The Johannisthal airfield was opened in 1909. In the early days it was mainly used by flight pioneers, who tested their own aircraft. In World War I, Johannisthal was the location of numerous aircraft factories. After the war, a civil aviation was established, but in the 1920s it moved to Tempelhof Airport. Later Johannisthal became an important location of the German Aerospace Center (DVL), which operated numerous test facilities, e.g. wind tunnels and engine test stands. After the Second World War the field was occupied by the Red Army, which used it for aviation until 1951. Then industry and scientific institutes settled around the airfield. The landing field itself was used as an exercise and storage area for the two surrounding barracks. With a flight day in 1995, aviation use ended finally.

German Empire until 1918

Images

Image of the Johannisthal Air Field (Flugplatz Berlin-Johannisthal) in 1910. - Above in the air is Robert Fey in his FarmanIII, below on the ground is Amerigo with his Sommer plane before the take-off.

Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R37016 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hans Grade at take-off in Berlin Johannisthal, Germany, 1912

Hans Grade at take-off in Johannisthal in 1912

Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R00490 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

During the 1920s/1930s

Pictures

Crash landing of the LVG C.VII D 14 of D. L. R. (Deutsche Luft Reederei) in Johannisthal

In the background is the airship hangar.

Source: ETH-Bibliothek, Zürich, Bildarchiv, https://www.e-pics.ethz.ch/de/home/

Source: ETH-Bibliothek, Zürich, Bildarchiv

Source: ETH-Bibliothek, Zürich, Bildarchiv

The first Frenchman in Johannisthal after the war. Breguet

Source: ETH-Bibliothek, Zürich, Bildarchiv

Aviation museum in 1932

In a large disused aircraft hangar in Berlin-Johannisthal, an aviation museum created by the unemployed has been opened. - In the background: Dornier Komet II, D-943

Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-13824 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

View of the original gondola of the German airship L 14

Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-13823 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nazi era and World War II

Situation

Berlin Johannisthal Airfield in World War II on map 1943

Berlin Johannisthal Airfield in World War II on a US map from 1943 - There seems to be some inaccuracies on the map

Source: McMaster University Library Digital Archive, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 CC BY-NC 2.5 CA

Map

Berlin Johannisthal Airfield on a US map from 1952 - It probably shows the state of expansion in the 1930s or 1940s.

Source: AMS M841 GSGS 4414, Courtesy Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University

Address

Flugtechnische Arbeitsgemeinschaft an der Beuth-Schule bei der Deutschen Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt eV.:
Berlin N65, Zeppelin-Platz 6

Source: Amtliches Fernsprechbuch für Berlin 1932

Deutschen Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt eV.:
Adlershof Flugplatz, Rudower Chaussee

Flughafenleitung Johannisthal
Adlershof, Rudower Chaussee 31-41

Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH, Zweigniederlassung Berlin:
Johannisthal, Segelfliegerdamm 67

Flugtechnische Fachgruppe an der Technischen Hochschule Berlin
Flugbetrieb Flugplatz Johannisthal Westhalle

Phone

Flugtechnische Arbeitsgemeinschaft an der Beuth-Schule bei der Deutschen Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt eV.:
460169

Source: Amtliches Fernsprechbuch für Berlin 1932

Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH, Zweigniederlassung Berlin:
632111, Nachtruf: 630770

Deutschen Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt eV.:
Flugplatz: 638211
Ferndienst: 638036
Betrieb West: 637095, 637096

Flughafenleitung Johannisthal:
637808

Flugtechnische Fachgruppe an der Technischen Hochschule Berlin
Flugbetrieb Flugplatz Johannisthal Westhalle: 630441

Luftaufsicht:
637130

During the Cold War

In the 1940s

General

With the victory of the Allied troops in 1945, Berlin received the special status of a four-power city, which lasted until reunification in 1990. Johannisthal Airfield was located in the Soviet sector of Berlin and was used as an airfield by the Soviet occupation forces until about 1951.

