Tour Report: Finowfurt Aviation Museum

Our November 2019 vacation was in full swing. After we had finished exploring the ruins of the "Stasi Hotel", we used the rest of the day to pay a visit to the Finowfurt Aviation Museum (Official Website). It was already the end of November, so the days were already getting quite short and we limited ourselves to short drives in order to have enough time for photos.

The former Eberswalde-Finow airfield was only about 50 kilometers and a 45-minute drive away, so there should at least be time for a short tour.

When we arrived, we were worried whether we would even get the chance to look around - there were no cars in the parking lot, the ticket booth was unoccupied and there was no one to be seen for miles around. Of course, the peak season was long gone and it's unlikely that anyone would stray into this region on a rainy and windy November afternoon.

Although we didn't see anyone, we walked onto the grounds and actually saw a sign pointing the way into one of the buildings to buy a ticket.

The museum employee present was actually a little surprised that someone had come by. There was no one else on site either, so he apologized for not being able to offer a guided tour - but he offered us a coffee instead, which we gratefully accepted given the cold weather.

Apart from the weather, it was really nice to walk through the exhibitions completely alone. We were able to see everything at our leisure and were only limited by the fading daylight. At the end of our tour, we took a look at the exhibition in the administration building.

All in all, the museum operators have really done a great job. Both the airplanes and the vehicles as well as the other exhibits (such as the engine of a V-2 rocket) have been lovingly restored and are well preserved. The historical background is explained and emphasized in many places, so that you get a very good view not only of the history of the airfield, but of the Cold War in Germany as a whole.

I recommend a visit to this museum to anyone traveling in the region - it's really worth it!

To find out about the history of the place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.

Soviet Airfield A. [Revisit]

The New Year's tour together with my wife and her brother has been a tradition for three years now, so it was convenient that he had already arrived on New Year's eve.
We used the day after the fireworks to rest before the next tour.
This year, the destination was an abandoned Soviet airfield. I'd had the opportunity for a visit there about four months before, but neither my wife nor her brother had seen it, so we went.
As it turns out, this was a good decision, because not three months later, trees were cut down and the demolition began
Entering the area was easy - just like the last time- We parked the car and just walked through the place. We also managed to find some buildings that I hadn't seen the last time.

After about three or four hours, we left due to the cold weather and fading light - and I had to cook dinner for my brother-in-law for being our driver ;)

To find out more about the history of this old airfield and to check out all the photos from this spot, click the button below.

Soviet Garrison R.

After two spots and some distance between the two, the sun was beginning to set, so there really wasn't enough time left for Freddy and me to explore another location far away from the old airfield. We had to settle for something a little closer by, and fortunately, there was a place only 15 minutes or so away.
It was a nice addition to the airfield, because it was the Soviet garrison that housed the soldiers that were stationed there.
It was an easy spot to get in. I don't even think that the access is in any way forbidden, because there are no fences or signs of any kind. We drove right up to the buildings. It was a short way through the forest that has been growing thicker and thicker over the past 20 years or more since the Soviets left Germany.
The way into the buildings was easy as well. All doors have been taken, and there are hardly any windows left. The local teens and vandals have been busy in this place. You can find a lot of graffiti and there are hardly any signs of the buildings' former function left.

After a few shots, the light started to fade, and so Freddy and I concluded our last tour of 2015 after two days and six locations.


To find out more about the history of this place and to check out all the photos from this nice spot, click the button below.

Soviet Airfield R.

After our exploration of the Insane Asylum, Freddy and I drove to our next spot - a former Soviet military airfield. Some of you may know the place as the area of the annual "Fusion Festival" which is being held here since 1997 using twelve hardened aircraft shelters as stages.
The larger part of the airfield however has been turned into an airpark, and a lot of the shelters are still unused, and we wanted to check those out.
We got lucky with the weather - as soon as we got there, the clouds cleared and the sun came out to shine on...a lot of old airplanes! There is a small museum on the area, which doesn't seem to have been open for quite some time. There was a note on the door saying that it is closed due to illness, but the state of the exhibits suggests that this illness has been going on for some time.

So we started by checking out all the airplaners and other stuff standing around the museum building before we went on to check out the shelters.
Walking to the shelters was really easy - there were no fences, and we could just wander around the airfield (which is still being used for private flying) as much as we wanted.
We had planned to check out a bunker near the airfield as well, but it was getting late, the bunker would have taken some time to walk to, and we had one more stop to make, so we decided against that. Later, I found out that this was the right decision since the bunker is being used by the German Emergency Management Agency for drills, so there wouldn't have been a chance to get in.

The shelters weren't as spectacular as we'd hoped, but the sun made for a nice scenery - and the old airplanes were a great find!


To find out more about the history of this mysterious place and to check out all the photos from this nice spot, click the button below.

Soviet Airbase B.

The third day of our summer vacation started out beautifully. The weather was beautiful - almost a little too sunny at first since a completely blue sky can be a bit boring in photos. But that got better as we started packing our stuff.
We left the hotel and drove for about an hour until we arrived at the first spot of the day.
I really like the Soviet relics you can find in Eastern Germany for their historical relevance. A lot of them have been built by the Nazis before World War II, and some even as early as World War I, so they were used by the military of two different nations over the years, and each had its own impact on the location itself.
So when we planned the trip and I found this place, naturally I had to include it in the plan.

There were "Do not enter" signs right at the road that leads to the airfield, so we parked the car about half a kilometer away by the road and walked. The "off limits" road led us through the garrison where the soldiers were living. Some buildings were from the Nazi period, others had been added by the Soviets.
After a while, the forest cleared and we spottet one of the hangars and started taking photos right away. At some point, a couple of "tourists" who were about 60 years old stumbled into the hangar and started taking photos as well. We had a short chat with them and went on outside.
The second hangar is obviously being used as storage for the solar field that has been built on the former runway.
We found the tower almost overgrown by trees, but bathed in sunlight. It was a really nice sight, I think. Some parts of it are pretty derelict, but we managed to check out most of it. The interior wasn't too spectacular, so we were out pretty quickly and started walking back to the car. On the way I checked out two of the garrison buildings, but they had also been thoroughly vandalized.

As we got back to the car, the sky began getting cloudy, and we were hoping that the weather would hold for the next location...


To find out more about the history of this airbase and to check out all photos from this interesting place, click the button below!