Cottbus-Nord airfield
| Cottbus-Nord airfield | |
|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | ETHT |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 67 m (220 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 2 km northwest of Cottbus |
| Basic data | |
| operator | Cottbus Airfield Museum |
| Start-and runway | |
| 08/26 | 2360 m × 60 m concrete |
The Cottbus Air Base is a former military airfield in the northwest of the city of Cottbus . Erected in the 1920s for civil use, it was subsequently used by the Wehrmacht , the Red Army , the NVA and the Bundeswehr from the 1930s .
The buildings from the National Socialist era at Cottbus airfield were reused after the Second World War , new buildings were erected in the GDR era and were also used after reunification.
history
World War I and 1920s
During the First World War , an area east of Burger Chaussee had been used by the FEA 12 (Flieger Ersatzabteilung) from February 1917 to July 1919 to train pilots. At the instigation of the Interallied Aviation Monitoring Commission (ILÜK), flight operations had to be stopped after the end of the war and the airfield buildings demolished. On July 22, 1919, the last aircraft take off for the time being took place.
In December 1925, it was decided to build a commercial airport in the north of Cottbus after the city's magistrate had carried out investigations for a suitable location in April. At the same time, the Association for the Promotion of Aviation (DLV) was founded. The area was first used for aviation purposes on May 23, 1927, when an F-13 airliner landed as a commercial airfield for the “Giant Mountains Line” operated by Luft Hansa . The airfield was then officially opened on May 26 of the same year. In the following years the number of flight movements increased steadily. In 1931 there were 7604 take-offs and landings of aircraft. In October of the same year Cottbus was classified as a first- order airport . Already at that time the airfield was a 4.5km long track connection of Spreewaldbahn with the Cottbus train station connected. Its narrow-gauge track was operated as a section until 1983, after the line had been discontinued in 1970, and at the same time it was converted to standard gauge . The line was shut down and dismantled in 1998.
A highlight in the history of the site was the landing of the W 33 "Europa" on June 26, 1928 with the pilots Hermann Köhl , Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld and James Fitzmaurice , who two months earlier had the first Atlantic crossing in the east with an aircraft of the same type -West direction was successful.
1930s and World War II
From May 1933 the first plans for the military use of the airfield were drawn up and from autumn the first accommodations and maintenance halls were built in the northern part by the German Air Sports Association after civil air traffic had officially ceased on September 30th. For reasons of disguise, Germany was banned from owning an air force at that time, the pilot school set up on February 1, 1934 initially acted as the “ German Aviation School Cottbus” or “Fliegerübungsstelle Cottbus des Deutschen Luftsportverband”. One of the flight students was the later general of the fighter pilots Werner Mölders . On May 15, 1934, the expansion was completed and some reconnaissance units were set up . In 1938 further buildings were built on the former FEA-12 site. In October 1938, the I. Group of KG 252 was set up in Cottbus from parts of Battle Group 40 and equipped with Do-17M bombers. The first group of the Sturzkampfgeschwader Immelmann, equipped with Ju 87s , was also relocated . Both units moved to other places in May and August 1939. Instead, in preparation for the attack on Poland, Group I of Sturzkampfgeschwader 76 was stationed, which a few days later on August 15, 1939 , lost 13 of its dive aircraft and crews in the Stuka accident in Neuhammer . In 1939 the three star-shaped runways were paved.
From November 1, 1939 to October 1, 1941, the 82nd flight aspirant regiment was on the ground and trained pilots. As part of the preparations for the attack on the Soviet Union , Cottbus again served as an intermediate station and replenishment of Stuka units. From the beginning of June 1941 these were III./StG 1 as well as Staff and I./StG 2.
In 1941, Focke-Wulf GmbH settled on the site and, until the end of the war, employed around 4,000 people to assemble the Fw 200C long-range reconnaissance aircraft and the Fw 190 fighter aircraft and its successor, the Ta 152 . Numerous Cottbus companies were involved in the production as component suppliers. The Cottbus / Neuhausen airfield was also used for flight operations. The aircraft were transported there via the company's own siding. In 1944 the field was attacked twice by US aircraft on April 11 and May 25, but only slightly damaged. However, 50% of the production facilities were destroyed in the second attack. However, the output could be increased to 60% of its initial level after a short time. At the beginning of February 1945 production was stopped due to the close proximity of the front and the factory, which at the time employed 4,656 members, was evacuated to Bremen.
As the Soviet troops approached, Cottbus-Nord was used from January 1945 onwards by the front airfield and by various units, mainly parts of the battle squadron 77 that flew missions against the Red Army with attack aircraft Ju 87G .
