Der Fliegerhorst Hopsten - Dokumentarfilm (4K)

Hopsten Air Base A documentary by Carsten Röttger and Ralf Hage and all the collaborators who supported us. Hopsten Air Base. For about 15 years it's been kind of a lost place. It will soon be put to a new use and the concrete remains of 44 years of the German Air Force will disappear. But Hopsten Air Base lives on: in the memory of the many soldiers and civilian employees who have served here over the years. I received a call from the Rheine tower. He had to arrive very quickly: the Federal Chancellor was about to arrive. Emergency landing due to fog.

He was traveling to attend an election campaign event in Munster. They are experiences that you will never forget, of course. There are stories waiting to be told among the overgrown buildings, on the concrete slabs of the runway and in front of the moss-covered shelters. As an airspace observer, he was responsible for detecting aircraft in the airspace. At some point I stood here on the spot, looked into the air, called my colleagues and said, "Friends, this is a MIG." But can not be. At first glance, it is one hundred percent a MIG. The mind says it cannot be.

We argued back and forth. A few weeks later it was learned that a pilot had fled the East. He used his ejection seat to eject and the MIG flew over West Germany on autopilot. We have returned people to the place where they spent the formative years of their lives. Let them take you back to a time when the smell of kerosene from airplane engines hung in the air and the noise of fighter jets deafened your ears. ...well, a little melancholy too. I remember the place very differently. The platform areas were not yet covered with vegetation as they are now.

I would have been happier if there were still flights here. Join us on a journey deep into the hearts of people who once called each other comrades and who will never forget this place and its stories. The Place In 1961, Hopsten Air Base was the first German NATO air base built strictly according to NATO criteria. The north-south runway is 3,000 meters long and 30 meters wide. An advance team of 40 people is preparing to go live in April. I was approximately soldier number 40. At that time my comrade Schneider, who later worked as an information and support officer, was my first company sergeant.

And I had to inform him. He asked me from the beginning: "What is your job?" "Butcher." - "Then go to the kitchen." I said, "We can try." And I liked that a lot. I come from Diepholz as a sergeant. And then I did my career in the Bundeswehr. My stay in the Bundeswehr was excellent, I do not regret a single day. On December 12, the new Fighter Bomber Wing 36 was put into service - Mission: Air strikes in support of the Army. Over the years, the Wing was characterized by its close ties to the region. The coat of arms became the known link in all restructuring processes.

It really was my base of operations. So I was really there once a week. I lived in Münster for 6 years and always went there and took photos. Mostly outside the fence, but sometimes inside too if I had permission. Then I also worked for magazines. A decisive experience occurred on "commander's hill", next to the taxiway, on the day of the 2001 flight, when there was a storm and strong wind. The specially painted MIG 29 passed below, closely followed by Hopsten and Lage's 3 colorful Phantoms. And then they were all together on the track. And at that moment the sun came out.

And I was standing on top of this commander's hill with some other journalists. I felt very happy, even later, when I looked at these photos. That was incredible. Since 1984, the wing has had the traditional name "Westfalia". In 1967, 100 American soldiers were sent to Hopsten in case of tactical use of nuclear weapons. Separate QRA area was established. I was in the ULS squadron (non-commissioned officer training and security squadron). "Security squad" means that we had to provide guards for the barracks, the Mettingen outpost and the air base. Something always happened here. It was fascinating. It was exciting. Especially in the QRA area.

Of course, we always tried to get as close as possible, which was not allowed. There was this famous yellow line. Therefore, when we arrived at this guard post, we especially committed ourselves to carrying out sentry duties: "Only up to this yellow line!" And there were the Americans. They always told us: “They shoot without warning.” Fortunately they didn't. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. In 1972, JaboG 36's 1st Squadron had to be prepared to fly two starfighters within 15 minutes of being alerted. For this, two aircraft and one spare were armed and parked. The second squadron of JaboG 36 ensured combat readiness with conventional weapons and served to bring young pilots trained in the USA to the European level.

