Babenhausen airfield

Babenhausen airfield
Characteristics
ICAO code	EDEF
Coordinates	49 ° 57 '11 "  N , 8 ° 58' 11"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 57 '11 "  N , 8 ° 58' 11"  E
Height above MSL	133 m (436  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	1.6 km southeast of Babenhausen
Basic data
opening	July 3, 1934
operator	Luftsport-Club Babenhausen eV
Start-and runway
06/24	674 m × 18 m asphalt

The Babenhausen airfield is a special airfield southeast of Babenhausen . It was in 1934 as a military airfield " airbase Babenhausen " by the Air Force of the Armed Forces set up.

history

The air base was opened on July 3, 1934. The runway was grassy. In the northeast of the air base there were some barracks and farm buildings. The air base was mainly used to train prospective pilots in the Air Force. For this purpose, gliders were stationed here . Only in 1944 did active flying units come onto the field, as the first from September 1944 the II. Group of Kampfgeschwader 53 .

The following table shows a list of all active flying units (excluding school and supplementary units) that were stationed here between 1939 and 1945.

From	To	unit	equipment
September 1944	September 1944	II./KG 53 (II. Group of Kampfgeschwader 53)	Heinkel He 111
September 1944	October 1944	I./JG 77 (I. Group of Jagdgeschwader 77)	Messerschmitt Bf 109 G
November 1944	December 1944	I./JG 11	Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A
December 1944	December 1944	III./JG 4	Messerschmitt Bf 109 G
December 1944	January 1945	I./JG 4	Messerschmitt Bf 109 G
February 1945	February 1945	I./JG 2	Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A
February 1945	March 1945	Parts of JG 54	Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D.

On March 25, 1945, US forces occupied the air base. After a POW camp for members of the Wehrmacht was located here in the immediate post-war period , the US armed forces took over the barracks as a garrison on August 7, 1951 . As a result, they built the runway that is still in use today.

Since the withdrawal of the US armed forces in 2007, the airfield has only been used for civil purposes by the Babenhausen air sports club .

Web links

Commons : Flugplatz Babenhausen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) , pp 31-32 , accessed on September 10, 2014.
2. ↑ Homepage Luftsportclubs Babenhausen eV