The most curious of the uses of German highways as military airstrips

@ElentirENG ES 3·22·2023 · 23:33 0

In addition to the song by Kraftwerk (one who is a fan of electronic music), the German "autobahn" are famous for having no tolls or speed limits.

Moncayo: an airplane graveyard in a Spanish mountain at more than 2,000 meters
Two of the best mountains in the world to see war planes flying at high speed

What many Germans and foreign tourists may not be aware of is the alternative use for which the German motorway network is prepared. In the Second World War, some sections were prepared for the landing and takeoff of planes, with the possibility of using some tunnels as improvised hangars. They were not used much, but already in the Cold War, the German Air Forces and other allied countries trained to be able to deploy their combat planes from these highways.

It must be said that West Germany was not the only country planning to use its highways as landing strips for military aircraft. In Europe, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USSR had motorway sections designated for the same purpose. Currently, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland and Sweden are still contemplating the use of highways as auxiliary runways for military aircraft.

Since the Cold War, in Germany these sections have been known as Notlandeplätze auf Straßen (Highway Emergency Landing Sites). In the country there are still 11 highway sections that are still active as auxiliary runways, in the sections of Schleswig/Jagel - Owschlag, Nordholz - Neuenwalde, Münster Nord, Büren - Geseke, Meckenheim - Bad, Kreuznach - Gau-Bickelheim, Osterburken - Möckmühl, Kirchberg - Crailsheim, Havelland - Falkensee, Storkow - Friedersdorf and Forst - Bademeusel.

Curiously, what is today the most important US military base, the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, was created from a section of highway that functioned as an auxiliary runway, and which the Army of the US took in its advance through that country at the end of World War II.

The Youtube channel of the Bundeswehr recovered a report from 1988 showing these auxiliary tracks on German highways (comments are in German, but automatic English subtitles can be activated in the bottom bar of the video):

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Lead photo: US Department of Defense. A US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft landing on Highway A-29 near Ahlhorn in Lower Saxony, Germany on March 28, 1984 during exercise "Highway 84".