Fürstenfeldbruck

48°13'22"N 011°15'03"E

Runway: 09R/27L - 2744x46meters/9003x151feet - concrete
Runway: 09L/27R - 1225x19meters/....x...feet - concrete

Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base (German: "Fliegerhorst Fürstenfeldbruck"; now "Flugplatz Fürstenfeldbruck", ICAO: Pre-1995 EDSF, post-1995 ETSF) is an airfield 500 kilometer south-soutwest of Berlin.
It is located north of the town of Fürstenfeldbruck in Bavaria, near Munich.
Construction of the military prestige object Luftkriegsschule 4 (Air Warfare School No.4) began in 1935 at a cost of 40 milion Reichsmark. It was to become the largest Aviation School in the Third Reich. Field Marshal Herman Goering is said to have taken a deep personal interest in establishing an air force training base for the German Air Force and modeled Fürstenfeldbruck after the United States Army Air Force training center at Randolph Field, Texas.  
In 1937 the new Air Base was handed over to the Luftwaffe. A new concrete runway was completed in 1943
In early 1945 the runway was rebuilt to allow operations with Me262 fighterbombers, but it was destroyed on 9 April 1945 by a US airstrike consisting of 338 B-17s of the 8th Air Force.
When the Allies moved in to take possession of the field in late April, they found that Prisoners of War and townspeople had looted the installation.
After some reconstruction it became the HQ of AAF/ET Replacement Depots, with several flying units assigned. 


Fürstenfeldbruck down runway 27, presumably near war's end (Imageshack.com)

During the First Berlin Crisis, the 301st Bombardment Group (B-29) was stationed at Fürstenfeldbruck for a short period in July/August 1948. The Replacement Depot functioned until August 1948, when USAFE decided to use Fürstenfeldbruck as an operational jet base.
On 13 August 1948 the 36th Fighter Wing coming from Howard Air Force Base (Canal zone, Panama) was assigned to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base as an operational unit. When the wing arrived in Germany, it became the first USAFE unit to be jet-equipped with the Lockheed F-80A/B "Shooting Star". In May 1949, HQ USAFE authorized the 36th Fighter Group to form the "Skyblazers" aerial demo team to perform at European and Mediterranean area air shows. The new USAFE Skyblazers team from Fürstenfeldbruck AB made its first-ever performance in October 1949 at RAF Gütersloh in the British zone of then-occupied Germany.

On 20 January 1950, the 36th FW was redesignated as a Fighter-Bomber Wing (FBW) when 89 Republic F-84E "Thunderjets" arrived. The 36th FBW remained at Fürstenfeldbruck until 1952 when it was reassigned to Bitburg Air Base, west of the Rhine. 
On 27 January 1952 the activated Air National Guard 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing deployed to Europe as was assigned to the yet unfinished Toul-Rosieres Air Base, France. This meant only the Wing HQ was in France, but the attached RF-80A squadrons were moved to Germany: the 160th to Neubiberg Air Base and the 112th and 157th to Fürstenfeldbruck.
The ANG 117th TRW was deactivated in 1952, and its flying squadrons were transferred to the newly assigned 10th TRW that had already operated from "Fursty" as the 10th Reconnaissance Group in 1947. They remained at Fürstenfeldbruck until 9 May 1953 when 10TRW was reassigned to Spangdahlem Air Base as part of a USAFE reorganization.
In November 1953, the 7330th Flying Training Wing was activated at Fürstenfeldbruck, tasked to
- provide upgrading and instructor training for students of MAP (Mutual Assistance Pact) recipient countries in T-33 trainers;
- operate and maintain Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base;
- provide administrative and logistical support for tenant units;
- prepare for the reception and provide necessary support for tactical units using Fürstenfeldbruck as a staging base;
- and to operate and maintain the Siegenburg gunnery range.

In 1955 the French, British and American occupation of Germany ended and permission was given to the West German government to re-establish its armed forces. As a result Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base became a joint-use facility with the new West German Air Force in 1957. Joint-use continued with the 7330th FTW (redesignated as the 7367th Fighter Training Group in 1958) until its deactivation in 1960. 

In 1961 the air field was home to 19 units, including Flugzeugführerschule (Flight Training School) "B". In 1964 the Waffenschule der Luftwaffe 50 (Luftwaffe Weapons School or WaSLw-50) moved into Fürstenfeldbruck.

Olympic massacre of 1972.
"Fursty" made world headlines in 1972 when -during the 1972 Olympics- 8 Palestine terrorists took 11 Israeli Olympic team members hostage. After negotiations the terrorists demanded to be brought to Cairo via Munich Riem airport, but they were convinced to take the surviving 9 hostages to Fürstenfeldbruck instead. They were flown to the air base by helicopter, where a Boeing 727 was waiting. At the air base a gunfight erupted, leaving all the hostages and one German police officer dead.


Burnt out Bundesgrenzschutz helicopters on the platform of 'Fursty' after the Olympic massacre in 1972 (tumblr.com).

In 1978 the WaSLw 50 was renamed Jagdbombergeschwader (Fighter Bomber Wing or JaBoG) 49.  JaBoG49 was disbanded in 1994, whilst the Flight Learning Group Fürstenfeldbruck was set up. In 1997 the latter was disbanded, ending military flying at Fürstenfeldbruck, although the terrain has remained a military domain ever since, because several other Luftwaffe units continue to use it.
For a while the airfield was used by general aviation while a plan was made to reuse the airfield as a full civilian airfield. Politics within Bavaria are hindering the quick redevelopment of the airfield, resulting in the airfield remaining closed by NOTAM indefinately.

NOTAM ETSF - FURSTENFELDBRUCK
E1837/10 - AERODROME CLOSED FOR CIVIL AVIATION.
22 JUN 08:53 2010 UNTIL PERM.
CREATED: 22 JUN 08:54 2010


Fürstenfeldbruck down runway 27, almost the same direction as the photo above.
(I could not locate the original photographer, please contact me, so I can credit you)