Easter 2022: The gems of Grossenhain town and its airfield

I took a train from Dresden back to Grossenhain where my OY-9797 was waiting for me all those days.

The railway station building in Grossenhain was quite nice:

It was my intention to see the town of Grossenhain before going to the airport, and I walked down to the Market Square. Grossenhain was first mentioned in 1205, and the structure of the late medieval town center has been preserved to this day:

Beautiful Diana (The Greek Goddess of hunt) fountain on the Market Square:

I actually came to the town to see that one orange building on the photo below, and hoped very much to get inside, but everything was closed due to Easter holidays.

That building houses the Karl Preusker library. Preusker and his friends opened a public library already in 1828. It was the first public library in all of Germany! That historical building is adjacent to the remains of the late Gothic monastery church with pillar fragments into the street of Poststrasse:

It was time to go to the airport. And how do you think you get a taxi in Grossenhain? Well, you go to the taxi office, of course! I went in – there was nobody, but a sign in German (which I don’t speak) explained something about a button further on the wall. I guessed I was supposed to press it. Someone who didn’t speak English answered, but we understood each other, and in 5 minutes a taxi arrived.

I dropped my bags at the tower and went exploring.

I met that gorgeous Platzer Kiebitz on a taxiway on my arrival. We waved to each other, and I hoped that later I would get a chance to see the aircraft. And there it was, standing by its hangar:

It is actually a modern biplane, though it might look like the one from the early days of aviation. The prototype of this aircraft flew for the first time in 1986, and it is available to the amateur builders in kit form. The first one built was registered in 2003 in Germany.

Grossenhain used to be a military airfield since 1913, when the first air base was founded there. The most famous fighter pilot, “The Red Baron” Manfred von Richthofen, learned to fly during the First World War in Grossenhain. A total of around 60,000 men were trained in Grossenhain by 1918.

From 1934, a Luftwaffe airbase was established there, and gigantic hangars were built. In May 1945, Soviet troops occupied the site and used it as a base for several fighter pilot units in the last days of the Second World War. The Triple Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Pokryschkin was stationed with his unit in Grossenhain for a short time.

After the end of the GDR in 1990 and the subsequent withdrawal of the Soviet armed forces from Germany, the conversion of the airfield to further civilian use began. Today, there are flying clubs and flying schools, and many people come by to see different aircraft, either vintage ones on display or flying, or new modern ones.

There is still a number of old military stuff in Grossenhain, like this Mil Mi-24D “Hind-D”, an attack helicopter, left from the Soviet times:

There used to be an aviation museum in Grossenhain airport, but unfortunately it was closed down. Let’s hope there will be money for it in the future, so that the history will not be forgotten.

MIG-21 SPS, a German jet fighter, and an SS-75, Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system:

No airfield in Germany without a good old Antonov An-2! This one was preparing for a flight:

I soon said goodbye to Bernd, the air traffic controller, who was so helpful answering my questions by e-mail, refuelling on arrival, and other practical things:

My next destination was Stendal, a small town between Hannover and Berlin:

I was glad flying north, and not having to face that strong direct sunlight again 🙂

New discoveries were waiting ahead!