Tempelhof
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Tempelhof was a borough of the city of Berlin that was united with Schöneberg in 2001 to form the Tempelhof-Schöneberg borough. It is the location of Tempelhof International Airport. Tempelhof is in the southern part of the city and borders Brandenburg.
The borough of Tempelhof consisted of four districts:
- Tempelhof
- Mariendorf
- Marienfelde
- Lichtenrade
These districts grew from the villages Tempelhove, Margendorpe, Marienfelde and Lichtenrade, which were founded in the 13th century.
Tempelhove was founded 1247 as a Komturhof ("commander's court", smallest holding entity of a military knights' order) by Templars who were expelled from Palestine. The center of the settlement, consisting of the church and the original estate, was fortified and originally completely surrounded by water. The Templars were joined by 15 families of landless farmers' sons from the Rhine, who couldn't inherit any estate from their parents' possessions due to an over-fragmentation of their estate. Legates of the Templars offered them fertile soil and the protection of Tempelhove's stronghold.
After the order of the Templars was officially abolished, the order of the Knights of St. John took over the villages of Tempelhof, Mariendorf and Marienfelde.
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The original church, built from glacial boulders, was destroyed in the second world war and was replaced with one made of smaller paving stones and having a timber-frame tower.