Well, I was in Rheine from 2001 to 2005. I have been an MKF driver, in the squadron KFZ and later, during restructuring, in the supply and transport squadron as material management sergeant. It looks totally deteriorated and abandoned. It's a little sad. You really have to guess what has been and where. What I just recognized is the gas station. Of course, that was something I used to go to more often to refuel the vehicles. In 1979, JaboG 36 did pioneering work in Happy Valley, Goose Bay, Canada. To do this, for the first time 6 Phantoms were transported to Canada with stops. That was my last command, and I was also the technical commanding officer.

We flew back home from Canada via Greenland, Iceland and Scotland respectively. brought the machines home. That was a great experience. We had a 4-day stay in Iceland due to the rest periods that the pilots had to keep. That was really cool. In 1990 the Cold War ended. JaboG 36 was renamed 'Jagdgeschwader 72' and was assigned the exclusive task of air defense. Due to the new structural measures of the Bundeswehr, the 1st squadron of JG 72 was decommissioned. The 2nd Squadron brought young pilots back to European level and trained flight instructors under the new name 'Fluglehrzentrum F-4F'. Phantoms that were no longer in use were eliminated.

I was in the engine section, so I was a master engine mechanic. In the end I also made AAP for the new soldiers who arrived. For me, the interest in being able to work on an airplane like that was my desire. Until the closure of the airfield here, in 2006 and 2013, the F4 was also out of service. I was able to experience that too. Everything was completed with all the documentation itself, which I also worked on here until the end. However, some aircraft have been preserved and are now housed in museums and training institutions. The sky over Hopsten is now dominated by other patterns.

Camaraderie Camaraderie means a lot to me. Here on the site it had been very good. I still have contact with some people today. Remember how we brought a rubber boat to Deci? Yes, with outboard motor. That was fun. Hey, so we were allowed to do that? No, we weren't. But they didn't notice it when they were weighing. The retaining hook harness was so heavy that it didn't even weigh the outboard, tank, and boat. That was really nice. And it was also nice to be on the beach. There was incredible solidarity here. The camaraderie was great. We still meet between 10 and 15 people every year for Sardinian Night and have been doing so for over 30 years.

Camaraderie: one for the other. Trust. Laughter. Help. That is friendship. Joy, pain, gladness and sadness – it was all shared at Hopsten Air Base. But what exactly made the camaraderie here so unforgettable and unique? I've been in the first squad for 10 years. From 1990 to 2000. Then he took me to the United States as a flight instructor. I have been a regular flight crew member and have followed the typical career path, from a rookie learning to fly for the first time to the highest career level as a weapons instructor. All that here in the first squad. It was an incredibly wonderful time.

I think what was special about this time for me was being accepted by the people who were already there. You came here and you weren't really a stranger. Of course, as a newcomer you were, but at first everyone welcomed you with open arms and said, "It's good to have you here." It was an incredibly good feeling. A touching feeling. When I look at the airfield here, I don't see the 15 years that have passed. But there is a flashback and I see what it was like 15 years ago when I left the place. I hear the noises. I smell the Phantom's exhaust fumes.

I hear the comrades laugh. Particularly pleasant situations were when retirees celebrated their anniversaries. The tribute. Recognition. Sharing with each other. That was an expression of this particular theme of camaraderie. Which makes such a flying unit even more special. The form of camaraderie was that everyone pursued the same objective: that is, air operations. In the first squadron there were about 20 flight crew members. So 20 pilots, 20 weapons systems officers. And they mixed almost daily for flight operations. When I came to work in the morning I didn't know what my mission was, who I was going to do it with, and what we wanted to have achieved in the end.

Basically, I was able to put my life in anyone's hands because I had absolute confidence that we would want to achieve our goal together without killing each other. This form of fellowship is very special because we test it every day. It is not simulated. If I crash I'll be dead. I felt that what I was doing was the right thing and it gave me personal satisfaction with what I was doing here as a soldier, person, officer, comrade and family man. Everything was fine. Yes, I would do everything like that again. I joined the Wing as a recruit and liked it so much that I enlisted immediately.

