History
The site consists of a large airbase and support structures that was once home to 5000 people and has a rich history. It was developed as a military base by the Prussian army, then during WW2 was used the location used by the Nazis to test out weapons including the V2 rocket. After WW2 the site was actually left untouched by the Soviets for a period, until converting it to an airfield in the late 1950s. It was then used by the Russians until 1994, and had in recent years been considered as a replacement location for the new Berlin airport before the current one was built. The site was also where the last East German leader (Erich Honecker) spent his final night on German soil before being flown out to Moscow in exile.
Explore
This was our first explore of the trip, we arrived on site little over an hour after landing in Germany thanks to an extremely efficient time in arrivals and rental car pick up. Access was trickier than expected (previous experience of former soviet bases has been mostly walk-ins). The first of two sites for the day, we didn't have time to get over to the airfield itself, due to the colossal scale of the place we worked out just to get to the edge of the runway would be an hour round trip for mostly demolished structures. The support buildings had plenty of interest though and made a nice mooch before heading to the next spot.
1. These gates greeted us on the approach.
2. Rail carriage buried deep in the woods (the site was also used for railway testing).
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14. Rusty old Trabant on the way out was a nice touch.
The site consists of a large airbase and support structures that was once home to 5000 people and has a rich history. It was developed as a military base by the Prussian army, then during WW2 was used the location used by the Nazis to test out weapons including the V2 rocket. After WW2 the site was actually left untouched by the Soviets for a period, until converting it to an airfield in the late 1950s. It was then used by the Russians until 1994, and had in recent years been considered as a replacement location for the new Berlin airport before the current one was built. The site was also where the last East German leader (Erich Honecker) spent his final night on German soil before being flown out to Moscow in exile.
Explore
This was our first explore of the trip, we arrived on site little over an hour after landing in Germany thanks to an extremely efficient time in arrivals and rental car pick up. Access was trickier than expected (previous experience of former soviet bases has been mostly walk-ins). The first of two sites for the day, we didn't have time to get over to the airfield itself, due to the colossal scale of the place we worked out just to get to the edge of the runway would be an hour round trip for mostly demolished structures. The support buildings had plenty of interest though and made a nice mooch before heading to the next spot.
1. These gates greeted us on the approach.
2. Rail carriage buried deep in the woods (the site was also used for railway testing).
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. Rusty old Trabant on the way out was a nice touch.
