Former airfield buildings are seen in the background at Alter Flugplatz in Frankfurt on Dec. 18, 2023. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
The Alter Flugplatz Frankfurt is bleak in December, its gray landscape sprawling with naked trees and eerie, abandoned buildings that stand like ghosts of the U.S. military’s past.
After World War II, U.S. forces used the site as a landing strip for small planes and a home for helicopters. Today, the once-noisy airfield is a peaceful place.
Maurice Rose Army Airfield, also known as Bonames Airfield, was closed in 1992 during the post-Cold War drawdown from Germany. Nature has replaced Army helicopters, and the preserved runway is a haven for cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts.
A former guard gate at Alter Flugplatz Frankfurt, as seen Dec. 18, 2023. Following the closure of the U.S. military base at the site, the airfield was transformed into public greenspace. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Guard gates remain at the entrance but fell into disuse long ago. The site is open to the public, a gateway to 11 acres of nature paths, military history and an escape from busy city life.
The airfield is about a 35-minute drive from Wiesbaden and 25 minutes from Frankfurt’s city center.
The conversion from military base to greenspace is part of a broader mission in Germany to transform former U.S. military sites into conservation areas and wildlife habitats.
Informational signs teach children about the nature at Alter Flugplatz in Frankfurt. School groups visit the park as part of its "green classroom" initiative. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
The Nidda River and surrounding parkland are seen at Alter Flugplatz, an abandoned U.S. Army airfield in Frankfurt. The site was transformed into a greenbelt in 2005. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Frankfurt took over management of the property in 2003 with the intention of adding it to Germany’s celebrated Green Belt, a connection of natural habitats that runs east-west across the country.
The wilderness area is now home to frogs, dragonflies and 100 species of birds, the city says.
The wildlife is quiet in the winter months, with the exception of magpies and the babble of the Nidda River, which separates the green meadows from the former runway. A bridge was built across the river, allowing access from the city to the Green Belt.
Hangars that once housed U.S. military helicopters remain at Alter Flugplatz in Frankfurt, Germany. The former airfield is now a park and event space. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
An old U.S. military flight tower remains at Alter Flugplatz in Frankfurt, Germany. The former airfield is now a park and event space. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
A sign near the entrance of the Alter Flugplatz in Frankfurt directs visitors to the park's buildings, including a former U.S. Army hangar, a museum and a green classroom. The Tower Cafe is now closed. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
Military infrastructure still stands: hangars near the entrance, an air traffic control tower, the preserved runway, now a smooth surface for bikes.
Activities pick up beginning in May, including environmental education programs for students and summer events like festivals and a bicycle day. Food trucks line up where previously a popular restaurant called the Tower Cafe operated before its closure in 2020 during the pandemic.
The tower at Alter Flugplatz Frankfurt is seen on a summer day. A restaurant used to occupy the space but closed in 2020. (Tower Cafe/Facebook)
A former hangar near the tower houses the Frankfurt Fire Department Museum, which exhibits firefighting artifacts like extinguishers and respirators.
Although the museum and the public facilities at Alter Flugplatz close in the winter months, the site is open all year for hardy outdoor enthusiasts and curious military history buffs.
Control tower and old hangars at Bonames Army Airfield, Germany, in 1962. (Manfred Faber via usarmygermany.com)
A UH-1B Iroquois at Bonames Army Airfield, Germany, in 1967. (Manfred Faber via usarmygermany.com)
A H-19D Chickasaw and a CH-34 “Choctaw” at Bonames Army Airfield, Germany, in 1962. (Manfred Faber via usarmygermany.com)
Cyclists and runners coming from Frankfurt cross the bridge over the Nidda River on Dec. 18, 2023, to a greenbelt on the site of a former American military base. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
The runway at the former Maurice Rose Army Airfield, pictured on Dec. 18, 2023, is now the centerpiece of Alter Flugplatz in Frankfurt. In the summer, the old airstrip is crowded with inline skaters, runners and cyclists. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)
This February 1991 article from Stars and Stripes talks about Frankfurt moving to acquire the land that was Maurice Rose Army Airfield. The site became what is today Alter Flugplatz. (Stars and Stripes)
Alter Flugplatz
Address: At Burghof 55, Frankfurt
Hours: Year-round, 24 hours a day. Museum, restrooms and food options closed from October to March.
Price: Free for Alter Flughafen; small entrance fee for Fire Department Museum
Information: Online: tinyurl.com/3mmp99a6
