Wittstock Air Base

The Wittstock Air Base. In 1937 the history of the air base outside Wittstock/Dosse started with the beginning of the construction work by the German Wehrmacht. After two years, in summer 1939 the topping-out ceremony took place. Because of the beginning of World War II at 1st of September 1939 the dedication of the air base hasn't been published. From the early beginning the air base was planned for the education of paratroopers and so it was implemented. The Paratrooper School II could take in and educate a lot of students. Amongst others Max Schmeling, the first German Heavyweight Boxing champion of the world was educated there as a paratrooper.

The air-traffic control building contained a parachute drying tower, a rehearsal hall and a parachute packing hall. Two bigger buildings were used by the technical crew. Only from 1944 German Luftwaffe aircraft squadrons were there for a short time before flying to the frontline. At first parachuting was rehearsed from higher altitudes – 600 mtst. The goal of the education was to reduce the altitude for the jump as much as possible in order to fly a shorter time and avoid being a target for the enemy. After 6 jumps, one alone, 4 jumps with 6, 10 or 12 partners and a nightjump, the paratroopers were ready for action.

In 1945 the air base was taken over by the Soviet Red Army and all buildings were integrated. At first the 42d special combat squadron (42.GWIAP) with the JAK-9 aircraft is detectable. In this time Wassili Stalin is called as a commandant amongst others. In the early 1950s the air base got an affixed runway, first with a length of 1.800 meters. Since the middle of the 1950s MIG-19 aircraft have been detectable. From 1961 Wittstock has been the home air base for the 33rd Fighting Pilot Squadron which was situated in Lärz (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) before. With the introduction of MIG-21 aircraft in the early 1960s the runway was stretched to 2.400 meters length and the eastern part of it was upgraded with an affixed pre-starting line. In 1965 the squadron had 56 aircraft.

As the first air base in the former GDR the Wittstock air base got MIG-29 aircraft in winter 1985/1986. In 1990 there were 8 MIG-23 and 39 MIG-29 based there.

Till the Fall of the Berlin Wall there lived between 5.000 and 7.000 people at the 407 hectare big area. The whole area was oganised as a little village with kindergarten, school, a sports field, a military hospital, restaurant, nursery, orchards and stables for livestock breeding as well as some stalls (Russian “MAGASIN”) where also German people bought stuff, because they could get things there which were non-available or only rare to get otherwise. 14 living buildings including 484 flats existed as well as 502 flats in so called blockhouses (old buildings) at the area which were used as living quarters by the officers and the civilian employees and their families. A constant bus line connected the air base and the real city of Wittstock/Dosse also in the soviet/Russian times. Soviet military cars, officers and their wives but also normal soldiers belonged to the constant town scenes in this time. At the 29th of March 1994 there was an exclusive “open day” which was used by 30.000 guests to see the whole air base. A few days later the squadron flew via Ribnitz-Damgarten (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) to Andreapol (Russia) where the squadron was disintegrated. Since this time the air base has been closed for military use. Between 1994 and 2006 the whole area was mostly unused. At 2006 the organizers from the Fullmoon-festival started to have their open-air parties to celebrate the Fullmoon.

External links

* http://www.mdk-wittstock.de
* http://www.fullmoon-festival.com