If you manage to walk into the abandoned Flugplatz Rangsdorf, you will never suspect what the place used to be and how much history happened there. It was here that Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg landed after trying to kill Hitler back in 1944, and this is why we took our cameras to explore this abandoned airport ten kilometers south of Berlin city limits.
Right now, the abandoned Flugplatz Rangsdorf is a quiet place where you can hear the cars going by on the highway while we take pictures. This was the only noise we heard during our cold morning in March 2018. There were no guards, no other people. Maybe the cold scared them away. Perhaps it was the distance to Berlin.
Today, the abandoned Flugplatz Rangsdorf is fenced, and its gates are closed to the public. There are houses around the area, and you can only see dilapidated buildings from outside. Decaying buildings that were, back in the 1940s, one of the most essential airfields around Berlin.
Flugplatz Rangsdorf: A Journey Through Time at Berlin’s Abandoned Airport
On July 30, 1936, Flugplatz Rangsdorf was opened to the public as ReichsportAirportt Rangsdorf. It was the eve of the 1936 Summer Olympics, and the location was used for the International Aerobatic Competition for the Prize of Nations. After that, the area was used by civilians and military forces, but mostly, it was a place where pilots learned how to fly.
During the Second World War, due to a fear of having Tempelhof bombed, Flugplatz Rangsdorf became a commercial airport. Russian, Swedish and Lufthansa used the airport for flights between Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Sofia, Istanbul, Gdansk and Copenhagen. If you were a passenger on any of those flights, you would check in at the Air Travel office at Friedrichstrasse, later take a bus to Rangsdorf, and you would be on your way.
After 1940, Flugplatz Rangsdorf was used exclusively for military purposes. This was the place where Colonel Claus Schenk Count von Stauffenberg, in the early morning of July 20, 1944, took a flight to kill Hitler with his briefcase that houses two bombs.
Due to the leg of a table that protects the Fuhrer, his plan didn’t work. But he didn’t know this when he landed back at Flugplatz Rangsdorf and announced: “Gentlemen, Hitler is dead.” He wasn’t, and Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was arrested and shot on the same day for treason.
Whispers of the Past at Abandoned Flugplatz Rangsdorf
Inside the abandoned Flugplatz Rangsdorf today, nothing reminds us of what happened there more than 80 years ago. But, while looking for a way to get to the area, we saw a road called Stauffenbergallee. This might be the only evidence of what happened there before.
Exploring the abandoned Flugplatz Rangsdorf was one of our most interesting urban exploration trips in the last couple of years. The area has seen better days, but the morning we visited was a beautiful one, and the orange grass growing around it made every picture we took fantastic.
Also, the control tower that was used when the airport still existed is there, and you can climb all the way to the top for a panoramic view of the area. There are new buildings around the former airport and some houses scattered around. But if you look in the other direction, you can only see grass and trees. This is where the airfield used to be, and from up there, you can still look at the tracks where so many airplanes landed.
Next to the control tower, you can see the remains of what used to be a gym. There are Russian words, what used to be a basketball court and a lot of graffiti. For us, this was the most photogenic area to explore since there were so many things to capture with our cameras.
Flugplatz Rangsdorf: What to See and How to Get There
There are holes in the fence; you just need to jump over them and enter the area. We read on Abandoned Berlin about some guards being in the area, but we didn’t see anything on a cold morning when we were there. If you visit the abandoned Flugplatz Rangsdorf, take pictures of everything, but don’t steal or destroy the area. Don’t be an asshole.
If you want to take your cameras and photograph the Flugplatz Rangsdorf, hop on a train to Rangsdorf and head south after leaving the train station. Follow the map below, and you will be more than fine.
Exploring the Ruins of Flugplatz Rangsdorf: Berlin’s Forgotten Aviation History
Walther-Rathenau-Straße, 15834
Rangsdorf, Germany
If you are interested in what we wrote about other abandoned airports and airfields around Berlin, you will love to read about the Flugplatz Oranienburg, Flugplatz Johannisthal, and Flugplatz Brand.
