Fliegerhorst Jüterbog-Damm
THE ABANDONED MILITARY SITE IN GERMANY
Fliegerhorst Jüterbog-Damm was an air base of the Luftwaffe der Wehrmacht and later used by the Soviet Army. It was situated near the military town Jüterbog and abandoned in 1994.
This base dates back to the years during the German Empire. During the First World War, the area was used as an artillery pilot station from 1914 to 1918. Eventually, it was forcibly demilitarized after the War in accordance with the Versailles Peace Treaty. But the base was highly-developed in the years of the Third Reich by architect Max Cetto. Both large concrete hangars and service facilities were built along a 900-meter grass airstrip. It was established as a Luftwaffe Fliegerhorstkommandantur by fall 1935. The site was used almost exclusively by single-engine fighters and reconnaissance units from 1935 to the end of the war.
There were six large hangars to the north of the air base. At least 20 open aircraft shelters were distributed around the sides of the airfield perimeter.
After the Second World War, the Red Army partly dismantled the airbase. As a result, three of the six hangars were dismantled and sent to the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, it was used as a repair shop for aircraft of the 16th Air Army. Later, the 172nd and 439th Special Helicopter regiment were based here at Damm. Around 1960, the S-75, a high-altitude air defense system, was installed to protect the Red Army in Jüterbog.
After the Soviets withdrew in the early 1990s, the site was handed over to the German authorities, who closed the airfield. I visited the site in 2020.
