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Messestadt Riem: the early days For nearly all of its 1,500 year history, Riem was a small community
of farmers. Cultivation of the fruitful upper Bavarian plateau began
some time around 500. The name "Riem" first appears in
the official archives in 788 - some four centuries before that of
Munich, which soon became its great neighbor to the west. |
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| The airport was almost
completely destroyed in World War II. Rebuilt in the war's aftermath,
the airport grew to be Germany's third largest. By the late 70's,
it was clear that the airport would soon reach the limits of its capacity.
Spurred by the dangers of having an airport so close to the city center,
the hunt for a new site was launched. Found was a site 14 kilometers to the north of Riem - and 28 kilometers away from downtown Munich. Located near the town of Erding, the new airport was completed on May 16, 1992. A few hours later, in one of the greatest feats of logistics ever experienced, the airport's operations were moved from Riem to Erding - with no hitches or interruptions of service |
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Party time |
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| The airlines and passengers were gone. The buildings were still, however, there, and would be until the implementation of the plans drawn up for the new MS Riem could begin. That took four years. During that time, the decommissioned airport became Europe's largest "party zone". The airport's halls were filled with ravers and revelers of all stripes. The hopping and bopping came to an end in September, 1996. Bulldozers began the work of tearing down and processing 1.4 million cubic meters of concrete, tar and other building materials. The only things left standing were - and are - the air traffic control tower and the visitors' stand. | |
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| It was a scant two years later that MS Riem welcomed the first of what will some day be 16,000 residents. These pioneers arrived in a community in which the new fairgrounds and congress center had already been completed, as had been the creation of the local communications, energy supply, educational and transport infrastructure. The last component of the latter was put in place in May 29, 1999. The line linking MS Riem with downtown Munich was inaugurated on that day. | |
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For a full-length history of Riem, please click here.
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