Wenzendorf is a municipality in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

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 ...

. It is also the name of the chief village of the municipality. The area is known mainly for the airfield near the village, where the

Hamburger Flugzeugbau ''Hamburger Flugzeugbau'' (HFB) was an aircraft manufacturer, located primarily in the Finkenwerder quarter of Hamburg, Germany. Established in 1933 as an offshoot of Blohm & Voss shipbuilders, it later became an operating division within its pare ...

, the aircraft manufacturing arm of

Blohm & Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

, built a factory during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Municipality

Wenzendorf is a municipality in the

district of Harburg,

. Its five main villages are Wenzendorf, Wennerstorf, Klauenburg, Dierstorf and Dierstorf-Heide. Wenzendorf is the largest

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

growing area in northern Germany.

Wenzendorf village

The village of Wenzendorf lies approximately 25 km southwest of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. It has a population of a little over 1,000.

Airfield

Wenzendorf airfield lies about 2 km to the southeast of the main

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

Aircraft factory

In 1934,

began construction of its first dedicated aircraft factory at Wenzendorf and laid out a large aerodrome for test flying. The factory began operation in 1935, license-building the Dornier Do 23, the first of which flew in December 1935. Not long afterwards the company adopted its parent company's name of

Blohm and Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

, by which it is chiefly remembered. A great many aircraft were assembled at Wenzendorf throughout the war period, mostly under sub-contract to other manufacturers. They included: * Dornier Do 23 * Dornier Do 17 * Junkers W 34 *

Junkers Ju 86 The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by various air forces on both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry ten passengers. Two were delivered to S ...

* Junkers Ju 88 *

Blohm & Voss BV 141 The Blohm & Voss BV 141 was a World War II German tactical reconnaissance aircraft, notable for its uncommon structural asymmetry. Although the Blohm & Voss BV 141 performed well, it was never ordered into full-scale production, for reasons tha ...

prototypes and pre-production batches * Blohm & Voss BV 155 prototypes * Blohm & Voss BV 40 prototypes *

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 ...

* Messerschmitt Bf 110 * Messerschmitt Me 210 *

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the Germa ...

On 6 October 1944 the plant was severely damaged in a

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

raid by the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, and three months later was almost completely destroyed in a second attack.

Modern use

Today, the airfield is much reduced in size. It has a single grass

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

of 750m length and is home to the Airbus HFB

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...

club. Some of the old factory buildings have been converted to a retirement home.Eighth Air Force Historical Society
/ref>

References

{{Portal bar, Germany Harburg (district)