Sometimes I miss the aspect of team spirit and camaraderie. We live in a society of elbows, but that was not the case here. There was only one "we" here. I felt very at home here, even though I was only here for a year. I have always remembered this moment with great pleasure. Maybe it's because, after all, the Air Force is something special. Well, I found the camaraderie here at this site incredibly great. I really liked it and I haven't experienced it like that anywhere else I've been since. Barbecuing in the summer until the grates glowed. Well, it was a great moment here.

I would have liked to go back to the old base and maybe have saved a transfer or two. Basically, the special thing is that you feel at home here very quickly. There are other places where everything was a little more anonymous. This particular wing welcomes you, it's like a family and you feel at home. "One team, one mission." A team and a mission. And we feel that here in particular. But of course we also live it. But I emphasize: with the people. People are essential. In the United States it was like this: when we reached the end of training, the available locations for the Starfighter squadrons were announced.

The squadron captain told us in the United States at the time that we had to come to an agreement and if we couldn't come to an agreement then orders would be given as to who would go where. A good friend of mine had written me a letter telling me that he was at Hopsten and that there was a young team there with a great life and that the camaraderie was great and that I should go to them after all. And then I came here and I never regretted it. We were a Wing that also achieved a great reputation in the Air Force.

Of course, solidarity in such a flying unit is defining. Without this solidarity and camaraderie, it simply does not work. When flying you always depend on the person next to you or the person on the other plane. Camaraderie cannot be ordered. The camaraderie grows. That means trust has to grow. Everyone is there for each other. This is essential for flying. When we did our missions abroad in Decimomannu, Sardinia, we were always together for 4 weeks in the spring. And then in Canada, of course, low-level flights. We trained and then at the end of that training we were able to fly at an altitude of 30 meters at 1000 km/h.

So of course that means they have to work together to be a team. And you have to be able to trust the technicians who screw and prepare the plane. And that's why it wasn't just the flight personnel or the technicians, but everyone together. I started in the Elo-Wa squadron and then in the MUN B, then I started training as a warrant officer. The Elo-Wa squad was my life and at some point I moved to the maintenance squad. "That's real life," I said several times later. I always thought it was cool, digging into fat up to your sleeves.

I got here, everything was new. But I quickly realized that the team spirit was really extreme. But we always put fun first and yet we were there in the morning and we stuck with it. We were always special, we were the best Wing. Even if others don't want to hear that. There is no discussion about it, that's how it was. The imprint of life at Hopsten Air Base marked entire lives. Many also know me as Schrappi, the nickname I was given in the Bundeswehr. In 1988, on January 4, I joined the Wing as a recruit. I completed my servicemilitary in the flight advisory service and then I trained as an air traffic controller.

And I was in the squad until the last day, in December 2005. I didn't really know where my career would take me after school. My father said, "Go to high school and study in the armed forces." But after a while studying was no longer an option for me. Then I had the idea of ​​being a pilot in the German Armed Forces. Flying wasn't my thing and then my dad said, "So you're going to become an air traffic controller." "What is that, father?" Then he explained it to me and I said, "I'll do that." And I am still grateful to him today.

From my point of view From my point of view I have made one of the most beautiful jobs I have been able to do come true. We used to keep so-called execution logs. Tower hours and radar-guided approaches were recorded in these route logs. On the penultimate day I managed to make my 10,000th approach as a flight controller. The first time in my life as an air traffic controller in the Bundeswehr here in Hopsten was so wonderful that I would definitely do it again. And if I had any influence, I would still be here today as a controller because I am still on active duty.

