Regensburg airfield
| Regensburg airfield | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Characteristics | |||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 337 m (1106 ft ) | ||
| Basic data | |||
| opening | 1925-1927 | ||
| closure | 1961 | ||
| operator | Air Force , US Army , Regensburg Airport GmbH | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| (08/26) | 800 m × 50 m grass | ||
The former Regensburg airfield , also called the Messerschmitt airfield after 1937 , was a traffic airfield in the western part of Regensburg in the Upper Palatinate .
geography
The Regensburg airfield was located about two kilometers west of the old town of Regensburg in what is now the west quarter of the Danube arch near the northernmost point of the Danube . In the immediate vicinity between fields and meadows there were only the Barmherzige Brüder hospital and the former horse racing field at that time . It was not until 1933 that the Westheimsiedlung was built directly to the east of the airfield and, in 1937, the Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg was built south of the airfield .
Today, the Infineon (formerly Siemens ) chip factory is located on the site of the former airfield, as well as the Danube Park, the largest park in the city of Regensburg with the Regensburg Baggersee and the Westbad .
history
As early as 1920–1930, the first flight days took place on the racing course in Regensburg -prüfunging and the meadows towards the Danube. In the 1930s, Lufthansa offered daily scheduled flights from Regensburg to Munich or regular flights to Fürth-Nuremberg and Plauen .
With the establishment of the Messerschmitt Works in 1937, the airfield was used for military purposes in addition to civil aviation. Subsequently, the airfield was also called "Messerschmitt airfield". Around 1943, the Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg is said to have been the second largest aircraft factory in Europe, which shows the importance of the airfield. In the 1940s there were consequently considerations to expand the airfield to the east. Among other things, the nearby Westheimsiedlung should have given way. The project ultimately failed due to the course of the war. During the Second World War, the factories were repeatedly targeted by American air raids , only the former administration building, which today houses the commercial college, and part of the paint shop near the airfield are still preserved.
After the Second World War , the Americans took over the airfield. Immediately north of the airfield towards the Danube, more and more gravel was extracted in the 1950s, but this did not affect flight operations at the time. After regaining air sovereignty in 1955, the first major flight day after World War II took place at the airfield on September 9, 1956, which the Regensburg people also watched from the Winzerer Heights . The organizer of the other flight days in the following years was the Luftsportverein Regensburg e. V.
As a result, the airfield was increasingly used for civil aviation by the Sportfliegerclub Regensburg e. V. used. Flight operations were relocated to Regensburg-Oberhub , Oberhinkofen and Wenzenbach airfields in 1960 . With the sale of the land and the resulting closure of the Regensburg airfield in 1961, a longstanding aviation tradition in Regensburg came to an end. The preserved hall of the former Messerschmitt works, also used by the aviation clubs, is now used by Infineon as a dispatch and goods receiving hall . The only reminder of the former airfield are numerous streets in the west quarter, which are named after aviation pioneers. On the area of the former airfield, next to the Infineon plant, there is the Donaupark with the Westbad and the Baggerweiher , the largest lake in the city.
literature
- City of Regensburg (Ed.): Street directory - city districts . December 7, 2015 ( digitized version [PDF]).
- Peter Schmoll : The Messerschmitt Works in World War II. , MZ-Verlag Regensburg, 2004, ISBN 3-931904-38-5
- Karl Bauer : Regensburg. Art, culture and everyday history. 5th expanded edition. MZ-Verlag, Regensburg 1997, ISBN 3-931904-19-9 .
Individual evidence
- ^ H. Purpose: History of checking . In: st-bonifaz-regensburg.de . January 20, 2005. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved on August 29, 2018.
- ^ Daniel Steffen: Newspaper clipping Mittelbayerische Zeitung - northernmost point of the Danube . In: Mittelbayerische.de . September 9, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
- ↑ 50 Years Westheimsiedlung 1933–1983 , (1983)
- ↑ Official flight ticket for the Regensburg major flight day . In: biscan.de . 1930. Archived from the original on January 28, 2005. Retrieved on August 11, 2018.
- ↑ Regensburger Anzeiger flight plan . In: biscan.de . August 17, 1930. Archived from the original on January 28, 2005. Retrieved on August 11, 2018.
- ^ Peter Schmoll: The Messerschmitt works in the Second World War. The aircraft production of Messerschmitt GmbH Regensburg from 1938 to 1945 . MZ-Verlag, Regensburg 2004.
- ↑ Halter, Die Stadt unterm Hakenkreuz , 1994, p. 328
- ↑ Robert Werner: inventory -Messerschmitt and Regensburg . In: regensburg-digital.de . August 28, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
- ↑ Egolf Biscan: Excerpt from the "Aviation History Regensburg" . Archived from the original on January 28, 2005. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ↑ Newspaper clipping Land edition Mittelbayerische Zeitung on the opening of the Wenzenbach airfield . In: biscan.de . April 22, 1961. Archived from the original on January 28, 2005. Retrieved on August 11, 2018.