Darmstadt AAF

49°51'03"N 008°35'03"E

Runway: 07/25 - 1,100x20meters/...x...feet - Asphalt (1970)
Runway: 07/25 - 973x21meters/3,191x69feet - Asphalt (1993)

Darmstadt Army Air Field (AAF), also known as Griesheim Airfield or August Euler Airfield (German: August-Euler-Flugplatz, ICAO: EDES) was Germanies first airfield, founded in 1908 by german researcher August Euler.
He founded the airfield on an army exercise grounds in order to research flight and to teach others how to fly.
By 1913 the airfield was taken over by the Prussian army and converted into Flying Station Darmstadt-Griesheim (german: Fliegerstation Darmstadt-Griesheim ).
During World War I the airfield primarily served as a POW camp, housing about 15,000 men.
In December 1918 the French Army occupied the exercise area and the airfield, denying access to the airfield
The French stayed at the exercise grounds until 1930.

When the French had left the airfield was reinstated.
The city of Darmstad leased the terrain from april 1932 to found Darmstadt Airport (germn: Flughafen Darmstadt).
In 1933 the german glider research institute (german: Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug, or DFS) moved its facillities to the airfield, and built a windtunnel in 1936 which remains in use at the Darmstadt Technical University next to the airfield to this day.
The DFS moved to Brunswick in 1939 when World War II broke out, and the airfield became a Luftwaffe Fliegerhorst.

After World War II the airfield became a US Army air field.
A squadron of UH-60 medevac helicopters was the last unit stationed there.
While the USArmy continued to call the airfield Darmstadt AAF (or unofficially Griesheim Airfield), it officially received the name August Euler Flugplatz in 1980, in honour of its founder.
The US Army abandoned the airfield in 1992, turning ownership back to the Technical University.
In 2005 it officially became an aviation research facility, and although much of the former army exercise grounds have been returned to nature, the airfield is classified as a Special Air Field (german: Sonderlandeplatz) under German law, allowing it to be used for a limited number of flights a year.
Centennial festivities were held in 2008 by the local museum and the Technical University Darmstadt.


Sight at August Euler Flughaven (via de.wikipedia.org) in 2008


Platform and museum at August Euler Flugplatz (source)


Overview of August Euler Flugplatz from the east (© TU Darmstadt)