Hörnum

54°45'40"N 008°17'49"E

Runway: n/a - water

Seefliegerhorst Hörnum was a sea plane air station in the Village of Hörnum on the southern tip of the island of Sylt in South Schleswig, Germany.
It was one of four airstations on the island during the Third Reich years, the others being Rantum, Westerland (the current Sylt airport) and List. Hörnum was more or less created by the Luftwaffe in 1935 when they vastly expanded the small village of Hörnum (a lighthouse, small harbour and some small hostels) to a population of about 1000 people. The harbour was enlarged, and a ramp and hangars for seaplanes were built in preparation for what was to become World War II.
Hörnum was to become a small military town made of two disctinctly different areas: the White neighbourhood (german: Weißen Siedlung) built in white brick and the Red neigbourhood (Rot Siedlung) built in red brick. The town exploded in size because as the military were stationed on an island they were allowed to bring their families. The facility had a large barracks, workshops and a large crane to hoist aircraft from the harbour onto the dock. Additionally it had a small runway to allow operations with small land-based aircraft. The presence of the air station meant that for the first time Hörnum got electricity and tap water.


The officers mess of Hörnum, designed and built by Keilmann by order of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium in 1937 (photo from Der Baumeister, issue 2, February 1941, p35 (source)).

During the war the island of Sylt was a restricted military zone. All airbases, including Hörnum were bombed by Allied formations, but most bombs missed their target, instead falling in the dunes or the sea. At the end of the war the island was taken by British forces. The island came under command of 122Wing at RAF Jever.
When Germany was allowed to have a military force again, RAF Jever and the installations at Sylt were returned to German military control (the island itself having been returned to civilian use a few months after the war). The German Navy (German: Bundesmarine) took control of the barracks at Hörnum and establilshed a navy school. The School remained in use until the end of the Cold War. 
When the school closed its premises were converted to civilian use. The whole area was torn down and in 2006 only a ramp into the Wadden Sea still existed. The site has since been converted into a golf course. The two village neighbourhoods are still in place, but as WW-II caused many homes not to be built, there were many holes in the planned housing. As soon as civilians were allowed back onto the island after the war they began filling the empty spaces with houses of their own design, making it hard to recognise the neighbourhoods.


Seefliegerhorst Hörnum around 2001, when the Bundesmarine barracks still existed


Seefliegerhorst Hörnum around 2006, the Bundesmarine barracks have been torn down, but the golf club does not exist yet. Note the ramp for seaplanes just north of the harbour.