BERLIN — The Prussians once paraded on the grounds that are now Tempelhof. Then, in the 1930s, the architect Ernst Sagebiel took what was a modest airfield and conceived the site as a gigantic entrance to Hitler’s new Germany.

Later, his brainchild — what the architect Norman Foster has called “the mother of all airports” — was used by the United States and its allies to run the airlift that saved West Berlin from a Soviet blockade.

Tempelhof’s sweep and size, as well as its location in the center of Berlin, are so impressive that everything down to the airport signs and now disused luggage conveyors remain under legal protection as a monument.

All its life, in fact, Tempelhof Airport has been writing chapters of the history of Berlin. So it was perhaps inevitable that it would land a leading role in the current one.

Today, it is in the throes of becoming Germany’s largest refugee center. For Tempelhof, that spells yet another transformation.

The new mission for the airport, which could house up to 7,000 refugees when work is completed, has thrust employees here into improvised roles. They must figure out how to shelter, feed, heat, entertain and aid the new arrivals from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

“There is no blueprint for something like this,” said Michael Elias, who leads the company, Tamaja, that runs the refugee facilities, organizing everything from security to cleaning and the catering that delivers breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“At the beginning, you can only make mistakes,” added Mr. Elias, 46, who came as a child to Germany from Lebanon.

His office looks down on one of the four gaping 52-foot-high hangars where up to 800 refugees are currently accommodated in sparse 270-square-foot spaces formed by temporary screens. Six double bunk beds sleeping 12 are squeezed into these spaces, with no room for a spare chair.

“It’s not space designed for living,” Constanze Döll, a spokeswoman, noted of Tempelhof Projekt, the city agency that is responsible for the overall development. “It’s an aircraft hangar.”