Husum-Narrenthal

54°29'55"N 009°04'04"E

runway: 12/30 - 1300x..m - concrete
runway: 16/34 - 1300x..m - concrete
runway: 07/25 - 1800x..m - concrete

Air field Husum-Narrenthal (german: Flugplatz Husum-Narrenthal, also known as Fliegerhorst Husum-Narrenthal or Fliegerhorst Husum-Schauendahl) was an airfield 20 kilometers south of the Danish border on the North Sea coast in northern Germany.
The airfield was built before 1936 as a civilian airfield with services to Berlin. From 1937 the airfield received three concrete runways between 1300 and 1800 meters long, after it was taken over by the Luftwaffe. Construction went rapid enough to allow the airfield to take part in the invasions of Norway and Denmark. Aircraft that took part in these campaigns would land at Husum to refuel. The airfield received several heated single aircraft hangars to allow rapid starts of the aircraft parked in them. In the middle of the airfield severeal maintenance hangars were built. Wooden barracks were built in what are now streets of Husum ('Am Gallberg' and 'Am Schulwald').


Several FW-190A6's of JG11 at Husum in 1942 (asisbiz.com).

Between April 1945 and May 1945 the airfield became the final home of II./JG400, to this day the worlds only operational rocket powered interceptor unit, flying the Me163 Komet. Being one of the last remaining Third Reich bases in the final days of the war, the airfield received many Luftwaffe aircraft in May 1945. On 8 May 1945 the airfield was occupied by the British Air Force of Occupation, who designated it ALG B.172. The British only briefly used the airfield. For a few weeks its 125 Wing (41, 137 and 350 Sqn) used the airfield, until relocated to Lubeck for disbandment. They tore the airfield down in 1946.


Photo of Husum-Narrenthal taken by the RAF during World War II (Der Spiegel Online).

In 1957 the new Bundeswehr (the West-German army) used the terrain to build a new Army Barracks. 5 companies of Panzergenadierebatallion 162 moved into the new complex. Today the outlines of the old Fliegerhorst can still be recognised from aerial photography. The location of two runways can still be determined, as can the taxiways dispersals and parkings on the north and west side of the airfield. Most of the property has changed dramatically however, due to the use by the German Army and the growth of the town of Husum.


The former airfield in 2000. Faint outlines of the northern parkings and two runways can still be recognised (Google Earth)