Especially during the years here in Hopsten, because at that time the Bundeswehr was still an army in which there were still many flying operations and many things were happening. This is no longer comparable to what I have experienced in recent years at other air bases or in Rheine-Bentlage. I came to Hopsten in 1993 as a recruit. I left for a short time at the end of my mandatory military service to return here in 1955 and begin training as an air traffic controller. In 1998 I got my first license here at Hopsten Radar and then my tower training. I ended up working here in August 2005, when it was obvious they were going to close.

I liked being there, in this squad, with this lived camaraderie and this great family that really meant that I would have liked to stay with this team. They didn't treat you like a simple soldier or recruit, but as part of the team. I also have to say about the base itself, if the location of Hopsten had not been discussed in 2005, I would never have left. I have always felt comfortable here and never thought about leaving. If the air base still existed today, I would still be serving here today. No doubt about it. I would repeat my entire career at any time, just as I have done so far, even with my stay here.

I was drafted into the military from October 1, 1986 to September 30, 1990. I worked here as the first aircraft hydraulic mechanic. The missions were enjoyable too. I was in Sardinia 5 times and in Canada 1 time. And then I was on 2 short-term missions. One in Grosseto and another in Belgium. That was always exciting too, of course. On my last day they gave me this painting, this copper engraving. Then I really had tears in my eyes. Actually, that was the saddest thing here. I worked as SAZ 4 from 1986 to 1990 and worked here as a hydraulic mechanic on the F4. Airfields and airplanes are always fascinating.

For me anyway. And here at the air base, that is something very special. It was really exciting. That was a great moment. Yes, I think I would do it again the same way. There was no arrogance between soldiers and civilian employees. What is also notable is that the civilian employees were the ones with the most experience. How they always treated newcomers like us. They took us by the hand and showed us everything. Fucking technology. Well, I don't want to waste my time here. At that time I worked as first master aircraft mechanic on the Jagdgeschwader 72. It was a very pleasant time and I would do it again without hesitation.

Once I took charge of a good comrade's guard and in the morning the kind lady came in here and I offered her a coffee. Several dozen years later we are still together, married and very happy that the armed forces have united us. I was there as a facilities manager. I started at General Wever Headquarters as a regular room attendant. I know many barracks but none like Hopsten. I have never seen such team spirit anywhere else. It was really nice to be there. The camaraderie was nice. From the summer of 1986 to the summer of 1992 I was in the car squadron.

I received such a warm welcome you wouldn't believe. Then I became a sergeant major. Then I was a part-time section commander. They allowed us to go to Sardinia. I have been there 4 times. With great pleasure, always with great pleasure. That was an incredible experience. Sitting directly behind the pilot. To see how they work, how they take off and how they land. I would go back again and again and continue to do so again and again without hesitation. The relationship with superiors was also based on trust. He was in the third platoon of the maintenance squadron. Of course, he often went to the shelter behind me and we serviced the Phantom there.

There were so many wonderful stories you experienced during that time. I always like to remember two situations. At first I shared a flat with a colleague in Rheine for a while. And then we often went out together in the evenings on Münsterstrasse, there were two establishments there and sometimes we had parties there that lasted all night. On Friday morning the platoon leader arrived and divided everyone up. He then he said, "You're going to go to Vault 7, you're going to go to Vault 8." And then he told us, "Get on the couch." Those were experiences, of course, but on the other hand, when there were services that were not so pleasant, one assumed them without blinking.

I was stationed here from 1978 to 1982 and was a jet engine mechanic. This place is just a place, but the people who were here were something special. Sometimes you also had private concerns, so you could also go to your commander, with whom you had a good relationship and he would talk to you or invite you to his family at his house. That was a great thing. I cooked in the barracks kitchen. That's how I got to know and learn about dining room cuisine. I would repeat it at any time. I especially like to remember my sergeant from that time, Mr.

