Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden Airport
The Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden airport was the governmental airport for the Obersalzberg during the time of National Socialism . It was located in the area of the municipality of Ainring in what is now Mitterfelden. Today the area is built on.
history
In April 1933, on behalf of Adolf Hitler, the exploration of an airfield for his second seat of government on Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden began . Neither the investigation of the existing Mayerhof airport in Bad Reichenhall on July 10, 1933 (including the landing of a Ju 52 on July 18) nor the investigation of the Salzburg-Maxglan airport in neighboring Austria satisfied the requirements. During a flight over the region, Hitler committed himself to an open field in the municipality of Ainring. The first on-site visit took place on August 1, 1933, and on August 16, Hitler ordered the site to be purchased and converted into an airport. The first test landing took place on September 15 on behalf of Deutsche Lufthansa , Division Manager South. From October 7th, the airfield was run under the (camouflage) name Sportflugplatz and officially inaugurated on January 21, 1934.
From June 21 to 24, 1934, the new airport was a station for the Germany round flight at the request of Hermann Göring . From here the flight continued to Obersalzberg, where Hitler watched the planes. On August 28, an airplane landed for the first time with Hitler himself as a passenger. Goering first flew on August 31, 1934 from Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden Airport to Berlin. In the future, his aircraft was always ready for use in the hangar.
With an open day on October 6th and 7th, 1934, the airport building was opened. It was built in the homeland style.
During the Second World War, the government airport Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden was also an air base of the Air Force with various stationed commands. In addition, the German Research Institute for Gliding was located.
Plans to bomb the airport were rejected by the Allies because the air base was not classified as crucial to the war and they wanted to take over the research facility undamaged.
After being captured by the US Army, former concentration camp inmates, Jews and displaced persons were housed in the existing barracks until 1947 . The Free State of Bavaria became the owner of the area in 1947. From then on, the Bavarian police used parts of the former airfield facilities. The Mitterfelden district was created in the vicinity. Today there are numerous new buildings of the advanced training institute of the Bavarian Police on the site.
On September 5, 1955, a test with winch towing by gliders was successfully carried out on the former airfield . The following application for re-approval as a glider flying site was rejected.
A permanent exhibition entitled “Mitterfelden Airport during World War II” is located in three vaulted cellars that were part of the airport building and today belong to the training institute of the Bavarian Police.
Coordinates: 47 ° 48 '50 " N , 12 ° 57' 35" E
literature
- Festschrift 40 Years of the Bavarian Police Training Institute, 2015, self-published
Web links
- Susanne Rolinek, Gerald Lehner, Christian Strasser: Ainring near Freilassing. Take-Off into the Second World War. In: In the shadow of the Mozartkugel (travel guide through the brown topography of Salzburg). Czernin Verlag, Vienna, accessed on July 30, 2013 .
- Airport relics on Haunsbergstrasse. In: Website of the municipality of Ainring. Ainring community, 2006, archived from the original ; Retrieved July 30, 2013 .
- Geoffrey R. Walden: Misc. Buildings Part 3. In: Third Reich in Ruins. Retrieved July 30, 2013 (English, photos of the former air traffic control building in 1938 and today).
- Excursion: (military) aviation in the Salzburg area. Salzburger Wehrgeschichtliches Museum, 2008, accessed on July 30, 2013 (including photos from the Documentation Center in Ainring).