Gatow (), a district of south-western

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 ...

is located west of the ''Havelsee'' lake and has forested areas within its boundaries. It is within the borough of

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

. On 31 December 2002, it had 5,532 inhabitants.

History

Gatow's existence was first recorded in 1258 under the name of ''Gatho''. In 1558, the village of Gatow became part of

. Following the division of Berlin into four sectors at the end of the

Second World War 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 ...

, Gatow became part of the British sector of

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

in early July 1945.

Infrastructures

Today's General-Steinhoff-Kaserne was between 1934 and 1994 home to an airfield, first used by 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 ...

as a staff and technical college, ''Luftkriegsschule II'', and then by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and Army Air Corps as RAF Gatow. RAF Gatow has the unlikely distinction of having been home during the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...

to the only known operational use of

flying boats A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull (watercraft), hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for b ...

within central Europe, when the RAF used

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of ...

s to transport salt from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

to Berlin, landing on the ''Havelsee'' lake. The airfield was handed back to the Luftwaffe on 7 September 1994 and was kept in use as an airfield for a very short time, being closed to air traffic in 1995. It is now called General-Steinhoff-Kaserne and is home to some non-flying Luftwaffe units, and the Luftwaffen Museum der Bundeswehr. This is the museum of the Luftwaffe which has many displays (including historic aircraft) and much information on German military aviation and the history of the airfield. Admission to the museum is free, and full details of the museum and how to get there are on the museum's websit

The history of RAF Gatow and of western forces in Berlin from 1945 to 1994 is told in the ''Alliierten Museum'' ( Allied Museum

Also on the site of the former RAF station, but not part of ''General-Steinhoff-Kaserne'', is a school, the Hans-Carossa-Gymnasium, and houses for government employees of the

Federal Republic of 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 constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. This has been from 2003 part of the district of Berlin-Kladow.

References

External links

Gatow page on www.berlin.de

Gatow Volunteer Fire Brigade (in German)

Website of the Gatow branch
of the Christian Democratic Union (in German)
Luftwaffen Museum der Bundeswehr (official website)

West Alliierte in Berlin e.V.

The Hans-Carossa-Gymnasium (in German)

* ttp://www.alliiertenmuseum.de/ Alliierten Museum (The Allied Museum) - museum of the history of western forces in Berlin and Germany from 1945 to 1994 {{Authority control Localities of Berlin *