Kassel-Rothwesten

51°23'25"N 009°32'03"E

runway: flying field - 600x800m - grass

Kassel-Rothwesten airfield (German: Fliegerhorst Kassel-Rothwesten, also known as Advanced Landing Ground R-12 Kassel/Rothwesten and Army Air Force Station Kassel/Rothwesten) was an airfield 290 kilometers southwest of Berlin.
The airfield was built in 1935.
It featured a technical site on the east side of the airfield, with hangars, a wharf and an engine test facility.
A control tower stood in the middle.
A long distance reconnaissance group flying He-45s, AufklGr124 was formed at the airfield in April 1935.
In December 1935 the first students of the flying school began using the airfield.
The reconnaissance aircraft flew many mission in support of the planning of the invasions of Denmark, the Low Countries and France.
Before the war began the Aufklarungsgruppe was renamed twice: first to AufklGr24, and then to AufklGr22.
The Gruppe transitioned to more modern aircraft twice before the war: first to the He70 in 1937, and then the Do17 in 1938.




Three He45 aircraft flying over the airfield in formation, sometime around 1936 (der-weltkrieg-war-vor-deiner-tuer.de.tl).


When war had broken out in 1939 the reconnaissance Group left the airfield, and was replaced with Flugzeugführerschule AB119.
Additionally the airfield became the alternate production site for the Fieseler plant in Kassel.
The airfield played only a minor role during World War II.
U.S. forces occupied the airfield on 6 April 1945.
Only shortly before German troops had blown up the airfield and its facilities.





Kassel Rothwesten Airfield photographed on 9 May 1944 by Lt. John S Blyth, 14th Squadron, 7th PRG, Mount Farm, Oxfordshire, UK (Flickr).


The Americans rebuilt the airfield during the final days of the war and pressed it into service as Advanced Landing Ground R-12 Kassel/Rothwesten.
They constructed a hardened runway, taxitracks and aircraft parkings.
The 36th Fighter Group and 417 FS stayed at the airfield until well into 1946.
It was then decided to withdraw all flying units because of the proximity to the Inner German Border.
The U.S. Air Force was replaced with elements of the U.S. Army and ground based elements of the Air Force.
In the spring of 1948 the former airfield provided the security detail for a meeting just off base that led to the basic understanding of the post-war German state.
Not only did they decide on the new German currency (the Deutschmark), but also on the economic principles of the postwar German state.
The meeting was held in the greatest secrecy, during which only one service man was allowed to leave the heavily guarded complex.





The former dispersals of the 36th Fighter Group were still visible at Kassel-Rothwesten in May 1950


The base was later transferred to the Bundeswehr, which renamed it the Fritz-Erler-Kaserne.
It remained in use as a military facility until 2007.
It was then transferred to civilian use.





The remains of the former airfield in 2008 (Google Earth)