Fürth Airfield is a former military airfield located in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

about 2 miles north-northeast of the city center of

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is the Franconia#Towns and cities, s ...

in the neighborhood "Atzenhof"; approximately 200 miles south-southwest of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. During the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

it served as the principal civil aviation hub of the

Nuremberg metropolitan region The Nuremberg Metropolitan Region comprises 3.5 million people on 21,800 square kilometers. With a gross domestic product of 134 billion euros and about 1.9 million employees, this metropolitan region is one of the strongest economic areas in Ger ...

. The airport was renamed from "Flughafen Fürth-Nürnberg" to "Flughafen Nürnberg-Fürth" to indicate the relative importance of the two cities (the population of Nuremberg is about five times that of Fürth) and because the municipal government of Nuremberg had by then taken over the majority of the (money-losing) operation. Nonetheless, all throughout the Weimar Republic, the city of Fürth tried to get rid of the financial burden and the city of Nuremberg looked for a suitable site to build an airport in Nuremberg proper – something which only came to fruition shortly after the Nazi takeover in 1933 with the opening of Marienberg Airport In

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

there was a training center of the Royal Bavarian Air Force (part of the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

). In the 1920s it was the first international airport of the cities Nürnberg and Fürth. The importance of the airport increased further when Junkers transferred first its central repair workshop, and then the final assembly line for its F-13 and G-24 aircraft from Dessau to Fürth. In 1935 it was again openly used for military purposes by the newly created

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 ...

. Subsequently the airfield was used during

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 ...

by the German Luftwaffe as a combat airfield. It was seized in early April 1945 by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and used as a

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...

combat airfield until the end of the war in Europe. Afterwards the "Army Airfield Station Fürth" was established here, being closed in June 1947. Then it became " Monteith-Barracks" of the US Army till it was closed in 1993. Today, the airfield is abandoned and parts of the facility remain undeveloped as a relic – some of the former airport buildings are

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s. A

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

now covers parts of the former airport grounds. P-47-44-200284-404fs-371fg

About 2 km south of this Airfield there was the so-called "Industrieflughafen" In 1919 there was a factory of the

Gothaer Waggonfabrik ''Gothaer Waggonfabrik'' (''Gotha'', GWF) was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building. World War I In World War I, Go ...

and in the late 1930s it was the airport of the Bachmann von Bluhmenthal Company (Industrieflughafen Fürth). Here till 1945 Bf 110s where build, repaired and converted into Nightfighters. At the end of the war it became Army Airfield R-30, then it became Nürnberg auxiliary International Airport till 1955 when the new Nürnberg International Airport was finished. Today it is completely overbuilt and known as the Hardhöhe. A small plaque in the access tunnel to the subway station Fürth Hardhöhe station is the only visible reminder of that airport today.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Furth Airfield Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Germany Military airbases established in 1939 Airports in Bavaria Defunct airports in Germany

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