| Bad Langensalza Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: none – ICAO: EDEB – LID:
Bad Langensalza
Airport Bad Langensalza
Airport (Germany) |
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Civil | ||
| Location | Bad Langensalza, Germany | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 980 ft / 299 m | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 09/27 | 606 | 2,000 | Grass |
Bad Langensalza Airport (ICAO: EDEB) is a general aviation airport located in Germany, about 4 km north-northwest of Bad Langensalza (Thuringen); approximately 240 kilometers southwest of Berlin.
The airfield is a short grass runway, used primarily for light aircraft and gliders. There is a small terminal and a hangar at the facility.
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The airport has its origin as a late 1930s Luftwaffe airfield, opened in 1938. It was used as a dive bomber/fighter bomber field, first with Henschel Hs 123s, then beginning in 1939 with Junkers Ju 87B "Stukas", Dornier Do 17Z light bombers and Junkers Ju 88A fighter-bombers being assigned to combat units, being used first in the Invasion of Poland in 1939, then moved west prior to the Battle of France in 1940.[1]
As the war moved away, Langensalza became a reserve support airfield. Being used later in 1944 as a night interceptor fighter airfield as part of the Defense of the Reich campaign, with NJG 2 operating Ju 88C/R aircraft against RAF night bomber attacks during March-April 1944.[1]
American Army units moved into the area in early April 1945, seizing the airfield with little resistance. The IX Engineering Command 825th Engineering Aviation Battalion arrived on 8 April 1945 and designated Langensalza operational, designating the airfield as Advanced Landing Ground "R-2".[2] C-47 Skytrain transports began flying into and out of Langensalza, carrying in supplies and equipment to support the combat units moving east, and evacuating casualties to rear areas on the return flights.[3] Late in the war, on 22 and 24 April, Ninth Air Force combat units, the P-38 Lightning 474th Fighter Group and P-61 Black Widow 422d Night Fighter Squadron moved in, and conducted operations until the end of combat on 7 May. The 474th Fighter Group remained at the airfield until 16 June 1945 when it moved out, ending military use of the airfield.[4]
Abandoned for many years after the war ended due to its close proximity to the former East German border, the civil airfield was re-established after the German reunification in 1990 and today is a well-equipped general aviation airport. Today, several small buildings provide a terminal and support services for the airport. The former Luftwaffe station remains to the northeast of the airfield, with some buildings in use for light industrial purposes.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.