Welzow

52°08'00"N 013°09'00"E

Runway 04/22 - 2500x80m - concrete (CLOSED)
Runway 04/22 - 2500x30m - concrete (2000m + 500m overrun for rwy22)

Airfield Welzow (german: Flugplatz Welzow, ICAO: EDCY) is an airfield just outside Welzow in southern Brandenburg, Germany.
The airfield dates back to 1928, when pilot Erich Riehm announced plas to take passengers to the air from the Bahnsdorfer Platz near Welzow.
Although Welzow is situated in the Kreis Spree-Neiße, 90 per cent of the airfield lies just over the Kreis line in Oberspreewald-Lausitz.
After a few years of activity the Deutsches LuftfahrtVerband (the national German Aviation Association, DLV) set up on the airfield.
The airfield continued to grow as a civilian airfield until 1934 and hosted several 'flying days' during that time.


After the National-Socialist takeover things began to change at Welzow from 1935.
Welzow became a military airfield in August 1935.
It became an exercise forward operating base, and at the same time a training facillity for aircrews.
It gained a ring taxiway and a rail connection to the national railway grid.
New hangars, a tank farm and barracks were built, expanding the airfield.


In 1938 two liaison squadrons were stationed at Welzow to support operations in Czechoslovakia.
Several days before the attack on Poland many radio trucks of attack wings were at Welzow, waiting for things to come.
From the summer of 1940 the airfield became home to several training units, for instance the aircraft wireless operator school (.
Besides the regular Ju-86s and Ju-52/3ms the airfield also saw W-34, Do-17, Fw58 and Ar-66 aircraft visiting frequently.
When on base lodging was not sufficient, the Welzower families were called upon to provide beds.
Amongst the officers staying with local families was also Prince Louis Ferdinand von Hohenzollern, grandchild to Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last Emperor of Germany.




Airfield Welzow ca 1940 (flugplatz-welzow.de).


On 2 August 1944 the staff and II Group of Fighter Wing (Jagdgeschwader, or JG) 4 were moved to Welzow.
They arrived just in time to fight the USAAF 4 days later, when they moved 568 B-17 bombers and 500 escorting P-51 Mustangs to Berlin.
189 sorties were flown and 7 US aricraft were downed at a cost of 31 fighters and their pilots.
JG4 moved to the Western Front, and was followed up by Group II of JG301 and yet a little later Groups I, II and III of JG6.
In February 1945 Long Distance Reconnaissance Group (german: Fernaufklärungsgruppe) 11 briefly stayed at Welzow.
When the Red Army began the Berlin Operations on 16 April 1945 things began to change at Welzow.
The airfield came under Soviet attack from day one, and was finally captured on 20 April.
The retreating German forces blew up most of the infrastructure, which left the airfield useless.
Only its barracks remained, and were used by German refugees from the fall of 1945.


In 1950 a small group of Soviet engineers began preparations for the airfield to be returned to active service.
They tripled the size of the airfield by cutting many trees.
Construction company Bau-Union Dresden got the order to construct a 2500x80meter runway and to harden taxiways and dispersals.
Construction was advanced enough in 1953 to allow operations with Il-28 reconnaissance bombers.





Airfield Welzow in 1953 (flugplatz-welzow.de).





An Il-28R at Welzow in October 1956 (Aleksander Markin, at Flickr).


The Welzower regiment received Yak-27 reconnaissance aircraft in 1966, but these were replaced with more modern Yak-28 only two years later.
Between June and Oktober 1974 the second runway (the current main runway) was built.
The regiment converted to Su24 reconnaissance fighterbombers in 1984.
MiG-25s from Werneuchen moved to Welzow in 1991.
The Russians left Welzow in 1993, taking off from Welzow in their 23 Su24s and cargo aircraft for the last time.





Airfield Welzow in 1974 (flugplatz-welzow.de).


The departure of the CIS units meant the civilian airfield could be restarted.
To allow civilian air traffic on the airtfield many buildings had to be renovated or even completely torn down, a process that started in 1993.
By August 1996 reconstruction had advanced enough to allow the airfield to be reïnstated as a civililan airfield (german: Verkehrslandeplatz).
In September 1999 the airfield was certified for day and night operations for aircraft up to 14 tonnes MTOW.
The airfield is mainly used for general aviation, and especially business flights.
It has expanded onto the nearby Lake Sedlitz (with a seperate ICAO code: EDUY) to allow floatplanes.
At the airfield is an avaiation museum that focuses on the history of Welzow airfield.





Map of Airfield Welzow in 2009





Approach map of Airfield Welzow in 2009





Approach map of the water runways at Welzow (mfu.at).


In March 2009 it became known that the Vattenfall Europe company had acquired large portions of the airfield from the State of Brandenburg the previous December.
It does not however plan to acquire any part of the company running the airfield, which is owned by the cities of Welzow and Spremberg, the Kreis Spree-Neisse, and the aircraft businesses at the airfield.
Vattenfall plans to dig up 210 million tons of lignite from under the 600 hectares large airfield, of which Vattenvall owns 523.
The combined taxiways and the runway measure about 250 hectares.
While Vattenfall describes the deal as "a clear signal we plan to stay in the region beyond 2050" and claims the operation of the airfield is not affected (in german), it means that 1000 people and 800 jobs have to be moved to new locations.
The plans still have to pass legislation, Vattenfall expects permission to begin by 2015 at the latest.