Hradčany Airport (in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

''Letiště Hradčany'', often ''Letiště Ralsko'') is a former military airport within the area of

Ralsko Ralsko () is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. It comprises area of the former military training area with Hradčany Air Base. Ralsko is the fourth largest municipality ...

Liberec Region Liberec Region () is an administrative unit (Czech language, Czech: ''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Liberec. The region shares international bor ...

, northern

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Built toward the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for the

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

, it was expanded after the war. In 1968 the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

took control and set up a large air base here. However, after the Soviets left in 1991, the airport was abandoned and it is now neglected and damaged.

History

The area was used for military training during

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

and during the

First Republic of Czechoslovakia The First Czechoslovak Republic, often colloquially referred to as the First Republic, was the first Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks. The country was commonly called Czechoslovakia a compou ...

. Since 1938 the area was controlled by the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

'' and used for training. In March 1945 the ''Wehrmacht'' built a field airport next to village Hradčany (''Kummer''). By April 1945 Stab and II./SG 2 of Luftwaffe's Schlachtgeschwader 2 were based here, while its I./SG 2 was in Austria, and III./SG 2 near Prague. The airport was also used by a wing of

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed (German for "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ("Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messers ...

at the end of the war, and later damaged by American bombing. After the war, German speaking inhabitants were expelled. On 30 October 1946 the

Czechoslovak Army The Czechoslovak Army (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá armáda'') was the name of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 following Czechoslovakia's declaration of independence from Austria-Hungary. History In t ...

closed up the area and established military base, later known as ''Military District Ralsko'' (''Vojenský újezd Ralsko''). In 1968, during the initial phases of Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, Soviet planes shipped military materiel through the airport. The whole base was handed over to the newly established

Central Group of Forces The Central Group of Forces (Russian: Центральная группа войск) was a formation of the Soviet Armed Forces used to incorporate Soviet troops in Central Europe on two occasions: in Austria and Hungary from 1945 to 1955 and tr ...

of the

Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

. To host the Soviet 236th bomber-fighter squadron and part of the 131st air division the airport runway was expanded to 2,800 meters (width 60 m, one of the largest in Central Europe) and completely covered with concrete. Over forty hardened hangars hosted about 44

Mig-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

fighters and

Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity transport helicopter, troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced ...

helicopters. Fuel tanks had capacity over 37,000 m³. Between 1945 and 1968 the Czechoslovak Air Force operated several regiments from Hradčany airfield: *46 Bomber Division (46 letecké bombardovací divize) between 1951 and 1955. *24 Bomber Regiment (24. letecký bombardovací pluk) between 1952 and 1954. *25 Bomber Regiment (25. letecký bombardovací pluk) between 1952 and 1954. *17 Fighter Regiment (17. stíhací letecký pluk) between 1955 and 1964. *26 Fighter Regiment (26. stíhací letecký pluk) between 1956 and 1958. *30 Fighter-Bomber Regiment (30. stíhací bombardovací letecký pluk) between 1958 and 1959. *2 Fighter-Bomber Regiment (2 stíhací bombardovací letecký pluk) between 1964 and 1968. Aircraft operated from the airfield included Arado Ar-96Bs, AS-11s, and MiG-15 (MiG-15, MiG-15bisR and MiG-15UTI).

Former airport

After the fall of the communist party from power in 1989, withdrawal of Soviet troops was negotiated in February 1990. The last soldier left the district in May 1991. The district lost its military status in the same year, was open to the public and on 1 January 1992 the village of Ralsko (area of 170 km², town since 2006) was established by joining of nine villages together. Between 1993 and 2004 the area was extensively cleaned up from chemical contamination and searched for unexploded ammunition. Soon after the airport was handed over to Czech authorities several projects has been proposed: setting up large cargo terminal here, to use it by

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

for engine tests, to attract a

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

or create a Czech Scout base for huge events such as a

jamboree In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts and/or Girl Guides who rally at a national or international level. History The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920, and was hosted by the United Kingdom. Since then, there have been t ...

. Due to unwillingness and inability of the authorities none of the plans has materialized. The state was unable even to provide protection of existing structures and these became target of vandals and looters and were completely devastated during the 1990s. The airport is now (without official certification) used by

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

clubs, for unorganized car races and for

rave parties A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance musi ...

. Newer plans propose to turn the location into a recreational area.

Notes

Literature

* Ladislav Lahoda: ''Průvodce bývalým vojenským prostorem Ralsko'' (''Guide through former military district Ralsko''), 2000, selfpublished. Shortened versio
online
(PDF).

External links

(in Czech) * Article about recent state of the airport
part 1part 2
collection o

(in Czech) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hradcany Airport Airports in the Czech Republic Former Soviet military air bases in Czech Republic Military installations closed in 1991 Česká Lípa District Buildings and structures in the Liberec Region 1991 disestablishments in Czechoslovakia