The following table shows a list of selected active air units (excluding school and supplementary units) of the Air Force that were stationed here between 1934 and 1945.
| From | To | unit | equipment |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 1934 | December 1935 | 1. (H) / Enlightenment group 114 (1st season of local reconnaissance group 114) | Heinkel He 45 , Heinkel He 46 |
| April 1936 | September 1937 | Enlightenment group 212 (reconnaissance group 212) | Heinkel He 45, Heinkel He 46 |
| October 1937 | October 1938 | Enlightenment group 52 | Heinkel He 45, Heinkel He 46 |
| November 1938 | April 1939 | Staff, I./KG 252 (Staff and I. Group of Kampfgeschwaders 252) | |
| March 1939 | March 1939 | II./LG 1 (II. Group of training squadron 1) | Heinkel He 111 |
| October 1939 | October 1939 | I./KG 2 | Dornier Thursday 17th |
| June 1941 | June 1941 | Staff, I./StG. 2 (Staff and I. Group of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2) | Junkers Ju 87 |
| June 1941 | June 1941 | 9./StG. 1 (9th squadron of Sturzkampfgeschwader 1) | Junkers Ju 87 |
| July 1944 | July 1944 | III./TG 4 (III. Group of Transport Wing 4) | Junkers Ju 52 |
| January 1945 | February 1945 | I./SG 1 (I. Group of the battle squadron 1) | |
| January 1945 | February 1945 | I./TG 3 | Junkers Ju 52 |
| February 1945 | March 1945 | Staff, II., III./SG 77 | Focke-Wulf Fw 190 |
| February 1945 | February 1945 | I./JG 6 | Focke-Wulf Fw 190 |
On April 23, 1945 units of the Red Army occupied the area. Previously, the underground tank facilities had been blown up on April 21 by Wehrmacht units.
Use by the Red Army
After taking the airfield, the Soviet air forces used it as an operational airfield in the last days of the war. Various fighter regiments equipped with Jak-3 , Jak-9 and La-5 were stationed . Attack aircraft units were then stationed until 1949, which were replaced by bomber units. These remained until 1952. The 20th Guards Fighter Regiment came to Cottbus in the same year and took over the training of the first KVP members . The last Soviet MiG-15 - Hunter laid to October 1953 at other places of GSBT and the airfield was placed under German administration.
| From | To | unit | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 1945 | June 1945 | 11th Gw IAD (11th Guards Fighter Pilot Division), consisting of: 5th Gw IAP (5th Guards Fighter Pilot Regiment), 106th GwIAP, 107th Gw IAP |
Equipped with Jak-3, Jak-9 and La-5 |
| 1945 | 1946 | 300th SchAD (300th attack aircraft division) | with stick |
| 1946 | 1949 | 11th Gw SchAD (11th Guard Battle Aviation Division) | with staff, designation from 1949 200. Gw SchAD |
| 1946 | 1949 | 174th Gw SchAP (174th Guards Battle Air Regiment) | Equipped with IL-10 |
| 1949 | 1952 | unknown front bomb regiment | Equipped with Pe-2 and IL-28 |
| 1952 | 1953 | 20th GW IAP (later 20th GW APIB) | Equipment with MiG-15, stationed to train CIP staff, then to New Welzow relocated |
Use by the NVA
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From 1950 the war damage was repaired and the airfield was enlarged by buying land in the western part. The runway running in east-west direction was extended in 1950/51. The other two were no longer used, but can still be seen today. On August 16, 1952, the 1st fighter regiment was set up in Cottbus and from October 1, the first pilots for the CIP air - initially by Soviet teachers - trained. Cottbus-Nord is thus the cradle of the NVA air force . In 1956, the runway had to be extended in a westerly direction due to the use of jet aircraft from the NVA, which was founded in the same year . In 1970 Cottbus-Nord was modernized and expanded again. From 1956 to 1982, the Fighter Wing 1 of the Air Force of the National People's Army , which emerged from the 1st Fighter Regiment, was stationed in Cottbus. Also the Jagdfliegergeschwader 2 of the first LVD was set up in 1956 in Cottbus, 1958 to Rothenburg and 1961 airfield Trollenhagen laid. Further expansion stages were planned for the mid-1970s, but these were not implemented. The cessation of construction work was preceded by a plane crash on January 14, 1975 over the urban area of Cottbus, in which six people were killed (see below), which ultimately led to the termination of the use of the space for fixed-wing aircraft. The JG-1 was moved to the Holzdorf airfield on November 23, 1982 . Instead, the newly formed KHG-67 (Combat Helicopter Squadron, renamed KHG-3 in 1986) was stationed on December 1 . The nickname of the place was "Montur".
