Berlin is very careless with its old airfields and airports. They’re scattered all around the city like jilted lovers in favor of the newest darling. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before BER is abandoned too (and not a moment too soon).
Germany's Luftwaffe used Flugplatz Schönwalde for the war. The Soviets took over afterward and left their traces after abandoning the airfield in 1992.
Flugplatz Brand was strategically important for the Soviet Air Force. Thankfully its battalions of flying fighters remained on ice for the duration of the Cold War.
Flugplatz Oranienburg served in the summer of 1944 as a test center for the legendary Horten Ho IX, the world’s first “stealth” bomber.
Tegel Airport (TXL), was formerly Germany’s fourth busiest airport with more than 24 million passengers in 2019. Abandoned Nov. 8, 2020.
One of the world’s first motor airfields when it opened in 1909. People used to flock to Flugplatz Johannisthal to see marvelous metal machines with wings actually fly.
Brash airplanes used to roar in and out of Fliegerstation Berlin-Friedrichsfelde's Flugzeughallen in days after the land had been used for testing airships.
Flugplatz Rangsdorf was the airfield from which Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg flew off with a bomb for Hitler as part of the unsuccessful July 20 plot.
Sperenberg was considered the ideal site for Berlin's long overdue shiny new airport until the powers-that-be opted to build it beside Schönefeld instead.
West Berlin's lifeline during the Soviet Blockade, Tempelhof Airport has since become the city’s biggest park. Berliners will fight to keep it that way.