Sperenberg airfield
| Sperenberg Airfield "Аэродром ГСВГ Шперенберг" (closed in 1994) |
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| Characteristics | |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 51 m (167 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 48 km south of Berlin (Dom) |
| Street | L70 |
| train | Long- distance railway Royal Prussian Military Railway / Deutsche Reichsbahn / Deutsche Bahn 206.31 / 6514 |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1958 |
| operator | 1957–1994 Group of the Soviet Armed Forces in Germany ; Owner from 1994 to 2009: Federal Republic of Germany ; Owner since 2009: Brandenburg |
| surface | 2400 ha |
| Terminals | 1 (A) |
| Employees | 5,000 |
| Runways | |
| North (07L / 25R) | 2550 m × 50 m concrete |
| South (07L / 25R GRASS) | 800 m × 50 m grass |
The Sperenberg airfield was a Soviet and from 1992 to 1994 Russian military airfield near Sperenberg ( Brandenburg ), on which large aircraft such as the troop transporters Il-76 and An-22 operated. These ensured the withdrawal of the Western Group of Troops (WGT). At times it was considered a potential location for Berlin Brandenburg Airport . The radio call sign for the sperenberg airfield was in the 1960s "KJUWET" (ditch), from the 1970s " SOUVENIR ". The airfield is located in the municipalities of Am Mellensee and Nuthe-Urstromtal in the Teltow-Fläming district .
historical development
The area of what will later be the airfield originally belonged to the Kummersdorf Army Research Institute , where as early as 1870 military means were examined and tested for their usability. Up until the Second World War there was a training center for railway pioneers . Numerous remains of bridges and rails as well as a memorial for the railway pioneers who died in World War I are evidence of this .
After the end of the Second World War, the extensive use of the site was largely stopped. In the 1950s, the Soviet Army was looking for an airfield for military use only. There was an investigation of possible locations in Drewitz , Rangsdorf and Sperenberg. After an intense dispute with the GDR about the financing, an airfield was finally built on the area by the GDR from 1958 after the agreement on sharing the costs had been reached. The aim was to relieve the already existing, larger Berlin-Schönefeld Airport from military air traffic and to use it exclusively for civilian purposes.
Construction phases of the Sperenberg airfield
The construction of the airfield was carried out in three important stages:
- 1st construction phase 1958–1960
- VEB Spezialbau Potsdam with the help of prisoners from the Brandenburg prison
- 2nd construction phase in the 1960s
- During this period, around 1965, the command bunker for the command post of the 226th self was built. Mixed pilot regiment built, this was single-storey, monolithic and had the dimensions 28 × 16 meters.
- 3rd construction phase 1972–1974
- Construction work for relocating the parking areas for transport aircraft in the north-western area of the airfield was carried out by the VEB Autobahnbaukombinat operating part Potsdam , the construction of the centrally arranged hangar by the VEB Bau- und Montagekombinat (BMK) Ost and electrical systems by the PGH of the electrical trade in Klausdorf , completion was on 1 May 1974. The airfield thus had a concrete runway, a grass runway, four taxiways in north-south orientation and two taxiways parallel to the runways in east-west orientation, one of which leads to the terminal Sperenberg.
Sperenberg was used by the 16th air army of the GSSD / WGT until the withdrawal in 1994. The former East German State Council Chairman, Erich Honecker , who was wanted by an arrest warrant at the time, spent his last night on German soil in 1991 on the grounds of the airfield before he was flown to the Soviet Union.
Use of the airfield
Sperenberg was well suited as a location for the Soviet occupation forces. Due to the long history of the garrison, existing buildings such as barracks, garages and supply buildings could be used. In the course of time, the area developed into a separate Soviet city on the soil of the GDR. There was a school and kindergartens for the soldiers' children, a large bakery, shops, a cinema, hospitals and other facilities. There was a separate daily train connection to both Potsdam and Moscow . At peak times, over 5,000 soldiers and civilians were stationed here.
Sperenberg used the GSSD / WGT intensively. Transport and passenger aircraft as well as reconnaissance and liaison helicopters were stationed at the airfield. The main user was the 226th self. Mixed Fliegerregiment (226th OSAP) that was last equipped with different versions of the An-12 , An-24 and An-26 as well as Mi-8 and Tu-134A . In addition there was the 113th Self, which was temporarily stationed at the airfield. Helicopter squadron (113th OWE) with Mi-6 , Mi-8 and Mi-24 . The third aviation unit stationed there was the 39th self. Aviation department for radio electronic combat (39th OAO REB), which had Il-20 and Il-22 . The "Elektron" training center was located in the barracks, and air defense officers from the National People's Army were trained here.
All units stationed at the airfield were directly subordinate to the 16th Air Army and the staff of the Soviet armed forces in Wünsdorf and acted in their interests. In addition, the airfield was considered the gateway to home, daily mail, courier and connecting flights to various Moscow military airfields took place. In recent years Tu-154s have been used regularly for this purpose , and Il-62s for larger numbers of passengers . The daily mail flight was followed by flights to the division headquarters under the 16th Air Army, using An-2 and Mi-8. This procedure was repeated daily. In the final phase of the withdrawal of the western group of the armed forces, the Sperenberg airfield served as the main base for transport flights. In the last weeks of the withdrawal, only this airfield was available to the Russian armed forces. Transport aircraft Il-76 , An-22 and An-124 were used on a large scale . The flights ended in early September 1994.
