Why is Germany’s main airport in Frankfurt rather than Berlin?
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After World War 2, the Soviet military occupied the area around Berlin, and Berlin was divided into four occupation zones. The pre-WWII passenger airport (Tempelhof) was in the US occupation zone. Schonefeld airport was in the Soviet occupied zone. And during the Berlin blockade and airlift of 1948-49, the French built a facility in their occupation zone of Berlin that later became Tegel airport.
The [Four Power agreement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Power_Agreement_on_Berlin) had restrictions on airline service to Berlin. German airlines were not allowed to serve Berlin – only American, British, French, and Soviet airlines were allowed to serve Berlin.
Frankfurt was the headquarters city of the US occupied zone in what became West Germany. The US Air Force established its biggest bases (Wiesbaden and Rhein Main) near Frankfurt. The large US presence in the Frankfurt area stimulated commercial travel to Frankfurt, so it organically became Lufthansa’s hub when the airline was reconstituted in the 1950s.
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