Seerappen (Люблино)

55°04'47"N 021°33'44"E

Runway: 17/35 - 400x20m - asphalt

Lyublino airfield (Russian: аэродром Люблино, also known as Luftschiffhafen Seerappen or Fliegerhorst Seerappen) is an abandoned airfield 14 kilometers west of Kaliningrad, Russia.
It was located just north of the Königsbergen-Pillau railroad. The airfield was built in 1916 by the Dortmund company Aug. Klönne, in what was then East Prussia, Germany. It consisted of a double airship hangar and a flying field. At the time it boasted one of the largest sites for the construction of airships. In 1917 the German high command decided to withdraw all airships. Seerappen was used for the storage of LZ 120 and LZ 30. LZ 120 was taken from storage in 1920, when it was prepared to be delivered to Italy as a war reparation.
Its hangar is believed to have been demolished before 1929.


Airship hangar at Seerappen with LZ 90 (mil. LZ 120) during World War I (luftschiff.de).

In the 1930s the field was rebuilt into a Fliegerhorst by the Nazis. It became known as Fliegerhorst Seerappen. The fliegerhorst featured 1200x800m flying field. Located at the airfield was Fliegerfuhrerschule (FFS) E 'Seerappen'. In March 1941 it was was the formation location of FFS A/B 5. The airfield was also home to II./Zerstörergeschwader (ZG) 76, Stab/Kampfgeschwader 1 and Blindfliegschule B38.
Seerappen was taken by the Red Army on 30 January 1945, but they lost it 3 weeks later. It was retaken after heavy fighting in early April 1945.


He72 BO+BY, of FFS A/B 5 Seerappen (LuftArchiv.de).

After the fall of Königsbergen the name of the city was Russified to Kyonigsberg (Кёнигсберг), and the airfield to Lyublino (Люблино). Around 1950 Kyonigsberg became Kaliningrad and of strategic importance to the Russians. As a result Lyublino became an army garrisson and barracks. Some of the Luftwaffe buildings still exist. According to Russian websites the site is now abandoned.


2010 photograph of a Luftwaffe hangar at the airfield (Wikimapia).


2010 photograph of the tower and a hangar at Seerappe airfield (Wikimapia).


2002 aerial photograph of the airfield. A runway can still be recognised in the landscape (Google Earth).


2007 aerial photograph of the airfield. There appears to be a lot of brush growing at what was the runway and central flying field (Google Earth).