Bickendorf / Butzweilerhof, Cologne - Germany
This airfield was known as Bickendorf by the Allies when they occupied the site at the end of WW1. The Germans referred to it as Butzweilerhof however. The airfield was situated in the north west part of Cologne and was established as a training airfield in 1912. Interwar and post WW2 it was a busy civil airport until the 1950s. From 1951 to 1967 it was operated by the RAF as RAF Butzweilerhof.
In the immediate aftermath of WW1 103 Squadron certainly had a presence on the site as I have a number of photos taken by 103 Squadron personnel at the airfield. This must have been a detachment however rather than the full unit and probably only for a short stay. 4 Squadron Australian Flying Corps and 49 Squadron RAF were also based at this airfield and no doubt several other Squadrons
Before regular aviation activities at Butzweilerhof started, the area north of Cologne was sporadically used by airships. The military Zeppelin Z II arrived in Cologne in August 1909 and was based in a nearby hangar until it was destroyed in a storm on 24 April 1910. In addition an airship/dirigible designed and manufactured in 1909 by Clouth Gummiwerke from nearby suburb Nippes was temporarily stored at this hangar.
In 1912, the Air Arm of the Imperial Army (Luftstreitkräfte) established an air station at Butzweilerhof and hangars, maintenance facilities, as well staff accommodation were built. The station became fully operational in spring 1913 and was used for initial pilot training before and during WW1. Among the pilots receiving their first flying lessons at Butzweilerhof was the German air ace Manfred von Richthofen – 'The Red Baron'
The airfield was very well equipped with excellent hangars and workshops there was also a Zeppelin hangar – see photo
After the war, the Royal Air Force (RAF) used the airfield primarily in a supply role for British troops and included an airmail service.
From 1922, Instone Air Line provided a first regular passenger service to London via Brussels. The airfield was returned to the city of Cologne in 1925 and the civil airport was extended and officially opened one year later. Further expansion was undertaken in 1933 which included a fine art deco terminal and new facilities
Largest operator pre-war was Deutsche Luft Hansa. Foreign operators such as Imperial Airways, Air France, and Sabena also used the site and Butzweilerhof was the second airport in Germany second only to Berlin Tempelhof pre WW”
During WW II Butzweilerhof was predominately used for emergency landings and as field repair station for fighter aircraft. The Royal Air Force moved in again after the war and the airfield became RAF Butzweilerhof. Some airline service was resumed but ceased with the opening of new Cologne Bonn Airport.
The RAF base closed in the 1960s, and some of the airport facilities were subsequently used by non-flying units of the German Army. The airfield stayed in use until 1996 by army aviation units of the Belgian Armed Forces from nearby barracks.
The whole site is now a large business park.
DH9 and pilot Cologne
DH9 Pilot and Airman Cologne
DH9 Cologne
Sopwith Snipe showing Hangars at Cologne in background
DH9 Cologne Members of Belgian Royal Family inspecting aircraft
Zeppelin shed Cologne 1919
Cologne wreckage following fatal crash
Sopwith Camel after nose over at Cologne
Cologne Air Terminal
Fokker F 27 Cologne
Compiled by David Fell with photos from WTTE and my archive
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