Overview

Berlin Johannisthal Adlershof on a sketch for the CIA in 1949

Source: CIA

1	Motor vehicle repair shop
2	Apartment and office building
3	Motor vehicle repair shop
4	Motor vehicle repair shop
5	Apartment and office building
6	Former testing station with test stands destroyed
7	Administration building
8, 9	Hangars
10	Stone houses surrounded by fences
11	Factory smokestack
12	Chemical plant
13	Studio of Soviet Motion Picture Association
14	Two antenna masts for short wave transmitter
15	Residential block for Soviet dependents
16	Industrial building
17	Railroad district repair shop
18	Runway
19	Storage building
20	Fuel tanks

History

CIA report about the 18 July 1949

Although the field was servicable there were no aircraft parked at the ADLERSHOF (N 53/Z 94) airfield. The buildings on the southern border of the field were occupied to capacity by soldiers wearing black epaulets.

Comment: The above information confirms the previously reported occupation of the ADLERSHOF airfield by an army and an air force unit. The numerical designations of these units are not known.

CIA report for the 22 July 1949

The ADLERSHOF (N 53/X 04) airfield is not occupied by a Soviet Air Force unit. It is in a poor condition; the former testing installation (wind tunnel and engine test stands) are dilapidated. German workers are now engaged in erecting a board fence around the field. Air force motor vehicles were not observed at the field or in the vicinity.

Comment: The statements on the condition of the airfield are considered credible. Information on the occupation of the field is lacking. According to previous reports, a technical unit of the Soviet Air Force is assumed to be stationed in ADLERSHOF. This report does not indicate whether this unit is still there.

CIA report about the 26 July 1949

Five DC-3s were parked at the northwestern corner of the ADLERSHOF airfield. A biplane made repeated landings at the airfield. The soldiers observed at the southern section of the airfield wore red-bordered, black epaulets, while most of the officers and Enlisted Men at the northern section wore blue service color. German civilian workers did repair work on individual airfield buildings ... motor vehicles observed at the airfield.

CIA report about the 5 August 1949

The former test station at the southern edge of the field was surrounded by a new board fence. German civilians did clearing work there. A twin-engine low-wing monoplane with single rudder assembly took off at 2:35 p.m.

Comment: Another ... confirmed the existence of the new board fence around the installations of the former German test station.

CIA report for 29 August 1949

Five Dakota type twin-engine aircraft covered with tarpaulins were parked at the ADLERSHOF (N 53/Z 94) airfield on 29 August 1949. Soviet Air Force and Army officers and Enlisted Men were observed at the field. There was no flying. The guard at the gate wore blue epaulets. ...

Comment: There seem to have been no changes in the condition of the ADLERSHOF airfield since 5 August 1949. No air unit is stationed at this field. According to available information, an unidentified air force service unit is located there. The Li-2 aircraft continuously observed at the field are probably courier or transport aircraft of the Soviet army.

CIA report for the 2 September 1949

Six twin-eninge transport aircraft, probably DC-3s, were parked at the ADLERSHOF (N 53/Z 94) airfield. Another plane of the same type landed there at 2:30 p.m. Soviet Air Force soldiers and soldiers wearing red-bordered, black epaulets were observed at the field.

CIA report for the 8 September 1949

One twin-engine DC-3 and one U-2 biplane landed at the ADLERSHOF airfield at noon. No other aircraft were parked at the field ...

CIA report for the 20 September 1949

Five covered twin-engine transport aircraft were parked at the ADLERSHOF airfield. There was no flying.

CIA report for the 27 and 28 September 1949

Three twin-engine aircraft were parked at the ADLERSHOF airfield. Description: Eight windows in fuselage, detached cockpit, nose projecting beyond engines, single rudder assembly. A single-engine high-wing monoplane, similar to the Fieseler Storch, landed at the field on 28 September 1949. According to an airfield worker, some biplanes were parked in the hangars. The airfield personnel totaled about 50 air force officers and Enlisted Men.

The buildings on the southern edge of the airfield were occupied by Soviet Army troops.

The occupation of the ADLERSHOF airfield apparently has not changed since August 1949. According to previous reports, the airfield is occupied by a technical air force unit and an army unit. The observed transport aircraft are presumably assigned to the Soviet Army.