Falkenberg-Lönnewitz airfield

Falkenberg-Lönnewitz airfield
Falkenberg-Lönnewitz
Characteristics
ICAO code	EDUF
Coordinates	51 ° 32 '52 "  N , 13 ° 13' 41"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 32 '52 "  N , 13 ° 13' 41"  E
Height above MSL	87 m (285  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	4 km south of Falkenberg / Elster
Street
Basic data
opening	1936
operator	Falkenberger Fliegerclub "Die Falken" eV
Start-and runway
08/26	1200 m × 30 m concrete

The Falkenberg-Lönnewitz airfield is a special airfield near Falkenberg / Elster . From 1936 to 1945, who was here airbase of the Air Force of the Armed Forces Alt-Lönnewitz . Subsequently, from 1947 to 1993, various fighter and attack aircraft units of the Soviet air forces occupied the place.

history

Use until 1945

The area, which is about four kilometers south of Falkenberg / Elster, was already used as a civil airfield in the 1920s. In the mid-1930s, this was expanded into an air base for the Luftwaffe. On October 1, 1936, an air base command took over the air base. The actual flight operations began. In the north of the air base there were three large and three medium-sized aircraft hangars, as well as a large repair hangar. Behind it were farm and accommodation buildings. An Air Force flight school for twin-engine aircraft was housed here as early as 1936. By July 1944, various pilot schools took turns occupying the space. At times it also served as a works airfield for the Arado Flugzeugwerke branch located in Brandenburg an der Havel . As the first active flying unit here, from June 1944, the III. Group of the Kampfgeschwader 76 stationed. Further parts of the squadron that flew with the Arado Ar 234 followed in July 1944. Shortly before the end of the war, Kampfgeschwader 76 received some four-engine Arado Ar 234 C-3s, a further development of the Arado Ar 234. The first two aircraft of this type (serial numbers 250002 and 250004) were flown from Alt-Lönnewitz on March 27, 1945.

The following table shows a list of all active flying units (excluding school and supplementary units) of the Luftwaffe that were stationed here between 1936 and 1945.

From	To	unit	equipment
June 1944	February 1945	Staff / KG 76 (Staff of the Kampfgeschwader 76)	Junkers Ju 88 , Arado Ar 234
June 1944	December 1944	III./KG 76	Junkers Ju 88, Arado Ar 234
July 1944	August 1944	II./KG 76	Junkers Ju 88
February 1945	April 1945	Staff / FAGr. 3 (Staff of Remote Reconnaissance Group 3)
February 1945	April 1945	2. (F) / Enlightenment group 100 (2nd season of long-range reconnaissance group 100)
February 1945	April 1945	4. (F) / Enlightenment group 121
February 1945	April 1945	Enlightenment St. 4th (F) night
February 1945	April 1945	14./KG 55 (14th squadron of Kampfgeschwaders 55)	Junkers Ju 88
February 1945	February 1945	Season z. b. V. Reich
February 1945	April 1945	Sonderkommando Herzog (tow group 1)
March 1945	March 1945	7./KG 53	Heinkel He 111
April 1945	April 1945	3./JG 7 (3rd squadron of Jagdgeschwader 7)	Messerschmitt Me 262
April 1945	April 1945	Rod, 1./NAGr. 1

Use by Soviet aviation forces

On April 24, 1945 the Red Army occupied the largely intact area, only the runway had been made unusable by the retreating German troops. The reconstruction measures were carried out with the involvement of German companies and auxiliary workers; the existing hangars continued to be used, in some cases until 1992. Subsequently, from 1947 onwards, the space was occupied by various fighter and attack aircraft units of the Soviet air forces . The following list names the most important of them. Other units were also stationed in the meantime, including occupation by Polish, Czechoslovak and NVA fighter units. Heavy Tu-22K and Tu-22M bombers also used the space.

From	To	unit	equipment
1947	1948	32nd Guards Fighter Regiment (32nd Gw IAP)	La-7 , possibly MiG-9
1947	1949	Unknown guards battle pilot regiment (Gw SchAP)	IL-10
1949	1951	Unknown fighter regiment	k. A.
1951	1953	296th Fighter Regiment (296th IAP)	MiG-15
1953	1956	Unknown guards battle pilot regiment	IL-10
1956	1993	31st Guards Fighter Regiment	MiG-15, MiG-17 , MiG-21 , Jak-25 , later MiG-23 and MiG-29

At the beginning of the 1950s there was an expansion of the living space for the stationed soldiers, and in 1955 operational areas were fortified and a flight line and a taxiway were built. In 1958 a new, three-story flight control was built. In 1960 the runway was extended to 2500 meters and three decentralization rooms were created. The first closed aircraft covers were added from 1968 to 1970 . The flight operations areas were renovated in 1986 and included a final extension of the runway to 3000 meters. Further construction measures that began in 1988, such as the establishment of a fourth decentralization zone and additional aircraft coverings, were stopped after the political events of 1989/90. In June 1993 the Russian administration handed over the airfield to the German authorities.

Subsequent use

After the withdrawal of the Soviet troops, the Bundeswehr thought about further use, but did not realize it. Instead, the Lönnewitz commercial and industrial area was built on the site from the mid-1990s . The flight operations areas were reduced to a large extent, and the former 3000-meter runway was considerably shortened. In 1998 the Fliegerclub Falkenberg eV "Die Falken" took over the place that has been run as a special landing site since July 2000.

literature

• 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 .
• Stefan Büttner: Red places. Russian military airfields in Germany 1945–1994. Air bases – aerodromes – military fallow areas . Aerolit, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-935525-11-4 .

Web links

Commons : Flugplatz Falkenberg / Lönnewitz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Falkenberg-Lönnewitz airfield
• Falkenberg-Lönnewitz Airport / LostAreas

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Manfred Griehl: jet aircraft Arado 234 Blitz. Technology and use 1944/45. Long-range scouts, jet bombers, night fighters, attack aircraft . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-613-02287-7 , page 203.
2. ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Luftwaffe Airfields 1935–45 Germany (1937 Borders) , pp. 17–18 , accessed on September 9, 2014.