Wünsdorf Airfield

Military withdrawal. The airfield was closed following the reunification of Germany and the subsequent withdrawal of the Western Group of Forces of the Russian Federation (formerly the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany). As a purely military airbase, its strategic purpose ceased to exist with the departure of the Soviet/Russian troops.

The site is abandoned and in a state of advanced decay. The massive infrastructure, including the main runway, taxiways, control tower, and dozens of hardened aircraft shelters, remains largely intact but is being slowly reclaimed by nature. The area is a well-known destination for urban explorers, photographers, and historians. It has been used intermittently for commercial purposes such as film and television shoots, automotive testing, driver safety training, and small-scale solar power generation. However, there is no permanent, large-scale use of the airfield itself.

The airfield has a long and layered military history.

1. **German Empire & Weimar Republic:** Established around 1910, it is one of Germany's earliest aviation sites. It was initially used for the nascent German Army Air Service for testing and training before and during World War I.

2. **Third Reich:** During World War II, the airfield was an integral part of the vast Wünsdorf military complex, which housed the headquarters of the German Army High Command (OKH) and the Armed Forces High Command (OKW). The airfield served the logistical and transport needs of this critical command center.

3. **Soviet Era (Cold War):** After WWII, the entire Wünsdorf complex was taken over by the Soviet Union and became the headquarters for the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), the largest Soviet military contingent stationed abroad. The airfield, known to the Soviets as Sperenberg Airfield, was massively expanded with a 2,500-meter concrete runway, extensive taxiways, and numerous hardened aircraft shelters (HAS). It became the primary air transport hub for the Soviet forces in East Germany, capable of handling the largest Soviet transport aircraft like the Antonov An-22 and Ilyushin Il-76. It served as a direct, high-capacity link to Moscow and other parts of the USSR for personnel rotation and supply, effectively functioning as a sovereign Soviet territory.

There are no active or realistic plans to reopen the airfield. After German reunification in the 1990s, the Sperenberg/Wünsdorf site was a leading candidate in the site selection process for the new single Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). It was favored for its existing long runway and distance from populated areas, which would have allowed for 24-hour operations. However, it was ultimately rejected in 1996 in favor of expanding the existing Berlin-Schönefeld Airport. The primary reasons for its rejection were the significant projected costs for decontaminating the former military site, its considerable distance from the Berlin city center, and the high cost of building new high-speed rail and motorway connections. The decision for the Schönefeld site is final, and the immense cost and logistical challenges make any future aviation-related redevelopment of Wünsdorf highly improbable.