Dresden-Johannstadt

51°03'33"N 013°45'43"E

runway: n/a - River Elbe - water

Dresden-Johannstadt airfield (German: flugplatz Dresden-Johannstadt, also known as Elbeflughafen or "Elbe airport") name was an airfield 165 km south of Berlin.
It was Europes first water airport. The airfield was formed by an enlarged jetty for entry and exit on the bank of the Elbe.
On 10 August 1925 the first passenger service started, a Junkers F13 to Hamburg. In addition to the passengers mail was carried. During the winter months (1925) many flights were cancelled because of ice on the river. Flights from Heller on land based aircraft were offered instead.

Plans were made to offer services to Helgoland from the summer of 1926. Competition and performance from Heller proved too much however. In the fall of 1926 the air route to Hamburg was discontinued because of its unprofitability. The route was remembered by a special flying day in 1995. A Maule M6-235 seaplane flew to Dresden that day carrying a special bag of airmail to and from the city of Hamburg. Three hot air ballons also took off from the bank of the river.
Today nothing but the local roads remind of the former airfield. The airfield was only one year in operation, but more importantly, the city was 90% destroyed by Allied bombings during World War II.


Location of the airfield in 2003. Only the bank of the river gives a clue to its location (Google Earth)