St. Arnual

49°13'04"N 007°01'22"E

runway: flying field - 850x600m - grass

St. Arnual air field (flugplatz St. Arnual, also known as Saarbrücken-St.Arnual) was an airfield south of Saarbrücken.
The site was the location of an airship landing in 1911 during an aviation festival.
A hangar was erected on the site in 1914.
During the Great War (1914-1918) a fighter squadron was stationed at the airfield.
The airfield was turned into a commercial airport serving Saarbrücken in 1924. It greatly suffered from the denial of overflight rights over the occupied Rhineland and a route to Paris however. Only in 1928, a route Frankfurt-Saarbrücken-Paris was opened by Luft Hansa and SGTA. The traffic was not through: Luft Hansa served the Frankfurt leg from St. Arnual, and SGTA the Paris leg.
The service to Paris existed until 1934. It was terminated when the Saarland was returned to Germany in 1935.


map of St. Arnual


The station building and the airfield, presumably around 1930


The hangar at St. Arnual
 
The airfield was less than perfect. It had a difficult approach and departure due to the local terrain. It was also prone to flooding by the nearby Saar river. Therefore a new airfield was built at Ensheim, which was completed in the summer of 1939. The last flight from St.Arnual was on 25 August 1939. It was briefly reopened for the 1955 Saar Fair.


Another map of the airfield, date unknown


The hangar, gliders and motorized aircraft, presumably mid- to late 1930s

The airfield has completely disappeared. The course of the Saar River was altered at exactly that location. On the west bank of the river an Autobahn was built. The east bank (where the larger part of the flying field was located) is now a nature preserve. The airfield was located to the north of the 'Tote Brücke' or 'Die Brücke ins (fast) Nichts" ('dead bridge', or 'Bridge to nowhere') and south of the motorbootclub Saar.


The location of the former airfield in 2006, nothing reminds of the former airfield (Google Earth)

Thanks to Volker Böhme for the airfield and the images!