Herzogenaurach Airport is a regional airport in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, about north of

Herzogenaurach Herzogenaurach (; vmf, Herziaura) is a town in the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for being the home of the major international sporting goods companies Adidas and Puma, as well as the large car parts m ...

(Bavaria); about southwest of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

It supports

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

with no commercial airline service scheduled.

History

The

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

opened a fighter airfield in Herzogenaurach in 1936, the facility primarily an organizational and equipping facility, with the units moving out after being formed to their operational bases. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the airfield was assigned to the

Defense of the Reich The Defence of the Reich (german: Reichsverteidigung) is the name given to the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany over German-occupied Europe and Germany during World War II. Its aim was to prevent the d ...

campaign in 1943, with several

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

day and night interceptor units being assigned to the airfield. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref> American Army units moved into the Herzogenaurach area in mid-April 1945 during the Western Allied Invasion of Germany and seized the airfield on 18 April 1945 with little or no opposition. Combat engineers from the IX Engineering Command cleared wreckage and mines left by the retreating German forces and opened the airfield the next day as

Advanced Landing Ground Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 19 ...

"R-29".

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

transports immediately began using the airfield to fly in supplies to the advancing ground forces and to evacuate wounded to the rear areas. Eventually a pierced steel planking runway was laid down to support combat operations, however the war ended before any operations were flown from the field. With the German Capitulation on 7 May, the airfield was redesignated as Army Air Force Station Herzogenaurach and for the next year was used by the 354th Fighter Group as an occupation Garrison, being joined in June by the

320th Bombardment Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

also performing occupation duty. The Air Force units moved out in February 1946, the facility being turned over to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as part of their garrison in the Nürnberg Military Area. The airfield was renamed as Herzo-Base and until 1992, used the facility primarily as a radar station. The American forces pulled out of Herzogenaurach in 1992 as part of the drawdown of forces after the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, and the facility was returned to the German Government. After the pullout, a new civil airport was built primarily for use by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

, which moved its headquarters back into Herzogenaurach. The vacant military facilities were torn down and redeveloped into an extension of the company's headquarters.

References

Adidas press release, Herzo-Base History

External links

* {{authority control Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Germany Airports established in 1936 Herzo