Military Air Museum Gatow Airfield Berlin

Warbirds Online last visited Europe pre COVID in 2018 when we toured with a group of aviation enthusiasts to various locations associated with the ”Air War in Europe in WWII” and we visited the huge Military History Air Museum (Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr ) at Gatow Airfield Berlin, Germany. This very historic site has seen aviation conducted in one way or another for nearly 120 years. The active airfield ceased operation in 1995 and has now become the site of a very large collection of over 160 aircraft, the Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr, the museum of the Air Force. The Museum at the Berlin-Gatow airfield houses most of the Bundeswehr’s aviation history collection.

The history of the airfield itself is an article in itself, suffice to say it has been a significant airfield in WWII. The Berlin Airlift and as a RAF Cold War Air base with links even to the RAAF with an Ex RAAF C47 USAAF serial number 43-49866 and RAAF serial A65-69 formally of the RAAF Butterworth station flight representing the RAF and Commonwealth airmen who provided assistance during the stationing of the RAF at Gatow 1945-1994 and the British Airmen and soldiers that were committed to the Berlin Airlift 1948-1949. The Museum houses a diverse range of aircraft from the WWI era right through to the present day with a huge number of Cold War era types from both sides of the “conflict” – surely the largest representation of the aircraft of this era anywhere in the world.

The Museum is so large that visitors are urged to plan on spending a whole day and possibly more in order to fully discover all the exhibits on display. The more fragile and older aircraft are located in a series of hangars and have been organized largely on the basis of age whilst the vast majority of the modern post 1950s aircraft are at present displayed on the now shortened runways and taxiways. There are plans in place in future to reorganize the site and display the majority of external displays inside in a series of new buildings which really needs to happen to protect them. Many of the aircraft on external display are exhibited as they were when they left operational service and are as a result considerable weathered due to the harsh European weather. Despite this the aircraft are obviously receiving the best care they can from the Museum staff.

Also on display are a large and diverse range of Aviation support vehicles and missiles from both Eastern Pact and NATO forces which are generally in good condition and very interesting. The airport buildings are also included in the display and have been restored to their former glory and are well kept. These buildings have seen a lot of significant history over time and it’s great to see they are well looked after.

At present the Military History Museum is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However this very interesting and large collection would be well worth visiting when it reopens.  Warbirds Online can highly recommend a visit. Potential visitors should note that it takes a good amount of time to get to the site from central Berlin and transport choices are limited so it’s wise to plan your visit well ahead.

More information on the Museum can be found on the Militärhistorisches Museum Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow website.

© John Parker 2021