Discussion about the expansion as Berlin-Brandenburg Airport
As a potential location for the Berlin Brandenburg Airport project, Sperenberg Airfield received national attention from the early 1990s to 1995. While advocates in the discussions at that time particularly emphasized the existing infrastructure and the hidden forest location and the associated low level of noise pollution, critics saw too great a distance to the capital as a negative criterion. One argument against Sperenberg was the expansion of Halle-Leipzig Airport . With an ICE connection from the Berlin area, both airports would have competed strongly. The proximity of Schönefeld to Berlin remained a locational advantage of the new major airport.
Although the expertises commissioned - in particular the very extensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) as part of the regional planning procedure - clearly came to the conclusion, i.e. for all protected assets examined, that Sperenberg airfield was by far the most suitable location for the new one Was a major airport (e.g. at the Sperenberg site, compared to Schönefeld, only a fraction of the aircraft noise pollution of the local population would have been expected), politicians ultimately decided in favor of Berlin-Schönefeld Airport as the future location.
Due to the breakdowns during construction, the multiple postponement of the opening and the knowledge that has now been gained that the BER airport at the Schönefeld location was too small and should reach its capacity limit soon after opening, Sperenberg was chosen as the "later" location in 2012/2013 of the international Berlin-Brandenburg airport, as was the case with ex-Prime Minister Stolpe or the CDU chairman of the Brandenburg CDU at the time, Saskia Ludwig .
Situation since 2009
The airfield and the surrounding area, a total area of around 24 km², are currently largely unused. All buildings and installations are left to decay. Various floor coverings are currently being applied to the main runway and noise protection walls are being tested by various faculties. A taxiway is used by TÜV and Dekra as a test track for crash tests.
In 2009, the entire Sperenberg military site passed from the property of the Federal Republic of Germany to the property of the State of Brandenburg. In the final invoice of the state of Brandenburg for the WGT real estate assets in accordance with Section 8 (2) WGT-LVG as of December 31, 2007 , the market value is stated at EUR 8.75 million and other income from the property at EUR 0.5 million. This is offset by the costs of dismantling in preparation for recovery of EUR 24 million, remediation of contaminated sites with EUR 11.3 million, development and marketing costs of EUR 3 million and administrative expenses of EUR 7 million. The estimated total amount of expenses is 45.3 million euros.
After deducting the income of 9.3 million euros, according to this study, the state would have to raise 36 million euros for the conversion of the site into civil use (as of 2007).
literature
- Stefan Büttner: Red places: Russian military airfields in Germany 1945-1994. Aerolit, first edition, June 2007, ISBN 978-3-935525-11-4 .
- Stefan Büttner: Print by “ moving van” - The last days of Sperenberg in Fliegerrevue 12/1994
- Lutz Freundt: Soviet Air Force in Germany 1945–1994 Volume 3, Edition Freundt self-published, Diepholz 1999
- Lutz Freundt: Soviet Air Force in Germany 1945–1994 Volume 4, Edition Freundt Eigenverlag, Diepholz 2000
Web links
- Förderverein Museum Kummersdorf eV
- Site plan of the Soviet Sperenberg airfield ( Memento from August 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Estimated costs and revenues for the marketing and renovation of the Sperenberg airfield property (PDF; 3 MB)
- Image documentation, 2013
- And Sperenberg greets forever. Berliner Morgenpost , October 10, 2013, accessed on January 1, 2014 (Contains, among other things, a video, several 360 ° panoramas and a distance calculator from Sperenberg to the active airports.).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Katrin Schoelkopf: Airport: Sperenberg on the rise. In: Berliner Morgenpost , June 10, 2008
- ↑ "The train connection to a possible airport in Sperenberg would be almost exactly two thirds cheaper than the connection now planned for the expansion of Schönefeld Airport." Jürgen Schwenkenbecher: From Berlin to Sperenberg in 26 minutes. In: Berliner Zeitung , February 16, 2005
- ↑ "Excerpt from the plan approval decision, Part C - Reasons for the decision" Plan approval decision. (PDF; 549 kB) In: Planning approval decision - expansion of the Berlin-Schönefeld airport, 44 / 1-6441 / 1/101, Ministry of Infrastructure and Agriculture of the State of Brandenburg , August 14, 2004
- ↑ Christian Mutter, Massimo Rodari, Viktoria Solms and Julius Tröger : And forever greets Sperenberg. Berliner Morgenpost , October 10, 2013, accessed on January 1, 2014 .
- ↑ Thorsten Metzner: Ludwig wants Sperenberg as an airport reserve In: Berliner Tagesspiegel , February 21, 2012
- ↑ Final invoice of the state of Brandenburg on the WGT real estate assets according to § 8 Abs. 2 WGT-LVG as of December 31, 2007 (PDF; 3 MB)