Fliegerhorst Pütnitz
Fliegerhorst Pütnitz is a large abandoned airfield near Ribnitz-Damgarten in Germany. It was first used by the Luftwaffe and later by the Soviet Air Force. Today the place is quiet, empty, and full of history. When you walk here, you feel how time has changed everything.
The airfield opened in 1936. The German army built it during the military build up in the 1930s. Workers placed a long concrete runway on the land. They also built big halls near the lake, where seaplanes could glide into the water.
At this time the base trained pilots, radio operators and technical staff. Aircraft from the Walter Bachmann factory on the opposite shore came here for test flights. During the war, the factory even used two halls on the base for its work. Forced laborers and prisoners of war worked there from 1941.
Shipyard
After 1945 many refugees stayed in camps on and near the site. A few years later, from 1948 to 1951, the halls became a shipyard. Around 2,000 people built wooden fishing boats here, and many of those boats went to the Soviet Union as reparations.
Things changed in late 1951. The Soviet Army took the whole area for military use. The shipyard closed and the nearby village of Steinort had to move. In the early 1950s, the base became an important Soviet airfield. New units arrived, and the runway grew longer.
Between 1961 and 1970, the Soviets built aircraft shelters, ammo bunkers and other Cold War structures. Many soldiers lived here. Some sources speak of thousands of people on the base. Later, in the 1970s, the runway reached 2,600 meters. The place became a key site for training flights over the Baltic Sea.
The Abandonment
The airfield stayed active until 1994. Then the last aircraft left, and the Soviets returned home.
After the withdrawal, the base stood empty. Buildings had no new use. Nature began to take back the area. Grass grew through the concrete. Paint peeled from the walls.
What You See Today
You find large halls, broken windows and long empty roads. Some buildings still show Russian letters on the walls. Parts of the site feel frozen in time.
Since 2004, an association has been running a technology museum in some former aircraft hangars with a focus on the Eastern Bloc. Various major events also take place on the extensive grounds. Planning for the tourist development of the area is currently taking place.
