Flugplatz Augsburg-Haunstetten, Former military airfield in Haunstetten district, Augsburg, Germany.
Flugplatz Augsburg-Haunstetten was Augsburg's first airfield, laid out south of the city centre on the Haunstetter Straße. It was a pure grass airfield without runways; from 1916 the Bayerische Rumpler-Werke built three production halls there, and the first Rumpler C 1 took off on 1 July 1917. The grounds now hold the University of Augsburg and Airbus Aerostructures.
The site dates from 25 November 1916, when Bayerische Rumpler-Werke AG began building three factory halls on land bought by the city. The first Rumpler C 1 took off on 1 July 1917. After 1918 Rumpler Luftverkehr flew passengers and mail, with the first civil arrival on 13 March 1919. Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG bought the halls in 1926; the US Army used the field until 1963, and the last plane left on 21 July 1968.
The site's name lives on in the Universitätsviertel, the district built from 1972 on the former airfield and named since 1979. Messerschmitt stayed at the location and now operates as Airbus Aerostructures GmbH. In early 1968, months before closure, the southern civil section served as a set for episode 22 of the crime series Die fünfte Kolonne.
The site has been largely converted for academic and industrial use, with modern infrastructure distributed across different zones. Visitors should note that some areas may have restricted access, so it is helpful to check in advance which parts of the grounds are open to the public.
On 10 May 1941 Rudolf Heß, Hitler's deputy, took off from this airfield in a long-range Messerschmitt Bf 110 bound for Britain and parachuted near Glasgow. The flight caused an uproar in the Reich; a current joke ran "Brauner Wellensittich entflogen. Abzugeben Reichskanzlei."
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