Kölleda

51°11'27"N 011°12'31"E

Runway n/a - grass

Airfield Kölleda (german: Flugplatz Kölleda, also known as Fliegerhorst Kölleda) was an airfield 14 kilometers north of Erfurt, Thuringia in Germany.
The airfield was built in 1934 as a Fliegerhorst (air base) for the Luftwaffe and as a civilian 'Air Office' (german: Luftzeugamt).
The establishment of the airfield was a turning point for the town of Kölleda, which doubled in population as a result of the increase in employment after its opening in 1935.
A railway connection was completed in 1936, along with the Fliegerhorts barracks.
At the same time it was rebuilt into one of the largest Fliegerhorste in Germany.
Over time 112 buildings were constructed.
Kölleda became a mainteenance facility, servicing mainly Dorniers, and was classified as "secret" by 1938/39.
It stocked many parts for Dornier aircraft, but it had no flying units assigned.


It was a long time before the Allies recognised the airfield.
The reason was astonishingly simple: the Germans had live sheep grazing its fields for camouflage, and it was usually covered in a haze because of its boggy subsoil.
The Allies on the other hands relied on imagery of the area taken during a flood, and called it "Cölleda On Sea".
When they went to find the lake later, they could no longer locate it.
A fake airfield (a smaller, lit version of Kölleda) further distracted attention from the actual air field.
The airfield used a large portion of forced labour from countries like Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the Soviet Union.

Unfortunately no maps or images of the airfield before 2000 were located.

On 4 July 1944 the airfield was finally bombed in 5 waves between 9 and 10am.
Many of the HE- and incendiary bombs did not go off, still, there were 7 deaths on the German side.
The airfield was overtaken by American forces on 11 April 1945.
On 1 July they transferred authority to the Red Army as per the agreed areas of influence.
The Soviets closed the airfield, but several years later a new smaller airfield was built to its northwest.
During the DDR (East German) time this airfield served as a gliderfield, until it was closed by the East German government in 1979/1980.
A new flying club was established at the grounds when East Germany merged with West Germany in 1990.
It hosted the German Aeorbatics champoinship in 1996.
Today, it is mostly used for glider flying and parajumping (from an Austrian Shorts Skyvan.
Next to their pink clubhouse and hangars stands a red ex-NVA MiG-21, and three more fighter/fighter-bombers (Su-22 and MiG-21) can be found in NVA colours at the airfield too.

 


Location of the former airfield Kölleda (yellow) in 2000, with the current civilian airfield (green) on the northwest side (Google Earth).

The former airfield was partially converted into a residential area, but tother parts became commercial areas.
On the northside, bordering on the current airfield, was the location of 'Funkwerkes K�lleda', the K�lleda radio station.

 


The entrance to the Fliegerhorst in 2011, now a home for elderly people.