Disgrace for German engineers: BER welcomes the world in a retro look

During the construction period there was scorn and ridicule for BER. The "monster" fire protection or secret documents in the Berlin rubbish make you stunned. Many years go by, but it will no longer be a comeback story. Just opened, the next turbulence is pending.

Little of the euphoria or joy that BER is finally going online does not leak out. It is more of an event of soft tones. Airport manager Engelbert Lütke Daldrup does not feel like having a big party. He let it be known in good time. The messed up history has left scars – on the construction, the companies involved and those responsible. Heads rolled, companies went bankrupt. What has shocked and amused the world over the years was, above all, a huge effort.

31294681.jpg "data-src =" https://apps-cloud.n-tv.de/img/22132670-1603964898000/16-9/750/31294681.jpg "class =" lazyload "/></picture><figcaption><p class=Advertising campaign from 2012: Prominent namesake of the new "Berlin Brandenburg" airport is Willy Brandt.

(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)

Because of chronic mismanagement, the new building had to be completely renovated in recent years. What follows is a never-ending airport saga with many setbacks that cost valuable time. In the end, the airport also pays for them by losing touch with progressive technologies and modern design:

There is the tangle of cables: Thousands of cables have to be redrawn. Workers had packed the lines completely haphazardly and without prior consultation. The result: risk of overheating. Then fire protection becomes the big problem child on the construction site. The fire sprinklers only trickle, the smoke extraction flaps cannot be controlled, the architects' plan to divert the smoke under the airport halls turns out to be an irreparable design flaw. At some point fire protection is only called the "monster". Involuntarily, the shortcomings are getting weird.

Then the dowel breakdown follows: Because metal dowels on the support systems for cables suddenly no longer comply with the norm, they have to be replaced or need – dowels for dowels – special permits. In the squares, escalators that have come too short, incorrectly planted trees, untraceable rooms and not to forget the light that cannot be switched off follow. "Not even the light switch works at BER," scoffed the gazettes in their headlines in 2013.

It has little to do with the excessive German bureaucracy – as was often claimed at the time. In 2014, files of confidential documents were found in a waste container on the street in Berlin. Conceit and bribery affairs fly up. The politically responsible have lost control: Without a general contractor, with gigantic rescheduling and deadlines that were far too tight. All of this costs valuable time.

The light is constantly on: Can't someone find the switch?

(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)

Many years are wasted in the construction phase. The BER, planned as a prestige project of the region, is degenerating into the nation's stair joke. "We German engineers were ashamed," says airport boss Lütke Daldrup looking back. In the face of growing chaos, bewilderment grows. "We're not planning a moon landing," said Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke in 2017, somewhat perplexed. Foreign countries also have an opinion on these embarrassments: The airport "sullies Berlin's good reputation!", For example, sneers the British Telegraph 2018.

The final approval of BER by the building authorities was a "long, difficult road", summarizes Lütke Daldrup his work over the past few years, "a laborious, very detailed work". It is not for nothing that many before him failed because of the screwed-up project.

Even a warrior like Hartmut Mehdorn, who had been given a lot of confidence, had to capitulate. After six sacked managing directors and site managers and six canceled opening dates, the former city planner Lütke Daldrup deserves the credit. He has worked through what was screwed up in front of him. He defeated the "monster".

However, the late victory cannot hide one thing: the ravages of time have gnawed heavily on the building. The airport would have been modern in the noughties when it was planned. What was finished here in the end is a retro model, not an airport of the future. Not only because there aren't even enough sockets in the waiting areas for the power-hungry passengers and their smartphones. Even the extra-large passenger boarding bridge for the A380, which was once the pride of the planners and for which even the construction plans were knocked over during the ongoing work, is now ready for a museum.

The huge pearl necklace that was hung on the building at the time as an ornament and a symbol of the airport's exclusivity, looks out of place today. Because the A380 will only rarely dock – if at all – as can be heard in the industry. They say you can't get the giant plane full in Berlin anymore. The heyday of the A380 is over, Airbus doesn't want to build any more soon.

So, for the foreseeable future, you can continue to tinker around at the new capital city airport. In 2018, those responsible had praised BER as a great "comeback story". The times have changed. Not only for the giant passenger boarding bridge, but also for Terminal 2, which was built for low-cost airlines, the aviation industry currently has no use. For cost reasons and because the additional capacities are not required, it will remain closed for the time being. Normally – without Corona – Terminal 1 would have been too small. A real "comeback story" looks different. Fortunately, you learned to improvise at the airport. That could still be a valuable skill in these times.

. (tagsToTranslate) Economy (t) Berlin Brandenburg Airport – BER (t) Berlin (t) Aviation (t) Hartmut Mehdorn