Stars & Stripes: 70th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift

In Summer 2019, 70 years after the original event, about 40 original machines (DC 3 + DC 4 + JU 52) from four continents will fly the former routes all the way to Berlin to commemorate the Berlin Airlift. In 1948, the former capital of Germany was at the very edge of a beginning political confrontation between the east and the west better known as The Cold War. When all accesses to the western part of Berlin were closed by the Sowjet army in the summer of 1948, only air transportation was able to support the city of Berlin and its more than 2 million citizens. Until then, nobody had any idea how to set up such a huge operation. But thanks to personal initiative, courage, trust and an unconditional will of the western allies to help, it turned out to become the most spectacular and largest relief operation in history. It was an organizational and logistical masterpiece and an impressive demonstration of humanitarian support and adherence. 

About the Presenters: Peter Braun and Thomas Keller

Born in 1965 in Ten Boer, Netherlands, Peter Braun is an Initiator of the Berlin Airlift 70 and an independent management consultant. Braun works in Groningen, The Netherlands, and is a specialist in aircraft types and their history and is an ex-paratrooper.

Thomas KELLER was born in 1957 in Remscheid, Germany. Keller is an Initiator of the Berlin Airlift 70 and an independent M & A consultant. Keller is also an ex-paratrooper and lives and works in Hamburg Germany.