Airplane crash on January 14, 1975
On January 14, 1975, a MiG-21PFM / SPS of the JG-1 with the tactical number 849 (serial number 94A 5115, commissioned in March 1966) crashed over Cottbus. During the approach, difficulties arose when extending the landing gear after a routine workshop flight. While the aircraft then circled over the city, the pilot Peter Makowicka tried to extend the landing gear. He finally succeeded, but this tore off an improperly closed maintenance flap for the pre-compressor in the landing gear shaft - it was probably only fastened with four instead of the prescribed 36 screws - which led to a disruption of the air flow to the engine and ultimately caused it to fail. Peter Makowicka ignored the flight controller's three-time requests to catapult himself out of the machine and tried to steer it away from the densely populated Cottbus city area, but failed. Finally, about 1,500 meters from the runway in the Altschmellwitz district, the plane crashed into a house on Schmellwitzer Strasse and got stuck in the eaves side. Five women who were in the building that served as the dormitory of the Cottbus Textile Combine at that time were killed. Makowicka also died. In addition, another resident later succumbed to her injuries. The official news agency ADN only published a short press release on the aircraft accident , which was only adopted in this form by regional and GDR-wide media such as radio and television as well as the press. The facade of the prefabricated building was repaired within two days. Pilot Makowicka was posthumously awarded the gold medal “For services to people and fatherland” .
The crash on January 14th was the second that happened in Cottbus within a very short time. Two months earlier, on November 14, 1974, the MiG-21PFM / SPS-K with the tactical number 487 (serial number 94A 7212, commissioned in April 1968) crashed into the gazebo of an allotment garden just before the runway when approaching the runway and then rolled over. The pilot Leutnant Reichert was killed. As a cause of the crash was an operator error of the SPS landing aid system by the pilot and the resulting incorrect position of the flaps , leading to a stall led determined. Since further crashes could not be ruled out in the future due to the approach lane running over the north of the city, these accidents were ultimately the trigger that the Jagdgeschwader 1 was relocated from Cottbus in 1982. Instead, attack helicopter squadron 3 was stationed there until the NVA was dissolved.
Regardless of this, on March 16, 1985, the last plane crash of an NVA plane in Cottbus. A MiG-21M of the JG-7 (serial number 515, tactical number 590 , in service since August 1969) crashed after a hydraulic failure near the entrance area in a student dormitory on the premises of the University of Civil Engineering in what was then Juri-Gagarin-Straße. The pilot was able to save himself with the ejector seat . There were also no fatalities on the ground, since March 16 was a Saturday and there were therefore no people in the building.
After the fall of the wall and reunification
After German reunification, which have been out of the KHG-3 from March 1991 army aviation squadrons East and 70 of the Federal Armed Forces formed, which formed in October 1993, the Heeresfliegerverbindungs- and reconnaissance squadron 400 and remained in Cottbus by 2002. The location acquired particular logistical importance during the flood of the Oder in 1997 . In April / May 2003, the unit , which had meanwhile been renamed Army Aviation Squadron 1 , relocated to the Holzdorf Air Base , where it formed the basis for the military use of the area in Holzdorf that still exists today.
In the 1990s, efforts were made to establish Cottbus-Nord as a commercial airfield, and the Bundeswehr also considered using it as a maintenance area for the MiG-29 fighter aircraft taken over by the NVA , but all plans failed due to the resistance of the Cottbus city administration, Cottbus -Drewitz was preferred as a regional civil airfield despite its less favorable location. The airfield has been closed since June 11, 2003. In the southern part of the site there is now an aviation museum . The partly historic buildings are either used by local companies or, if they are empty, are left to decay and vandalism. A solar system was installed on part of the site . A “technology and industrial park” is currently being built on the site.
The 1st Cottbuser hang-glider and paraglider club eV acquired part of the airfield area from the city of Cottbus in 2015 so that paragliders and hang-gliders can be flown on the club's own premises. The towing operation is implemented by a motor winch on a 1,100 m long towing route.
Buildings and systems
The aerodrome's buildings and facilities can be divided into three areas. The first area consists of the flight operations areas with the set in the southern part of the airfield area concrete runway, the former Vorstartlinie and former heliport and the necessary open spaces.
The neighboring second area is characterized by the technical systems and buildings for flight operations, in particular the hangars, the tower , car garages and other technical functional buildings necessary for flight operations. This area extends along the airfield to Burger Chaussee.
In the third area, which adjoins the technical area, there are operating buildings, farm buildings, staff and accommodation buildings, as well as the main airport entrance with the guard. There is also a gym and a sports field here. This area is characterized by a disordered, loose structure.
Monument value of the airfield
On the basis of the expert opinion of the Brandenburg State Office for Monument Protection of November 13, 2000 on the monument value of the Cottbus-Nord airfield, in particular the components of the former "Flugführererschule Cottbus", the monument was entered in the monument protection list of the state of Brandenburg.
