Zerbst: Air Base

Аэродром Цербст

For historical information only, do not use for navigation or aviation purposes!
CoordinatesN520000 E0120845 (WGS84) Google Maps
Elevation 269 ft
Former East Germany (GDR)District of Magdeburg
Federal stateSachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt)
Location indicatorEDUZ
Map with location of Zerbst Air Base, Germany
Germany during the Cold War Map
The history of the Cold War airfields: Zerbst

Location of airfield

About 5 km northeast of the center of Zerbst.

During World War II

Use

Luftwaffe air base.

Situation

Zerbst Air Base in World War II on a US map from 1943
Source: McMaster University Library Digital Archive, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 CC BY-NC 2.5 CA

Overview

Zerbst airfield on a US map from 1952
Source: AMS M841 GSGS 4414, Courtesy Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University

During the Cold War

Use

Soviet air base.

In the 1950s

Units

Units in 1954
  • Headquarters Soviet fighter division
  • Soviet fighter regiment (P. O. Box of the technical unit: 62 512),
  • Soviet reconnaissance regiment with Ilyushin Il-10
  • A total of 20 MiG-15/MiG-15U were counted at the airfield.
Source: BND/Bundesarchiv B 206/3033
(For the P. O. Box numbers the digits 3 and 5 may be confused, because they are difficult to distinguish in the source document)

In the 1960s

Overview

Satellite image 03 May 1969
Zerbst Airfield, Germany, on a satellite image 1965
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Satellite image 06 February 1969
In comparison with the 1965 image, the following changes are visible:
  • Extension of the central flight line to the west
  • Redesign of the area south of the runway
  • There are more aircraft revetments recognizable
  • Construction of the ammunition depot in the northwest
  • Redesign of the dump in the middle of the field on the north side
  • Construction of a SAM site approx. 6 km west of the airfield
Zerbst Air Base, Germany, on a US satellite image 1969
1: Air base; 2: inner radio beacon east; 3: outer radio beacon east; 4: inner radio beacon west; 5: surface-to-air missile (SAM) site; 6: training area. Places: Bone, Bonitz, Bornum, Pulspforde, Straguth, Strinum, Trüben, Zerbst.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Zerbst aerodrome, Germany
1: Airfield; 2: inner radio beacon east; 3: inner radio beacon west; 4: railway siding from Lindau.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Ammunition depot Zerbst airfield, Germany
Northern part of the field with ammunition depot
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Western part
Western part
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Flight line Zerbst
Central part, flight line
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Eastern part
Eastern part
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Inner radio beacon east, Zerbst, Germany
1: Inner radio beacon east
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Outer radio beacon east, Zerbst Air Base.
1: Outer radio beacon east
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Inner radio beacon west
1: Inner radio beacon west
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Surface-to-air missile (SAM) site, Zerbst, Germany
Surface-to-air missile (SAM) site
Source: U.S. Geological Survey

History

  • 1966
    Observation by the US Military Liaison Mission: "New and improved air defense equipment was introduced into aircraft, ordnance, and electronic inventories. The most significant was the twin-jet (Yak-28P) FIREBAR interceptor aircraft with ANAB air-to-air missiles. This was the first time the FIREBAR was observed deployed outside the USSR. To date only the Zerbst air defense regiment is known to be equipped with this new fighter." (Source: USMLM Unit History 1966)
  • February 1966
    Observation by the US Military Liaison Mission: "The deployment of an air defense regiment from Zerbst to Koethen was observed" (Source: USMLM Unit History 1966)

Images

Yak-28P FIREBAR, probably from Zerbst, in 1966 Source: USMLM History 1966Yak-28P FIREBAR, Zerbst, 1966

In the 1970s

Situation

Zerbst airfield map
Zerbst Air Base on a map of the US Department of Defense from 1972 - The blue lines mark the allied air corridors from and to Berlin. Zerbst is located below the southern corridor
Source: ONC E-2 (1972), Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin

Overview

Zerbst Air Base, 13 August 1973
Zerbst Air Base, 13 August 1973 - In comparison with the previous pictures, closed aircraft shelter have been established. In the south a special schelter loop was built.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey

In the 1980s and early 1990s

Runways

  • 07/25: 2500 m x 60 m Concrete
  • 07/25: 2500 m x 75 m Grass

Radio beacons

  • LOM 25: 708 "KJ", 3890m
  • LMM 25: 345 "K", 1270m
  • LOM 07: 708 "ZB", 5100m
  • LMM 07: 345 "Z", 950m
  • RSBN: Channel 17
  • PRGM: Channel 20

Radio communication

Call sign: KARJETNIJ (КАРЕТНЫЙ)

Units

1990: 35 IAP (MiG-29, MiG-29UB, MiG-23UB)

Today

Use

General aviation (EDUZ).

Bibliography

  • Ries, Karl; Dierich, Wolfgang: "Fliegerhorste und Einsatzhäfen der Luftwaffe" Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart, 1993 - Allied Map
  • United States Military Liaison MissionUnited States Military Liaison Mission: "Unit History 1966Unit History 1966"
  • Freundt, Lutz: "Sowjetische Fliegerkräfte in Deutschland 1945-1994, Band 3" Edition Freundt Eigenverlag, Diepholz 1999 - Description, pictures, aerial pictures
  • Freundt, Lutz (Hrsg.), Büttner, Stefan: "Rote Plätze - Russische Militärflugplätze in Deutschland 1945 - 1994" AeroLit Verlag, 2007 - Description, pictures, aerial pictures
  • Haderer, Toni: "Der Militärflugplatz Zerbst" Extrapost -Verlag für Heimatliteratur Zerbst, 2002

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