s first airport with an underground railway station, which was later named Platz der Luftbrücke after the Berlin Airlift.