1. und 2. Preisfliegen
Wiener Neustadt, Austria, July 10th - 31st, 1910

• The events
• The airfield
• The planes
• The results
• References

The Wiener Neustadt airfield

In the beginning of 1909, the president of the Austrian Aero Club and the commander of the Militär-Aeronautischen Anstalt encouraged the Stadtgemeinde (municipality) of Wiener Neustadt to build an airfield, in order to serve as centre of Austrian aviation. On June 11th, 1909, the Stadtgemeinde decided that it would build an airfield and a hangar on a property on the Steinfeld, for the amount of 2500 Kronen. The Steinfeld is a big, slightly inclined plain formed by eroded material from the surrounding mountains. It was barren, stony land and not of much use for agriculture. The Stadtgemeinde also decided that the area would be made available for flight test purposes of the tenants of the hangar, and that other interested parties would be allowed to build similar hangars.

A field of five square kilometres of land was levelled and the first hangar was completed in the end of July. Igo Etrich immediately rented it, and he made the first flight on August 8th, 1909. The airfield was officially opened on November 17th. The municipality built more hangars, eight of them by the winter and twenty-three by summer of 1910. Archduke Friedrich sponsored the construction of a two-storey building which would serve as royal loge and café-restaurant. It came to be known as the "Kaiser-Pavillon". A five-kilometre oval course was marked up.

The first military aircraft moved in and were housed in three of the hangars. In 1910 three aviation contests were held, one visited by Emperor Franz Joseph. They were followed by several more during the next couple of years. In 1911, some Etrich Taubes were purchased, on which 16 field pilots were trained. In 1913, the entire airfield was leased by the military.

The airfield gained strategic importance during the First World War. In 1915, the Oesterreichische Flugzeugfabrik AG (Oeffag) was founded, which produced the Oeffag C I and C II fighters and seaplanes and Albatros D II and D III fighters during the war.

After the Versailles Treaty everything had to be destroyed, including hundreds of airplanes, thousands of aircraft engines, the Oeffag workshops and all the hangars. The airfield lost all importance. In 1929, however, the area started to be used by the Fliegerschule Graz. 1934 the Military Academy stationed a training squadron in the barracks that were built during the First World War. In 1936, the Ministry of Defence bought the area with the barracks and the military took over the airfield completely. Several squadrons were stationed here and new buildings, such as hangars, workshops and a tower. This made Wiener Neustadt again the centre of Austrian aviation.

After the Anschluss, the Austrian air forces were incorporated into the Luftwaffe and the airfield expanded rapidly. Before the beginning of WW2, a bomber wing (KG 57) moved in. The airfield was also used by a big Messerschmitt aircraft factory that was built in Wiener Neustadt. The industrial importance of this factory, and several other industries of strategic interest, made Wiener Neustadt the target of more than twenty Allied bomber attacks between August 1943 and March 1945, causing enormous damages to the town. 40 percent of its 4178 buildings were completely destroyed and only 18 buildings remained completely unharmed.

In early April 1945 the ground forces of the Red Army took over the area and after the war the airfield was used by the Soviet Union. From 1950 it was adapted for jet aircraft, with landing lights and instrument flying systems. It was mainly used by MiG-15 fighters. In August 1955, after the State Treaty, the airfield was handed over to the Republic of Austria. The newly established army was not interested in the airfield, partly because it was only some 25 kilometres away from the Iron Curtain and partly in respect of the destruction of the town during WW2, so civilian organizations took over the airfield.

It is now the largest unpaved airfield in Europe, with six grass runways, the longest measuring 1620 metres. It is the home of more than twenty clubs and schools and a centre of Austrian gliding and parachuting. Since 1961 the army again uses it for parachute training. In September 2018, 109 years after its opening, a round of the Red Bull Air Races were held at the airfield, which is now known as Wiener Neustadt/West (LOXN).

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