{"id":50910,"date":"2023-03-22T23:33:38","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T22:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=50910"},"modified":"2024-03-22T00:07:18","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T23:07:18","slug":"the-most-curious-of-the-uses-of-german-highways-as-military-airstrips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/03\/22\/the-most-curious-of-the-uses-of-german-highways-as-military-airstrips\/","title":{"rendered":"The most curious of the uses of German highways as military airstrips"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

Moncayo: an airplane graveyard in a Spanish mountain at more than 2,000 meters<\/a><\/rel>
\nTwo of the best mountains in the world to see war planes flying at high speed<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

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<\/strong>, 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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German Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighters hidden along the Munich-Salzburg highway in Germany in 1945, at the end of World War II (Photo: Asisbiz<\/a>).<\/div>\n

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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft taxiing down highway A-29 near Ahlhorn in Lower Saxony, Germany on March 28, 1984 during exercise \"Highway 84\" (Photo: US Department of Defense).<\/div>\n

Since the Cold War, in Germany these sections have been known as Notlandepl\u00e4tze auf Stra\u00dfen<\/em><\/strong> (Highway Emergency Landing Sites). In the country there are still 11 highway sections that are still active as auxiliary runways<\/strong>, in the sections of Schleswig\/Jagel - Owschlag, Nordholz - Neuenwalde, M\u00fcnster Nord, B\u00fcren - Geseke, Meckenheim - Bad, Kreuznach - Gau-Bickelheim, Osterburken - M\u00f6ckm\u00fchl, Kirchberg - Crailsheim, Havelland - Falkensee, Storkow - Friedersdorf and Forst - Bademeusel.<\/p>\n

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A German Luftwaffe Panavia Tornado IDS attack aircraft taxiing on highway A-29 near Ahlhorn in Lower Saxony, Germany on March 28, 1984 during exercise \"Highway 84\" (Photo: US Department of Defense).<\/div>\n

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<\/strong>, and which the Army of the US took in its advance through that country at the end of World War II.<\/p>\n

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