Johannisthal Air Field
Encyclopedia
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, between Johannisthal
Johannisthal (Berlin)
Johannisthal is a German locality within the Berlin borough of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Treptow.-History:The first mention of the locality was on November 16, 1753...
and Adlershof
Adlershof
-External links:*...
, was Germany's
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
first airfield. It opened on 26 September 1909, a few weeks after the world's first airfield at Rheims, France .
Overview
Known as the birthplace of heavier-than-air flight in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Johannistal was Berlin's primary airport until the Tempelhofer Field
Tempelhof International Airport
Berlin Tempelhof Airport was an airport in Berlin, Germany, situated in the south-central borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. The airport ceased operating in 2008 in the process of establishing Schönefeld as the sole commercial airport for Berlin....
was developed in the 1920s.
Johannistal was the field from which Germany's first commercial flights took off; and numerous aviation pioneers operated workshops there, including Anthony Fokker
Anthony Fokker
Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker was a Dutch aviation pioneer and an aircraft manufacturer. He is most famous for the fighter aircraft he produced in Germany during the First World War such as the Eindecker monoplanes, the Fokker Triplane the and the Fokker D.VII, but after the collapse of...
.
Later the area became known as Adlershof
Adlershof
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, and before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, it was closed to the public. The former airport was used by the National People's Army
National People's Army
The National People’s Army were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic .The NVA was established in 1956 and disestablished in 1990. There were frequent reports of East German advisors with Communist African countries during the Cold War...
as a military training ground; while the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (with 14 natural science-technical institutions and six service centres) employed approximately 5,500 scientists and technicians.
Following the reunification of Germany
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, some of these research institutions were taken over by West German institutions, along with about 1,400 of the employees.
The Johannisthal field is today a major urban development, the Berlin-Adlershof City of Science and Technology. By 2003 a new district will be built on the 4.20 square kilometre property. The area will accommodate high-tech industries, science and research institutes and a congress centre, as well as a sport and recreation centre. The former home of the East German TV (DFF) will be transformed into a media centre. In total, there will be 30,000 jobs and housing for 15,000 people.
Laboratories, motor test beds, wind tunnels and hangars, erected in the 20s and 30s by the German Experimental Institute for Aviation (Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt – DVL), are historical landmarks of the Aerodynamic Park
Aerodynamic Park
The Aerodynamic Park of the Humboldt University in Berlin-Adlershof was once part of the German Johannisthal Air Field....
today. The runways are part of a new green biotop.
Accidents
The 1913 Johannisthal Air DisasterJohannisthal Air Disaster
The Johannisthal Air Disaster involved one of the first multiple fatality air disasters in history. It involved the Imperial German Navy's L-2 airship manufactured by Zeppelin as the LZ 18. It's test flight resulted in the death of all 28 passengers and crew on board...
happened close to the air field, killing all 28 passengers.