Trier-Föhren Airport
Encyclopedia
Trier-Föhren Airport is an airport
serving Trier
, a city in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It located in Föhren
, 8 NM northeast of Trier
and approximately 340 miles (547 km) southwest of Berlin
. The airport supports general aviation
, with no commercial airline service available. Charter services and a full selection of amenities are available.
The current airport is a recent facility, opened in 1977, built on the site of the historic Trier Airfield built in the early 20th Century.
. During the war, it was used as a Zeppelin
Airbase. A Zeppelin from Trier bombed Paris
on 21 March 1915. In addition to the Zeppelins, several combat aircraft squadrons of the Luftstreitkräfte
(Imperial German Army Air Service) were stationed at Trier Airdrome. After the 1918 Armistice with Germany
, the airfield was designated as an occupation area for the United States Army Air Service
and many German aircraft were surrendered to the Americans there.
After the Armistice, several American Aero Squadrons moved into the airfield for occupation and disarming duty. Known units assigned were:
By the beginning of June, the occupation duty ended for the Americans. Under the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles
, the Rhineland
became a demilitarized zone administered by Great Britain
and France
jointly and Trier Airfield was closed. The last Allied troops left the area in 1930.
was brought into existence. The airfield was reopened by the Nazi Government, but due to its close proximity to the French border, the airfield was used for light non-military aircraft. In 1938 or 1939, some reserve units of the Luftwaffe were briefly stationed at the airfield, but no combat units were assigned.
When World War II
broke out with France on 3 September 1939, Trier Airfield was placed on alert, but no Luftwaffe aircraft were assigned until May 1940, during the buildup of German forces prior to the Battle of France
. The following known units were assigned to the airfield in May:
All of these units took part in the ensuring combat in France during May and June 1940, and moving west into France. By mid-July, all of the combat units had moved out, and Trier airfield was unused for several years.
As Allied forces moved east from France in late 1944, the airfield was attacked on several occasions by Ninth Air Force
B-26 Marauder
medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt
s to deny the Luftwaffe use of the facility while the ground forces moved into Germany, crossing the Siegfried Line
. The Trier area was the scene of heavy combat between the German Forces and Allies and they pushed east into the Rhineland as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany. Finally in late February, the American Third Army captured the airfield.
"Y-57 Trier". Trier Airfield was the first operational American airfield in Occupied Germany.
Trier Airfield's primary use by the Americans was for combat resupply and casualty evacuation, being used largely by C-47 Skytrain
transports from the day it was opened until the end of the war in May. It was also used by the Ninth Air Force
10th Reconnaissance Group until early April, flying photo-reconnaissance missions with P-38 Lightning
s (F-4) and P-51 Mustang
s (F-5).
With the end of the war, Trier Airfield was closed on 10 July 1945.
moved in to garrison the facility. The airfield became a Displaced Persons camp during 1945 and early 1946, holding civilians from many countries of Europe as the continent slowly recovered from the ravages of war.
United States Army forces moved out of Trier in the late summer of 1945, as French forces moved into the Rhineland as part of their occupation zone of Germany. With the establishment of NATO in 1949, Headquarters, 4th Allied Tactical Air Force (4 ATAF) was established at what became "Trier Air Base" about 1950. The wartime damaged airfield was removed as part of the postwar reconstruction, and new buildings for the NATO facility were erected at the base. The NATO facility closed on 30 November 1957 after 4 ATAF was moved to Ramstein Air Base
to consolidate command facilities with the USAF.
Today, the industrial park next to the current-day airport is the current use of Trier Air Base.
of 665 feet (203 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway
designated 05/23 with a concrete
surface measuring 1200 by 30 m (3,937 by 98.4 ).
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
serving Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, a city in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
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...
. It located in Föhren
Föhren
Föhren is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
, 8 NM northeast of Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
and approximately 340 miles (547 km) southwest of Berlin
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...
. The airport supports general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
, with no commercial airline service available. Charter services and a full selection of amenities are available.
The current airport is a recent facility, opened in 1977, built on the site of the historic Trier Airfield built in the early 20th Century.
World War I
An Airdrome at Trier opened prior to World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. During the war, it was used as a Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
Airbase. A Zeppelin from Trier bombed Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 21 March 1915. In addition to the Zeppelins, several combat aircraft squadrons of the Luftstreitkräfte
Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte , known before October 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , or simply Die Fliegertruppen, was the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I...
(Imperial German Army Air Service) were stationed at Trier Airdrome. After the 1918 Armistice with Germany
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
, the airfield was designated as an occupation area for the United States Army Air Service
United States Army Air Service
The Air Service, United States Army was a forerunner of the United States Air Force during and after World War I. It was established as an independent but temporary wartime branch of the War Department by two executive orders of President Woodrow Wilson: on May 24, 1918, replacing the Aviation...
and many German aircraft were surrendered to the Americans there.
After the Armistice, several American Aero Squadrons moved into the airfield for occupation and disarming duty. Known units assigned were:
- 1st Aero Squadron, 6 December 1918-21 January 1919
- 9th Aero Squadron, 5 December 1918-18 May 1919
- 12th Aero Squadron, 6–30 December 1918
- 48th Aero Squadron, 2 December 1918-January 1919
- 49th Aero Squadron, 5 January-17 April 1919
- 91st Aero Squadron, 4 December 1918-3 January 1919
- 88th Aero Squadron, 6 December 1918-1 June 1919
By the beginning of June, the occupation duty ended for the Americans. Under the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
became a demilitarized zone administered by Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
jointly and Trier Airfield was closed. The last Allied troops left the area in 1930.
