Göppingen

48°42'27"N 009°41'25"E

Runway: 07/25 - 769x21meters/...x..feet - asphalt 

Airfield Göppingen (German: flugplatz Göppingen, also known as Fliegerhorst Göppingen or Cooke Barracks) was an airfield on the northern edge of Göppingen (Goeppingen), Germany
It was built as a civilian airfield in 1930. After the National-Socialist takeover it was absorbed into the Luftwaffe in 1933. Between 1935 and 1939 5 reconnaissance squadrons (german: Aufklärerstaffeln) each with 12 aircraft were stationed at the Fliegerhorst. They were mostly tasked in Austria, Czechoslovakia and Spain. From 1939 until the end of the war they were stationed anywhere in Europe, reducing the Fliegerhorst to a support site for frontline units. In 1941 a flying school with 30 different aircraft was stationed at the base. The Fliegerhorst remained fully intact until Germany's surrender in 1945

After the war the Fliegerhorst served as a refugee camp for former POWs and foreign labourers.
The US Army took over the property in 1946 and stationed the 41st Infantry Regiment there. The former Fliegerhorst was renamed Cooke Barracks, but locally it remained known as 'der Flugplatz'. The US Army stationed a light aviation unit with small fixed wing aircraft and helicopters at the barracks. For the fixed wing aircraft the two starting platforms were linked with a single runway. A new control tower was also built.
The last unit to fly from Cooke Barracks were 193rd Avn.Co. (7th USAR), flying 8 UH-1H, and 3rd Bde/1st.IDM. flying 2 UH-1H and 4 OH-58A helicopters. Cooke Barracks/Göppingen AAF was closed in February 1992.


Göppingen in 2000 (Google Earth)

Today its buildings are used for light industry and businesses. The flying field was converted into a golf course. The runway, and even the two WWII-era start positions remained intact until at least 2007. Somewhere around 2008 the eastern starting platform and the runway were removed to make room for the construction of an industrial hall.

The tower still existed, although it seemed to have been incorporated into a new building. Several hangars were still standing at the site though.


The former tower at Göppingen in 2008.


One of the remaining hangars at Göppingen in 2008.


Göppingen in 2009 (Google Earth)