Floating e.V. invites you to explore the history surrounding the former Tempelhof Airport in the context of the liberation in 1945. The traces of the war are explored with artistic activities to counteract forgetting and the misappropriation of history.

2 – 4 pm
Kids Uni: “Photographic research around the field” and exhibition
With Lena Düspohl and Ute Lindenbeck

The Floating Kidsuni invites you to explore the neighbourhood photographically and to create an exhibition together in which our discoveries will be presented and discussed.
From 8 years
registration: kids@floating-berlin.org

3 – 5 pm
Mapping the stories of contemporary witnesses
With Sarah Bovelett and Silja Teresa Huppertz

We are taking this day as an opportunity to collect, sift through and sort stories, photos, drawings and other materials. People from the neighbourhood are invited to fill and design this map of memory with us.

4 – 6 pm
Remembrance walk at Tempelhofer Feld – traces of Nazi crimes
With Drea Berg, landscape architect

We will go on a search for traces at Tempelhofer Feld and visit places where serious crimes were committed during the National Socialist era – places that are still barely visible in the public consciousness today. The stops include the former Concentration Camp Columbia and the little-known forced labour camps associated with Tempelhof Airport and the Neukölln parish.

5 – 8 pm
Cooking together and “discursive dinner”
With Über den Tellerrand e.V.

In the evening we come together to experience history through our senses while cooking and eating together. The focus will be on an ingredient that was grown in the neighbourhood 80 years ago – a silent witness to local everyday culture. While eating together, we will reflect on the experiences and perspectives of the day and ask ourselves what the historical traces tell us about today’s conflicts. How does memory, or gaps in memory, influence the way we live together?

8 – 10 pm
Screening

In the preliminary programme, excerpts from films about two sportsmen who were active in the neighbourhood and clearly positioned themselves against the Nazi system of injustice will be presented. Both, the wrestler Werner Seelenbilder and the boxer Johann Rukeli Trollmann, were murdered by the National Socialists.

Tempelhof Central Airport | Karim Aïnouz | 2018

Tempelhof Airport in Berlin – the largest architectural monument in Europe – stands for the monumental self-staging of the National Socialists, but has also become a symbol of freedom thanks to the airlift of 1948/49. Since autumn 2015, some hangars and the field have been used as accommodation. Syrian Ibrahim and Iraqi Qutaiba dream of finally arriving with more than 2,000 refugees. Impressive visual compositions sensitively document their lives, which are characterised by uncertainty, confusion, suffering, light-heartedness and longing. Architecture and the seasons lend a surreal face to their reality. A portrait of a city within a city – and at the same time a portrait of Europe between utopia and crisis.

If you’re interested in the NS history of the former airport we recommend this tour from THF Tempelhof Airport on May 8th:

Tracing the Nazi history of Tempelhof Airport 1933-1945
A dialogical exploration of the National Socialist history of the site

May 8, 2.30 pm

Here you can find more information and get tickets.

25.06.24 FC* FLOATING – a day about fans for Fußballkultursommer Berlin

2 – 10 pm

Floating University Berlin invites you to the reed zone: frog fans, duck counters and rainwater worshippers meet for a day of diverse fan culture. We want to talk about football and frogs, but that’s not all: we’ll set up new floating fan clubs and design fanzines, print T-shirts and knit the longest FC* floating scarf together. Local sporting celebrities report at the “Stammtisch” that the Tempelhofer Feld has always been – and should remain – a sports zone. At dusk, we sing fan anthems as a duet with the frogs in a karaoke competition.

Program:
2 – 6 pm Hands-on Fan workshops
Design your own fantastic T-Shirt
Create a unique basecap with fan-embroidery
Be part of the fan-knitting community and create the longest Floating Fan Scarf

4 – 6 pm Founding of new Floating Fan-Clubs
Are you a fan of the frogs or the ducks? How to protect the valuable reed belt? Found new legendary Floating Fan-Clubs and advertise for new members in your unique fanzine.

6 – 7 pm Fan-letters
Write a letter to witness your fandome

7 pm Floating STAMMTISCH
Did you know that the oldest Berlin football team used Tempelhofer Field for their first matches by just marking the greens by themselves. Together with sport experts from the neighbourhood we reflect the rich sport history of the area and discuss why the Tempelhofer Feld should stay open for all citizens of Berlin

9 pm Fan-Anthems Karaoke
From “YOU NEVER WALK ALONE” to “MAJOR TOM”: together we belt out the most famous fan-anthems in a duet with the frogs and other voices in the rainwater retention basin

During the day you can tell and share your most favourite or embarrassing fan-stories, that can be heard in the Floating Fan-Radio on site

From workshops, reading sessions, and performances, to screenings and lectures, we curate a dense program to discover and dive into topics emerging from the site : Frogs and Waste (2022) and Rain Water (2023).
 

30.07.2023 Rainwater Symphony

In the Rainwater Retention Basin, where Floating University is situated, we are surrounded and inspired by constantly changing water levels. With the “Rainwater Symphony” as part of the Cultural Summer Festival, we want to celebrate the important role that rain plays for the ecology in the basin and also our cultural activities for one day.