Cycling Highlight
Recommended by 49 out of 53 cyclists
Location: Lahntal, Gießen District, Hesse, Germany
The reception building has two full floors and a striking stair tower in the middle. Unfortunately, in the 55 years it was owned by the US Army, it was not maintained and was close to decay.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flughafen_Gie%C3%9Fen
November 8, 2020
The old airport has been renovated. For a long time it was not attainable because it was in the middle of the American area. Now it should be an event location.
May 3, 2020
Gießen Airport was initially built as a commercial airport in Gießen-Wieseck in 1925 on a site measuring 41 hectares and opened on July 5, 1925 in the presence of the famous aircraft manufacturer Hugo Junkers. The airport was run by “Luftverkehrs AG Oberhessen-Lahngau (Oblag)”. This offered flights to Frankfurt, and later also to Kassel and Hanover. In 1927 the reception building was built in the Bauhaus style, which also contained a restaurant. Additional operational buildings were added. From the restaurant terrace a wide staircase led down to the airfield. The runway was not paved. It consisted of an 1100 x 750 meter runway.
The last civilian passenger traffic took place in 1936 and the airport area was expanded into a military airfield with extended take-off/landing options, i.e. there was no take-off or landing strip in the true sense. The entire runway was grassy and could therefore be approached from all directions.
After the field was connected to the Vogelsbergbahn, the Luftwaffe's Combat Squadron 55 “Greif” was stationed here. Heinkel He 111, Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 aircraft were stationed here.
After the war, the US Army took over the site and established the army's own consumer goods supply chain AAFES here. In 2015, the remaining area of approximately 200 hectares was returned to the city of Giessen.
The city and federal government initially built residential buildings here on behalf of the Office for Migration with space for up to 5,000 refugees.
After a long effort, the Berlin company Revicon was able to be won over to build residential and industrial buildings on the site. The listed reception building was largely structurally restored and a neighboring building was also built in the same Bauhaus style.
March 9, 2024
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