Wittstock

53°12'N 012°31'E

Runway: 08/26 - 2,400x50meters - concrete (CLOSED)

Airfield Wittstock (german: Flugplatz Wittstock or Flugplatz Alt Daber, ICAO ETxx) is a former military airfield near Wittstock an der Dosse in the northwest of Brandenburg, Germany.
The airfield was founded in 1934.
The airfield was used to train parachutists.

After the war the airfield was pressed into service by the Soviet Armed Forces.
They replaced the grass airfield with a concrete runway.
The airbase was home to the Soviet 33 Fighter Regiment (33IAP) flying Mig29 Fulcrums
One of its former commanders was Lieutenant-General Sawitzki, the later chef of the Russian Baikonur Kosmodrome.
His daughter Svetlana, the first woman in space, was alledgedly born at Wittstock.
Air Base Wittstock was one of the most important advanced soviet air stations: when an American U-2 spyplane was shot down over East Germany on 10 March 1964, its attacker came from Wittstock.

Wittstock was also responsible for the nearby bombing range at the Wittstocker Moor (german: Wittstocker Heide).
At the bombing range an oddity was discovered: it had the complete layout of a NATO airfield (shelters, taxiways and runways) laid out on the moor (53°05'08"N 012°40'16"E).
It was soon discovered the Soviets had used the map of the USAFE Air Base Bitburg as an example, albeit rotated 60 degrees.






Fake NATO air base





The real NATO airbase, rotated for comparison


The Russians left around 1994 and the airbase has remained dormant since, except for some dragraces and the annual "Full Moon" festival.
Early in 2010 the German Federal Government announced the air base was to be permanently closed and disposed of, they are looking for investors to redevelop the area.





Nice lineup of MiG-29s during the formal farewell ceremony on 7 April 1994
Photo © Lindsay Peacock, Wittstock, (source).





Air Base Wittstock, ca. 2009