Wallmichrath glider airfield

On the Wallmichrather heights in Langenberg (Rhineland) there was a well-developed glider flying area from 1928 to 1952 , which in the 1930s was of national importance for both the city of Langenberg and for gliding.

history

Former glider airfield Wallmichrath - departure slope, view towards Velbert

In 1928 glider pilots from the “Ruhr Valley Aviation Association” from Kupferdreh began flying on Wallmichrath. The "Luftfahrtverein Essen-Oberhausen e. V. ”and other groups of pilots from Langenberg, Velbert, Wuppertal and the surrounding area.

One flew consistently with so-called school gliders , the most famous representatives of which were the “skull splitters” Grunau 9 and later the SG 38 , in a rubber rope start . Two aviation homes with hangars for gliders were built on Wallmichrath and the infrastructure of the airfield was developed. From then on, Wallmichrath developed into a popular family excursion destination. In the 1930s, the city of Langenberg advertised its celebrities and virtues with the slogan “Silk - Sender - Glider Flight”, the “three S”. The glider airfield on Wallmichrath was even dubbed several times in the contemporary press as "the best glider airfield in the Bergisches Land ".

In 1933, the aviation clubs were merged in the course of the national socialism conformity and from 1937 the National Socialist Aviation Corps ( NSFK ) had organizational sovereignty. This gave the glider training a pre-military character and the path of many young glider pilots led through the NSFK into the Wehrmacht Air Force. The Wallmichrath was actively flown until around 1944, then flight operations were discontinued due to the increasing effects of the war.

After the flight ban was lifted in 1951, sport aviation in Germany - and with it gliding - experienced a new boom. Glider flying was also started again on the Wallmichrath. However, since the infrastructure was barely available due to the effects of the war and the terrain was dependent on the outdated rubber rope launch, flight operations were finally stopped in 1952.

In 2014, the Langenberger Werbevereinigung e. V. uses the historical advertising slogan from the 1930s, "Silk - Sender - Glider Flight" (the "three S"), for current advertising purposes.

Historical event on the history of the former glider airfield, carried out by the Bergisches Geschichtsverein department Velbert-Hardenberg on April 18, 2015 on Wallmichrath, original school glider SG 38

Historical event on the history of the former glider airfield on April 18, 2015 on Wallmichrath, visitors to the SG 38 school glider

The former Wallmichrath glider airfield was again a crowd puller in 2015. On April 18, 2015, the Bergisches Geschichtsverein department Velbert-Hardenberg organized a historic event on Wallmichrath at the site of the former glider airfield. About 300 visitors found their way to the Wallmichrath in order to find out more about the early history of gliding in general and especially in Langenberg on the now forested area by means of lectures and historical display boards. The highlight of this event was an original and airworthy SG 38 school glider , which had been specially brought to Wallmichrath and could be viewed by the visitors.

literature

• Jürgen Lohbeck: silk - transmitter - glider flight. The glider airfield on the Wallmichrath in Langenberg / Rhineland 1928–1952 , Scala Verlag, Velbert 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816362-1-5 . (Short version)

Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 55.2 ″  N , 7 ° 6 ′ 39.6 ″  E

Web links

Commons : Segelflugplatz Wallmichrath  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jürgen Lohbeck: Silk - Sender - Segelflug , Scala Verlag Velbert 2014
2. ^ Langenberg - Das Magazin , Issue 5, Langenberger Werbevereinigung e. V., May 2014
3. ↑ Glider Day on Wallmichrath on: derwesten.de from April 9, 2015.
4. ↑ Gliding fans stormed the Wallmichrath : derwesten.de from April 20, 2015.