Böblingen Airport (german: Flughafen Böblingen) was built in the mid-1920s for the city of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

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 ...

. Bordered by Calwer Straße (K1073) and the E41, it lies northwest of

Böblingen Böblingen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Beblenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was found ...

and south of the

Daimler Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to: People * Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies * Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler * Paul Da ...

factory in

Sindelfingen Sindelfingen ( Swabian: ''Sendlfenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg in south Germany. It lies near Stuttgart at the headwaters of the Schwippe (a tributary of the river Würm), and is home to a Mercedes-Benz assembly plant. History * 1155 � ...

. An aircraft industry developed around this airfield, which was used by the military during the

Second World War 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 ...

. On September 1, 1939 the airbase was the home station for the I/JG 52 (1st Group of Jagdgeschwader 52) which was flying the Bf109 E-1 fighter aircraft. On that day its strength was 39 aircraft.

Post-war history

After the Second World War, the airfield was transferred to US Armed Forces, which used it as a maintenance facility and heliport until the mid-1990s.Military Airfield Directory: Böblingen Maint Fac AHP
/ref> During this period, in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, its

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

was used to stage

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

s. In the 1950s and 1960s the airport was the home base of the Boeblingen FlugSport Gruppe. This group was very active in light general aviation and gliding. The airfield has fallen into disrepair since the mid-1990s and many of its buildings were demolished once the

armory Armory or armoury may mean: * An arsenal, a military or civilian location for the storage of arms and ammunition Places *National Guard Armory, in the United States and Canada, a training place for National Guard or other part-time or regular mili ...

was cleaned up. The old control tower, some hangars and some miscellaneous buildings still exist. New building projects are, however, being planned for the area and the airfield is now called Böblingen/Sindelfingen Airfield (german: Flugfeld Böblingen/Sindelfingen). HarfenbrückeBöblingen-pjt

In 2009 the old control tower was converted into a hotel, and the hangars are now part of Motorworld Stuttgart (formerly known as Meilenwerk Stuttgart), an automobile museum.http://www.motorworld.de/stuttgart/, official site, in German.

References

External links

* * Luftwaffe bases Defunct airports in Germany Buildings and structures in Böblingen Airports in Baden-Württemberg {{Germany-airport-stub