Preschen is a former

military airfield An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

of the

Air Forces of the National People's Army The Air Forces of the National People's Army (german: Luftstreitkräfte der Nationalen Volksarmee; LSK) was the Air Force of East Germany. As with the , the , and the Border Troops, it was a military branch of the National People's Army (NVA). ...

. It is located in the municipality Neisse-Malxetal in southern

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

, between the districts Jocksdorf, Preschen and the large community Schackendorf (municipality Groß Schacksdorf). Created in 1934 as ''Flugplatz Jocksdorf'', the site was used for the first time as a gliding and intermediate landing site from 1937/38 to 1945. After it was captured by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

on April 20, 1945, it was briefly used by Soviet fighter pilots, after which the site was used for agriculture. The actual airfield was built in 1953-54 and used from 1955 to 1990 and gradually expanded. A prefabricated housing estate was built as a residential zone in the nearby village Groß Schacksdorf (´''Groß Schacksdorf-Ost''). By December 1956, the LSK/LV had established Fliegergeschwader 3 at the airfield, an air defence wing subordinate to the

1st Air Defence Division First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

. This unit later became Jagdfliegergeschwader 3 (JG-3, English: Fighter Wing 3) flying

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 w ...

MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-19; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was the ...

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...

fighters and later

MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the Mi ...

s. The JG-3 was the only East German unit flying MiG-19 and MiG-29. In 1974, Taktische Aufklärungsfliegerstaffel 47 (Tactical reconnaissance squadron 47)(TAFS-47) also began operating at Preschen. In 1989, Preschen had a radio beacon of the Soviet type RSBN. In each of the two approach directions two Non-directional beacons and the landing system PRMG were available. In addition, there was an

Airport surveillance radar An airport surveillance radar (ASR) is a radar system used at airports to detect and display the presence and position of aircraft in the ''terminal area'', the airspace around airports. It is the main air traffic control system for the airspace ...

and a

Precision approach radar Precision approach radar (PAR) is a type of radar guidance system designed to provide lateral and vertical guidance to an aircraft pilot for landing, until the landing threshold is reached. Controllers monitoring the PAR displays observe each airc ...

. The military radio callsign was KOSEL.''Verzeichnis 012 - Flugnavigationsinformationen der Flugplätzen der NVA und der Grenztruppen der DDR'', Kommando der Luftstreitkräfte und Luftverteidigung 1989 (Geheime Verschlussschsache C1 184 400) (East German military aeronautical manual, formerly "Secret") After the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with ad ...

military flying at the airfield continued, but eventually ceased as some of the approach routes for takeoff and landing were partially over Polish territory. From 1999 to 2003 there was a techno club, Club K, located in an aircraft hangar on the base. Today the place is run by the company POINT 36, which offers various meeting facilities there. The airport had a 2500 Dash-meter and 80 meter wide runway. Airport canceled - photovoltaic power plant is there (between 2015-18, according to aerial maps).

References

Further reading