Leerkamp, ​​who always vouched for each of his men. If something happened, he would fix it again. In this camaraderie, everyone was there for everyone. It's like a family. Come back again at any time. The annually repeated missions remain a special memory: target practice at the NATO training range at Decimomannu in Sardinia or low-altitude flying exercises at Goose Bay in Canada. From the beginning, the squadron exchanged information with squadrons at other air force bases around the world for a week or two. Subsequent visits brought with them many cultural experiences. A special event was the visit of the aircraft carrier USS America to the naval port of Cagliari Sardinia.

A dream for every air force soldier! But in the end it was not only these events that were the highlights of life at Hopsten Air Base. So in some ways, every day here was a highlight. You always came to work with a positive feeling every morning. You couldn't do better here. I was responsible for the Phantom as an electrician from April 1992 to March 1998 and had one of the best times of my life here. What was special for me at the base was the team spirit of my comrades. That you return home satisfied after the hours you have been here and you know that you have achieved something good.

I always thought it was cool to come to the plane and at first not know what the problem was. I didn't like being in the so-called "phase" because it was always a recurring job. I only have one photo that reminds me of that time and I think it's a shame, I think it's sad. I would definitely do it differently today. We were all there for our two "stars", which were the Phantom and the pilots. I experienced the Wing as a unit. It's overwhelming. I would do it again the same way. I was in the backseat in the first season.

Well, the highlights to remember are basically air emergencies. Which, thank God, happened very rarely. Then, of course, also the pleasant moments. Celebrations and squad life. You remember it everywhere and again and again with great pleasure. Aviation was my first life. No one can imagine what the camaraderie is like in the flying squadron. You have to experience it, you can't describe it. ...And suddenly the tower calls and says: "4 F4s from Greece have just landed." "What do you mean they've landed? We should have heard!" "No, they registered at the tower and now they have landed here..." Attention, danger of death!

When team spirit is so strong, losses hurt even more. Even if they were rare. I think it was 1981 when we lost a plane in Canada. At that time we were in Deci in Sardinia. That was the only accident I witnessed during the time I was there. In 2001, JG 72 received the aviation safety award for accident-free years between 1997 and 2000. Previously, Hopsten Air Base had already managed to record 10 accident-free years. The camaraderie between technology and us: they were with us and we were very well connected with them in a friendly way and camaraderie. Will I now sacrifice my life if I go in and walk around?

Trust was incredibly important and high. Although many years have passed, I have never experienced anything negative at the Wing. Except for the painful incidents in which comrades lost their lives. Even if it doesn't affect you personally, your comrades are the same people as you and me. It probably sounds exaggerated, but I don't want to miss a day there. It has been a great moment. I was here from 1990 to 2002. Then I worked in the U area for the first 4 years, mainly in R and S (rescue and security). But I also worked a lot here in the flying squadrons.

And then I joined the T staff in late 1994. Planning the annual inspection of the ejection seat and rescue systems, parachutes, vests and inflatables. I then moved internally to S3A and planned training courses (floor conveyor courses) for my colleagues there. You drove here and knew you had arrived. And when you see it now, it really moves you. There was a tragic situation that made me very depressed at that time. That's when one of our planes crashed in Goose Bay. A pilot and a weapons systems officer were killed. That really touched me because I knew them both quite well.

In total, the comrades at Hopsten Air Base lost 8 pilots in the Thunderstreak, 7 in the Starfighter and 6 in the Phantom. They live in the memories of their comrades. Likewise, Hopsten Air Base will survive the closure of its doors. Saying goodbye to the teammates, the pilots, the people, was moving. I was stationed here from January 1988 to April 1998. You can see it in the background: the ASG, which I visited for the first 3 months. After 3 years they looked for someone in the south: 1. maintenance. Then I moved to the third platoon and spent another 3 years there. Then I couldn't work under the plane anymore for health reasons, so I moved to the electronics and weapons squadron.

We had an incredible camaraderie in the platoons themselves and also with the pilots. Everyone helped each other everywhere. I don't really know from my private life. Just as in the missions or in those community evenings. If you consider coming here at 19, 20, 21 years old and becoming a maintenance mechanic on a Phantom, where you know you're in charge. You don't really get this responsibility anywhere today. The worst was in 1996: me as a command sergeant, another 6 weeks in Las Vegas. Of course, what I would like most would be for us to have airplane noises. It's really great to come back here, the memories are still very positive.

