The Johannisthal Air Field, located southeast of central

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 ...

, between Johannisthal and

Adlershof Adlershof (, literally "Eagle's Court") is a locality (') in the Boroughs of Berlin, borough (') Treptow-Köpenick of Berlin, Germany. Adlershof is home to the new City of Science, Technology and Media (WISTA), located on the southwestern edge of ...

, was Germany's first commercial airfield. It opened on 26 September 1909, a few weeks after the world's first airfield at

Rheims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, France.

Overview

Known as the birthplace of heavier-than-air flight 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 ...

, Johannistal was Berlin's primary airport until the Tempelhofer Field was developed in the 1920s. It was the first commercial airfield (and second overall) to be established in Germany, after Griesheim Airport in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

. Johannistal was the field from which Germany's first commercial flights took off. Numerous aviation pioneers operated workshops there, including

Anthony Fokker Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer, aviation entrepreneur, aircraft designer, and aircraft manufacturer. He produced fighter aircraft in Germany during the First World War such ...

Amelie Beese Amelie Hedwig Boutard-Beese (13 September 1886 – 22 December 1925), also known as Melli Beese, was the first female German pilot, and airplane engineer women in aviation, female aviator. Early life Amelie Hedwig Beese was born in Dresden ...

, the first German woman to earn a pilot's license, trained there. Later, the area became known as

, 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 The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

as a military training ground; while the

Academy of Sciences of the GDR The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, , in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent research institution of East Germany (German Democratic Republic, GDR). The acad ...

(with 14 natural science-technical institutions and six service centres) employed approximately 5,500 scientists and technicians. Following the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

, some of these research institutions were taken over by West German institutions, along with about 1,400 of the employees. Today, the Johannisthal field is a major urban development associated with the Berlin-Adlershof City of Science and Technology. By 2003, plans were made to build a new district on the 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,

Deutscher Fernsehfunk Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF; German for "German Television Broadcasting") was the state television broadcaster in the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) from 1952 to 1991. DFF produced free-to-air terrestrial television programmin ...

, 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 1920s and 1930s by the German Experimental Institute for Aviation (Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt – DVL, the ancestor of today's DLR), are historical landmarks of the

Aerodynamic Park The Aerodynamic Park () of the Humboldt University in Berlin-Adlershof was once part of the German Johannisthal Air Field. Laboratories, motor test beds, wind tunnels and hangars, erected in the 20s and 30s, are historical landmarks of the Aerod ...

today. Approximately of the former runway areas were converted into a protected green space.

Accidents

The 1913 Johannisthal Air Disaster happened close to the air field, killing all 28 passengers.
The German astronaut

Reinhard Furrer Reinhard Alfred Furrer (25 November 1940 – 9 September 1995) was a German physicist and astronaut. Furrer was born in Wörgl, Ostmark (now Austria). After the end of World War II, his father was expelled from Austria. The family found a ne ...

died on September 9, 1995, during a historic flight show.

References

External links

Johannisthal Air Field official website
{{authority control Aviation history of Berlin Defunct airports in Germany Airports in Berlin Buildings and structures in Treptow-Köpenick