Josie Le Blond

‘Join the Nazis? How much do they pay?’ Celebrity pilot Ernst Udet was quick to see the military potential of American planes. Then he sold out to the Nazi war machine.

Celebrity pilot Ernst Udet's lavish lifestyle kept him chronically in debt. When approached by Hermann Göring, he simply named his price. open.substack.com/pub/tempelho...

05.08.2025 09:26 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Old books on a wooden shelf.

A wooden door with a sign in Latin.

Old books on a wooden shelf.

An elaborate ceiling in an old library.

Delighted to share that my book, Tempelhof: the Untold Story of Hitler’s Airport, will be published by Bodleian Library Press in the UK and the US in 2028. Last week I was invited to trawl the archive at Oxford University. Pics from a tour to the oldest part of the Bodleian Library.

24.07.2025 11:51 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Hopes of peace dashed at Tempelhof Between the wars, British Ambassador Horace Rumbold brought Germany in from the cold. Then, one day at Tempelhof, he glimpsed the awful truth.

British Ambassador Sir Horace Rumbold helped normalise relations between former enemies Germany and Britain between the wars. Within a few short years his hopes were dashed.

24.07.2025 11:33 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Historical cartoon. History is (always) now.

10.07.2025 13:17 — 👍 476    🔁 153    💬 15    📌 4

Lufthansa to Luftwaffe: How Milch turned sour When Adolf Hitler took power in January 1933, the head of Germany’s Tempelhof-based flag carrier agreed to help the Nazis prepare for war.

In 1933, Lufthansa boss Erhard Milch agreed to help the Nazis build an air force to decimate Germany’s opponents in the already looming future war.

08.07.2025 14:34 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The Nazi architect that created Tempelhof No, it wasn't that one... Ernst Sagebiel was already a rising star in the Nazi civil service when he landed the biggest assignment of his career.

Adolf Hitler decreed that Tempelhof would be rebuilt as a fascistic “world airport” to serve Germania, his megalomaniac re-imagining of the German capital. Sagebiel - experienced, loyal, ambitious, and malleable - was to translate this vision into reality.

24.06.2025 14:50 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

A daring escape from Columbiahaus How a teen SS guard busted prisoners out of a notorious concentration camp on Tempelhofer Feld.

Disillusioned SS guard Hans Bächle found a mentor among the prisoners at the notorious concentration camp on the edge of Tempelhofer Feld. Their thoughts soon turned to escape.

11.06.2025 18:11 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Tempelhof's school of violence Tempelhofer Feld was the site of Berlin’s only SS-run official concentration camp, a place of death and torture that served as a training ground for some of the Third Reich’s worst criminals.

The KZ Columbia on Tempelhofer Feld was a constant headache for the Nazi regime. Regular exposés in the international press and persistent rumours of inmate deaths at the hands of overzealous guards kept embarrassing the Nazi leadership as it strove to consolidate its power both at home and abroad.

28.05.2025 09:33 — 👍 7    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 1

Tortured at Tempelhof for Writing Against a War Author Kurt Hiller was an early victim of Columbiahaus, a site of death and torture on Tempelhofer Feld.

They came for Kurt Hiller one rainy lunchtime in high summer. Hours later, he found himself in the courtyard of a crumbling red-brick building on the edge of Tempelhofer Feld. This hellhole was to be his home for the next fourteen weeks. open.substack.com/pub/tempelho...

13.05.2025 10:31 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

May 1, 1933: A Nazi rally on Tempelhofer Feld The new Nazi regime used Tempelhof to crush Berlin's organised workers' movement.

Berlin, 1933. The May Day that wasn't. How the new regime used spectacle to subjugate the organised labour movement. tempelhof.substack.com/p/may-1-1933...

01.05.2025 17:50 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

How the Nazis came to Tempelhof Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring was a penniless, recovering morphine addict when he first set foot in Tempelhof Airport. He would go on to make it a central cog in the Nazi war machine.

The N*azis and Tempelhof’s aviators formed a pact that lasted until the dying days of World War Two. tempelhof.substack.com/p/how-the-na...

01.04.2025 09:23 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The bored Tempelhof staffer who risked death for glory The story of the rogue Lufthansa employee who gambled life and livelihood for five minutes of fame.

Desperate for fame and recognition, Lufthansa's desk-bound clerk was adamant. He would succeed, or die trying. tempelhof.substack.com/p/the-bored-...

20.03.2025 09:55 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The flight of the 'Miss Columbia' The first-ever transatlantic passenger flight narrowly escaped tragedy before landing at Tempelhof Airport.

The first-ever transatlantic passenger flight narrowly escaped tragedy before landing at Tempelhof Airport. tempelhof.substack.com/p/the-flight...

27.02.2025 19:40 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The rise of Tempelhof's broligarchy A German airline boss funded the Nazis' rise - and was rewarded with great power.

A German airline boss funded the Nazis' rise - and was rewarded with great power.

11.02.2025 20:11 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The celebrity pilot who crashed and burned Tempelhof Airport was Ernst Udet's stage. Then he threw his lot in with the wrong crowd.

Men wanted to be him, women wanted to be with him.
By all accounts, celebrity pilot Ernst Udet oozed charm, swagger and bravado.
Meet Tempelhof Airport's very own swashbuckling flying ace.

04.02.2025 20:20 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Tempelhof Berlin | Substack Subscribe for the forgotten story of Hitler’s airport. Click to read Tempelhof Berlin, a Substack publication. Launched a month ago.

I've got a story that's dying to be told, so I jumped on the Substack train. Take a look - and subscribe if you like! tempelhof.substack.com

31.01.2025 14:50 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

New here! Looking to chat to like-minded people about narrative nonfiction and publishing.

27.12.2024 15:17 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0