Halberstadt

51°51'21"N 011°03'25"E

Runway ../.. - ...x..m - grass

Airfield Halberstadt (german: Flugplatz Halberstadt) was an airfield south of Halberstadt, Saxony-Anhalt in Germany.
The history of the airfield began as early as 1911, when the airfield served as a landing site during the First German Air Tour. In 1913 the Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke (aircraft factory) was founded to produce double decker aircraft. A millitary flying school was also established.


German aircrew posing in front of their aircraft at Halberstadt during World War I


German bomber at Halberstadt during World War I

As a result of the Versailles Treaty the airfield was dismantled after World War I. Along with it went the flying school and the aircraft factory was taken down too. The field was left with only glider flying as an aviation activity.
This changed in 1934, almost two years after Hitler had come to power. The glider airfield was secretly converted into a proper Fliegerhorst with barracks and a flying school. After the draft was reinstated in Germany in 1935 it was decided to modernise the Halberstadt Fliegerhorst to allow the stationing of Luftwaffe forces. The construction of the "Fliegerhorstkaserne" (air force barracks) north of the airfield began that same year. South of the grass air field the technical site of the airfield was built, with workshops and hangars. At the edge of the forrest the quarters for flying personnel were built. Further away from the air field the dispersals and an ammunition dump were constructed.

Many units came and went during 1939-1945. The Fliegerhorst was home to both fighting and training units.


Halberstadt, ca. 1944


Enlargement of the photo above, showing a He111Z "Zwilling" at Halberstadt, ca. 1944

On 11 April 1945 US forces reached Halberstadt and occupied the air field. It had been bombed in the previous year. Briefly after the war, the Americans handed the airfield over to the Soviet army. Both the Soviet Army and the East German Border Police used the former Luftwaffe barracks. This was possible because the barracks on the north side had sustained very little damage during the war.
The joint Soviet/East-german use lasted until 1948. When the East-Germans rose up to the political changes in the Soviet occupation zone in the summer of 1953, the Soviets helped suppress the uprising with tanks. In an effort to get more control over the East-Germans they also stationed more troops in East Germany and as a result they returned to Halberstadt barracks in 1954. They stayed at the barracks for 36 years with several units. East German border Guards stationed a training company at the barracks.

After the Two-plus-Four Treaty of 1990 it was agreed that the Soviets were to withdraw their forces before September 1994. What had been brought into the country in 40 years was to be withdrawn in only 4, a logistical nightmare. The first soldiers were withdrawn from Halberstadt in 1992, about 500 men. In spite of having been regarded as occupation forces in 1990, the Halberstadt people brought the Russians gifts to take home with the final 400 troops in 1993, as by then it had become clear the future for the Russian forces looked very bleak after the collapse of the Soviet Union.


Halberstadt, ca. 2000


Main gate of the Russian garrison in 2010 (Panoramio)

Between 2009 and 2015 large parts of the barracks were deconstructed and the location was built over with a solar power farm. Only the DDR border guards training company site west of the Friedrich List Straße still exists.


Halberstadt in 2015 (Google Earth)