The entire facility consists of the preserved buildings of the former pilot station from 1914/16, the former Cottbus pilot school from 1933/35 and the extension buildings from 1938/40. The completeness of the preserved military complex from the years 1933/35 and 1938/40 with its National Socialist barracks architecture expressively documents the development of barracks construction in the 1930s. At the same time, these buildings show the traditional past of the garrison town of Cottbus. This makes the Cottbus-Nord airfield of scientific importance for research into the military history of the state of Brandenburg and the city of Cottbus.
The overall system in its structure, in residential and administrative buildings on the one hand and technical functional buildings on the other, the airfield and the design and division of open spaces have a spatial effect. As a result, the overall complex of the grown complex with the position of the individual buildings in relation to one another and the differently structured buildings are of urban and historical value.
The National Socialist type of construction did not have a closed architecture program. The buildings at the Cottbus pilot school reflect the “modern designs” of the 1920s. These types of construction are characterized by simple floor plans and proportions, a simple design with flat roofs and rows of windows. Value was placed on a representative effect that corresponds to the use. At the same time, the use of repetitive design details such as clinker elements creates a unity in the building complex.
The barracks of the air bases were supposed to evoke a certain “elite and class thinking”. This representation intention becomes quite clear in the design of the entrance areas of the accommodation buildings, in that the architectural trend of "monumental classicism" was realized. In the originality of the buildings, the influence of the “New Building” on the military architecture of the 1930s is documented. As a result, these buildings have an architectural, historical and artistic significance. The technical functional buildings such as the hangar, the tower and the engine test bench with their preserved originality are unique in the state of Brandenburg. As a result, these buildings are of military, traffic and architectural value. The buildings after 1938 are typified as mass architecture and viewed as functional and inexpensive. They are part of the overall complex, so they are of architectural and military historical interest.
literature
- Thomas Bussmann: Reinforced concrete, grass and railway lights - the airfields used by the military in the GDR . MediaScript, Cottbus, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-9814822-0-1 .
- Hans-Peter Arlt: The Cottbus Army Airfield and its conversion. Master's thesis, Building & Preservation and World Heritage Studies, Chair of Monument Preservation, BTU-Cottbus, 2001.
- Jürgen Zapf: Airfields of the Air Force 1934–1945 - and what was left of them. Volume 1: Berlin & Brandenburg . VDM Heinz Nickel , Zweibrücken 2001, ISBN 3-925480-52-8 .
- Hilmar Hochwald: Chronicle of the KHG-3 "Ferdinand von Schill" . Self-published, Cottbus 2012.
- GBSL's collective of authors: Historic aviation sites in and around Berlin . MediaScript, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-9814822-4-9 .
Web links
- Entry in the monument database of the State of Brandenburg
- Side of the museum
- Airfield website
- Website of the 1st Cottbuser Drachen- und Gleitschirmfliegerclub eV (the club has bought part of the airfield and club members and guests can fly here with paragliders or hang gliders)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erich Preuss: The Spreewald Railway . Transpress, Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-613-71548-6 , pp. 21 .
- ^ Preuss, p. 120
- ↑ Reinhold Thiel: Focke – Wulf aircraft construction. Hauschild, Bremen 2011, ISBN 978-3-89757-489-2 , p. 237
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) , pp 109-110 , accessed on September 12, 2014
- ^ Stefan Büttner: Red places . Russian military airfields Germany 1945–1994. Air bases – aerodromes – military fallow areas. AeroLit, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-935525-11-4 , pp. 147 .
- ^ Lutz Freundt: Soviet Air Force Germany 1945-1994 . Volume 2: Airfields (part 2) and units. Self-published, Diepholz 1998, ISBN 3-00-002665-7 .
- ↑ Flieger Revue No. 5/2000, p. 62
- ↑ Rainer Langener: My years on the ejection seat. Helios, Aachen 2012, ISBN 978-3-86933-078-5 , p. 82
- ↑ Details about the MiG-21 crash
- ↑ Tragedy in Cottbus. Death in the sea of flames. svz.de , May 10, 2014, accessed on March 13, 2018 .
- ↑ Tomas Kittan: MiG crash of 1975: The truth about the death flight from Cottbus. bz-berlin.de , March 17, 2014, accessed on March 13, 2018 .
- ^ Detlef Billig, Manfred Meyer: Airplanes of the GDR. Volume II until 1972. TOM Modellbau, Friedland 2002, ISBN 3-613-02241-9 , p. 179
- ^ Hans Henker: The aviation engineering service of the GDR military aviation . Media Script, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-9814822-5-6 , pp. 177-181 .
- ^ Detlef Billig, Manfred Meyer: Airplanes of the GDR. III. Volume until 1990. TOM Modellbau, Friedland 2003, ISBN 3-613-02285-0 , p. 173
- ↑ Operation report of the Cottbus fire brigade from March 16, 1985 ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
