I flew into Tempelhof from Paris on a propellor job belonging to Lufthansa/sub group in 1990 probably September. A beautiful evening and probably still more or less the airways in use during the post-blockade time period. Exiting the aircraft on the apron in front of the terminal and hangars and then walking the 150m to the entry door was sublime in terms of atmosphere and visual impression, Ol' Albert's architecture was both impressive and imposing in equal measure and the arrivals hall still working back then was like a movie set. Sadly these days Tempelhof is now the largest Refugee camp in Germany
https://www.firstpost.com/world/refu...n-3908469.html
I remember that the team I was working with moved between the 4 sectors of the city daily during the course of the time I was there and it was fascinating to see all the Russian vehicles and signs and people in the Russian sector, then the same in the French sector and so on with the British and American sectors. Everything was somehow the same as before, yet 'different' as there was now no legal restriction stopping movement and yet old habits die hard :-)
I went up in the Fernsehturm(Onion) and it had that distinct smell that was evident in many East German/Soviet buildings and aircraft for that matter. Perhaps some plastic or bonding chemical odour ? A decade later I was driven in a taxi at 2am in a snowstorm through the Brandenburg Gate with not another vehicle or person to be seen, another unplanned magical moment where 'if only' a smartphone camera had been available to capture the essence of the moment, or at least a slither thereof. Sadly soon after the Brandenburg gate was closed to traffic and even pedestrians due to 'security concerns'.