Driving past the gate here, I got goosebumps at first. All contacts, including Facebook groups, are still there and no one can take that away from us and no one can ever take that time away from us. We want to keep the memory of the Wing alive and maintain the tradition. Also maintaining the tradition of the young Air Force and the sense of community. This is very important because many of the former soldiers have stayed here in the town. Traditional rooms at the Westfalengeschwader e. V. We had a great community here. All great comrades, no matter what shift.

We work here on a 2 shift system. There was also a good relationship with other soldiers and mechanics who came down for coffee. So it was a very, very pleasant time here. If you remember back then, every blade of grass here was very neatly mowed. It really seems very wild right now. That hurts a little. It's a little sad and depressing to see what has become of this place. See what kind of life was here and what activities were carried out in this place and now everything is in the hands of nature or yourself. I started here as a soldier and as a civilian in 1967.

I was in the mess hall as a cook and then I went to Canada 3 or 4 times. I started as a civilian on September 17, 1976. The good times were the 7 years I was in the DFAC. When someone from Lockheed came from America, he took a plane here and then flew over the airfield. At that time I was on my way to 1st Squadron with a bucket of pea soup. Then he flew here behind my back and I got so scared that I dropped everything and lay down on the ground. It was a good time. As it was, the camaraderie that reigned in the kitchen was excellent.

The planes The first model on the baseHopsten aircraft was the Thunderstreak, but was soon replaced by the Starfighter. Since 1962, Hopsten Air Base had a novelty in aeronautical technology at the time: the emergency stop device for aircraft with technical problems. From 1996 to 1999 I worked here at JG 72 as a fire chief of the fire department. I was assigned to the fire department as a basic recruit and then continued as a civilian employee for my second and third years. We have always had very high air traffic here. We observed the flight operations here and in case of emergency, we installed the arrester so that the Phantom could land here with the safety hook.

The Starfighter was a heavy, complex and powerful fighter aircraft with all-weather navigation and a weapons control system. It was also suitable for nuclear weapons missions and was therefore intended for the hot phase of the Cold War. The era of these fighter-bombers with double supersonic speed began in Hopsten in 1965. The most beautiful and elegant fighter aircraft, in many eyes, was called by the soldiers "Manned missile". After spending the first two years of my military service in a missile unit in East Frisia, in October 1967 I was transferred to Rheine. I held various positions until 1998. Then I retired. For the first few years I was here in the maintenance squadron as first in command, in the F-104.

I would consider my time as a maintenance leader the best time of my service. The media, on the other hand, called the starfighter a "widow maker." 250 of the 916 starfighters delivered to the Air Force crashed. I also had a very tragic time when, in a quarter of a year, three friends of mine crashed fatally. Of course, this is a situation where you wonder, "Can it happen to you too?" "How could this happen?" However, Hopsten pilots considered the Starfighter to be a safer aircraft compared to the Thunderstreak and from 1967 the number of accidents decreased, thanks to a new ejection seat and the increasing experience and qualification of mechanics and pilots.

I came here to Hopsten as a normal squadron pilot in the spring of 1970 after training in the USA, Arizona. In the United States we were taught to fly, but then we added tactical flying on a larger scale. And of course, you still have to get used to the flying conditions here in Europe: narrow airspace and not the same climate as in Arizona, with 350 days of sunshine a year. I was here on the Wing until 1977. In 1975 we returned to training on the Phantom. I was still a Starfighter flight instructor and immediately retrained as a Phantom flight instructor.