Luftwaffe use in World War II
In 1935, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the LuftwaffeLuftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
was brought into existence. The airfield was reopened by the Nazi Government, but due to its close proximity to the French border, the airfield was used for light non-military aircraft. In 1938 or 1939, some reserve units of the Luftwaffe were briefly stationed at the airfield, but no combat units were assigned.
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out with France on 3 September 1939, Trier Airfield was placed on alert, but no Luftwaffe aircraft were assigned until May 1940, during the buildup of German forces prior to the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
. The following known units were assigned to the airfield in May:
- Jagdgeschwader 53Jagdgeschwader 53Jagdgeschwader 53 Pik-As was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. It operated in Western Europe and in the Mediterranean.Jagdgeschwader 53 - or as it was better known, the "Pik As" Geschwader - was one of the oldest German fighter units of World War II with its origins going back to 1937...
(JG 53), Messerschmitt Bf 109Messerschmitt Bf 109The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
E - Jagdgeschwader 52Jagdgeschwader 52Jagdgeschwader 52 of the Luftwaffe, was the most successful fighter-wing of all time, with a claimed total of more than 10,000 victories over enemy aircraft during World War II. It was the unit of the top three scoring Fighter aces of all time, Erich Hartmann, Gerhard Barkhorn and Günther Rall...
(JG 52), Messerschmitt Bf 109Messerschmitt Bf 109The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
E - Lehrgeschwader 1Lehrgeschwader 1Lehrgeschwader 1 formerly Lehrgeschwader Greifswald was a Luftwaffe multi-purpose unit during World War II, operating fighter, bomber and dive-bomber Gruppen. The unit was formed in July 1936...
(LG 1), Messerschmitt Bf 110Messerschmitt Bf 110The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten...
C/D - Zerstörergeschwader 1Zerstörergeschwader 1Zerstörergeschwader 1 or ZG 1 was a Luftwaffe heavy/destroyer Fighter Aircraft-wing of World War II.-History:...
(ZG 1), Messerschmitt Bf 110Messerschmitt Bf 110The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten...
C/D - Zerstörergeschwader 76Zerstörergeschwader 76Zerstörergeschwader 76 or ZG 76 was a Luftwaffe heavy/destroyer Fighter Aircraft-wing of World War II.-History:...
(ZG 76), Messerschmitt Bf 110Messerschmitt Bf 110The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten...
C/D - Kampfgeschwader 2Kampfgeschwader 2Kampfgeschwader 2 " Holzhammer " was a Luftwaffe bomber unit during the Second World War. The unit was formed in May 1939. The unit operated the Dornier Do 17 light bomber, Dornier Do 217 and Junkers Ju 188 heavy bombers....
(KG 2), Dornier Do 17Dornier Do 17The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
Z
All of these units took part in the ensuring combat in France during May and June 1940, and moving west into France. By mid-July, all of the combat units had moved out, and Trier airfield was unused for several years.
As Allied forces moved east from France in late 1944, the airfield was attacked on several occasions by Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
B-26 Marauder
B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
s to deny the Luftwaffe use of the facility while the ground forces moved into Germany, crossing the Siegfried Line
Siegfried Line
The original Siegfried line was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916–1917 in northern France during World War I...
. The Trier area was the scene of heavy combat between the German Forces and Allies and they pushed east into the Rhineland as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany. Finally in late February, the American Third Army captured the airfield.
American wartime use
Combat engineers from IX Engineer command moved in with the 825th Engineering Aviation Battalion arriving on 6 March 1945 to repair the damaged airfield. Pierced Steel Planking was laid down over the damaged concrete runway, making it usable for American combat aircraft. In addition, the engineers began clearing the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft, and repairing operational facilities for use by American aircraft. On 10 March the airfield was declared ready for Allied use and was designated as Advanced Landing GroundAdvanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...
"Y-57 Trier". Trier Airfield was the first operational American airfield in Occupied Germany.
Trier Airfield's primary use by the Americans was for combat resupply and casualty evacuation, being used largely by C-47 Skytrain
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
transports from the day it was opened until the end of the war in May. It was also used by the Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
10th Reconnaissance Group until early April, flying photo-reconnaissance missions with P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
s (F-4) and P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
s (F-5).
With the end of the war, Trier Airfield was closed on 10 July 1945.
Postwar use
When the USAAF closed the airfield in July 1945, occupation forces from the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
moved in to garrison the facility. The airfield became a Displaced Persons camp during 1945 and early 1946, holding civilians from many countries of Europe as the continent slowly recovered from the ravages of war.
United States Army forces moved out of Trier in the late summer of 1945, as French forces moved into the Rhineland as part of their occupation zone of Germany. With the establishment of NATO in 1949, Headquarters, 4th Allied Tactical Air Force (4 ATAF) was established at what became "Trier Air Base" about 1950. The wartime damaged airfield was removed as part of the postwar reconstruction, and new buildings for the NATO facility were erected at the base. The NATO facility closed on 30 November 1957 after 4 ATAF was moved to Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation...
to consolidate command facilities with the USAF.
Today, the industrial park next to the current-day airport is the current use of Trier Air Base.
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevationElevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
of 665 feet (203 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
designated 05/23 with a concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
surface measuring 1200 by 30 m (3,937 by 98.4 ).
See also
- Advanced Landing Ground