Cottbus, DE 🇩🇪 Closed Airport
DE-0895
-
220 ft
DE-BR
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 51.767899° N, 14.292° E
Continent: EU
Type: Closed Airport
Keywords: ETHT
Cottbus Army Airfield (DE-0895), also known as Cottbus Air Base (ICAO: ETHT), is a former military airport that is now largely closed to air traffic. It ceased operations as an active military base around 2000-2004. Consequently, there are no recent traveler reviews or experiences pertaining to typical airport functions such as terminal facilities, security, customs, or commercial flights.
The site currently hosts the Cottbus Airfield Museum, an aviation museum that serves as an excursion destination for those interested in technology and history. The former concrete runway is now significantly utilized as a solar electric power farm.
Since Cottbus Army Airfield is no longer an operational public airport, the requested information regarding traveler sentiment, terminal facilities, security wait times, customs, and transportation connections for air travelers is not applicable or available.
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Military flight operations ceased around 1993-1994. The final official closure and handover to German civil authorities occurred after the withdrawal of the last Russian troops in 1994.
The airfield was closed following the reunification of Germany and the end of the Cold War. The East German Air Force (NVA) was disbanded in 1990, and the Soviet/Russian forces, which had been stationed there, completed their withdrawal from Germany by 1994. The unified German military (Bundeswehr) had no operational need for the base, leading to its decommissioning and conversion to civilian use.
The site has been extensively redeveloped and is a prominent example of military conversion ('Konversion'). A large portion of the former runways, taxiways, and aprons is now home to the 'Solarpark Cottbus-Nord', one of Germany's largest photovoltaic power plants, covering over 55 hectares. Other areas of the former base have been developed into a commercial and industrial park (Gewerbegebiet Flugplatz Cottbus-Nord), with various businesses occupying repurposed hangars and newly constructed buildings. The ICAO code DE-0895 is a national identifier and does not represent an active, certified airport; it may refer to a historical record or a small, private ultralight strip that briefly existed on a portion of the site after the main closure.
The airfield, known as Flugplatz Cottbus-Nord, has a long and significant military history.
1. **Pre-WWII and WWII Era:** Established in the 1930s as a base for the German Luftwaffe, it was used for flight training and later for operational units during World War II, including fighter wings equipped with Focke-Wulf Fw 190s. It was a target of Allied bombing raids.
2. **Cold War Era:** After the war, it was taken over by the Soviet Air Forces and became a major frontline air base for the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG). From 1971, it was also the home base for the Jagdfliegergeschwader 1 (JG-1) 'Fritz Schmenkel' of the East German Air Force (Luftstreitkräfte der NVA). This unit was notable for being one of the first in the Warsaw Pact outside the USSR to operate the advanced MiG-29 'Fulcrum' fighter jet, alongside its older MiG-21s. Soviet units, such as fighter-bomber regiments flying Sukhoi Su-17s, were also stationed there. Its location made it a strategically critical Warsaw Pact air base during the Cold War.
None. The extensive and permanent redevelopment of the site, particularly the construction of the massive solar park directly on the former operational surfaces, makes reopening the airport as a conventional aviation facility completely infeasible. The city and region are adequately served by the nearby Cottbus-Drewitz Airport (ICAO: EDCD) for general and commercial aviation needs.