In 1977 I went to Arizona as a flight instructor and trained American pilots there. After 100,000 flight hours and 74 million kilometers, the story of Hopsten's Starfighter came to an end. In 1975 the Phantom arrived and with it for the first time: air defense. It was fun to see those huge, loud, smelly things flying there. It was always a great feeling. The machines were called "black noses" for air attacks and "gray noses" for air defense, depending on the color of their radomes. Now, especially in the fall, when the fog rolls over the runway and then the deck lights up and an F4 turns on the afterburner, you get goosebumps.

The air base soon employed 2,300 soldiers and civilian workers, because the Phantom had two seats and required the use of combat observers or, later, weapons systems officers. I arrived at Hopsten in 1985 as deputy commander. First I had to retrain from the RF-4E, i.e. the reconnaissance aircraft, to the F-4F. But I was already deputy commander and then I became commander and then I was flight group commander until 1988. This meant the 1st and 2nd flight squadrons and then the central training center. The young pilots were "Europeanized", that is, subjected to European standards or retrained. The new second man in the back seat initially sparked ridicule, such as labeling the bathroom areas with: "For pilots only" and "For cleaning women and KBOs", that is, for cleaning women and combat observers.

What was really special was the flight itself and the planes, the noise and the technology associated with it. He works on the plane and then flies and doesn't fall either. In 1981, the Wing received its third squadron, among other things to train flight instructors for the Phantom's weapons system. The Phantom squadron completed a total of 230,000 flight hours. I was here for scheduled maintenance. First in pavilion 1 and then in pavilion 3 as an aircraft mechanic. I lived here in Dreierwalde and I was always interested in airplanes and then working on them for the first time... When I stood in front of it for the first time, I thought: "My God, are I expected to fix this?" It's a strange feeling when you now see that everything is empty and overgrown.

The times in Sardinia, when we were lying on the track in the heat. Then I went to the tower and drank VOV cappuccino in the middle. Or in Canada, where our planes practiced low-altitude flights. Once upon a time there was something not so pretty. I was in the shelter where there is a concrete wall and then the plane took off and it was very hot and the air was quite thin. I would definitely do it the same way if I could go back in time. So it was a really nice moment. Then in 2002, I took my last flight here on the Wing and the next day I was retired.

I was able to make the last flight together with my son, who was then a squadron captain in Schleswig in a Tornado squadron. He arrived in a Tornado and the two of us flew over the runway in formation on a beautiful day, even more beautiful than today. That was a great ending. On December 18, 2003, the last Phantom landed at Hopsten after its final training flight. When you enter here, the first thing you miss is the smell of kerosene and the noise of the engines. Many memories come back to my mind. How many times have I passed through the door here?

How many times have I passed the road from Rheine to Dreierwalde? During the day, at night and before the alarm exercises. Everything comes back again. When you see the buildings, when you see the tower. It is still a matter of the heart and of course also with a certain melancholy when seeing how nature regains its place. Coming back here after so many years is, of course, an overwhelming feeling. On the other hand, seeing that everything is dormant and a little rotten is of course also a little sad. I started here in January 1968 and then turned the key to the main guard in 2006, after almost 40 years.

Originally, I only wanted to stay here for 3 years. It was a good moment. If someone asked me or I had to choose again, I would do it again. You always deal with young people and that also keeps you a little young. And I thought that was a great thing. And even the last few days here in the wing before I left weren't very pleasant either. Since I was here until the last day, I had to say goodbye to one beloved staff member after another. At some point you were alone here and suddenly everything ended. It was a rather sad moment and I remember it when I drive, for example, on the road from Rheine to Dreierwalde.

When Hopsten Air Base was abandoned, people left the region that had become their home. Families moved. The friends were scattered throughout Germany. Everyone left a part of their hearts behind. As they remember their time at the air base and their passion for the Air Force, these veterans will always be connected to this place. I have been to almost all the air bases in Germany and I must say: "It's good to have been to Rheine." Many thanks to all contributors, helpers and supporters In memory of the fatal accidents Produced for all veterans of Hopsten Air Base, their families and friends as a memory of an unforgettable moment.

Special thanks to the city of Hoerstel for providing access to the site.