Eschborn Airfield Eschborn Airfield ( Fliegerhorst Eschborn ) is an abandoned military airfield in Germany located approximately 10 km northwest of Frankfurt am Main ( Hessen ) and 435 km southwest of Berlin . The airfield was built by the Luftwaffe and opened in the early 1940s . Its primary use was as an interceptor fighter airfield during the Defense of the Reich campaign . In 1945 it was seized by the United States Army and was used as a combat airfield by Ninth Air Force during the Western Allied invasion of Germany . After the war the airfield became part of " Camp Eschborn " , one of the United States Army facilities in the Frankfurt Area . It was closed in 1992 as part of the drawdown of American forces in Europe after the Cold War ended . Today the area is being redeveloped as an industrial site . History . German use during World War II . Eschborn Airfield was built by the Luftwaffe about 1942 to provide air defense of the Frankfurt am Main area from Allied bomber attacks . A 1 , 600m concrete runway , aligned 12 / 30 was laid down , along with taxiways , dispersal aircraft hardstands , a support area and other buildings . Jagdgeschwader 106 ( JG 106 ) , a Focke - Wulf Fw 190 A day interceptor fighter unit was assigned to the airfield in March 1943 . In August 1943 , JG 106 was moved to Mannheim and replaced by JG 27 , a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G unit that was being withdrawn from North Africa . JG 27 was based at Eschborn until September 1944 . Other Luftwaffe day interceptor units assigned to Eschborn were JG 53 ( March – May 1944 ) ; JG 301 ( May – June 1944 ) and JG 2 ( September 1944 ) , flying mostly Bf 109Gs , or Fw 190As ( JG 2 ) . In response to the interceptor attacks on Eighth Air Force heavy bomber formations , Eschborn was attacked in 1944 by XIII Fighter Command P - 51 Mustang escort fighters that would drop down on the airfield and perform fighter sweeps over targets of opportunity . As Allied ground forces moved east into Central France , the airfield came within range of Ninth Air Force air units , which attacked the airfield with B - 26 Marauder medium bombers and P - 47 Thunderbolt s . These attacks would take place when Eighth Air Force heavy bombers ( B - 17 s , B - 24 s ) were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base , with the attacks being timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down and unable to attack the heavy bombers . USAAF use . United States Third Army unts moved into the Frankfurt area during mid - March 1945 , and ground forces captured Eschborn Airfield about 25 March . On 30 March , combat engineers from IX Engineer command 832d and 825th Engineering Aviation Battalions arrived to make the airfield operational for American aircraft . A Pierced Steel Planking runway was laid down over the damaged concrete runway and enough repairs were made to make the airfield operational by early April . The airfield was designated as Advanced Landing Ground " Y - 74 Frankfurt / Eschborn " and immediately put to use as a transport resupply and casualty ( S & E ) evacuation airfield . C - 47 Skytrain transports used the airfield frequently . On 7 April , Ninth Air Force P - 47 Thunderbolt s arrived at Eschborn . The 371st Fighter Group and the 367th Fighter Group flew combat missions with Thunderbolts until the end of the war in May . The 367th remained at the airfield until mid - July 1945 when the Air Force turned the Eschborn airfield and base over to Army ground forces , which used the facility as an occupation garrison . United States Army use . Under Army control in July 1945 , for a while Eschborn became a Displaced Persons camp while Europe tried to sort out the masses of people forcefully removed from their home nations during the war . Also , Eschborn remained an Air Technical Service Command facility until 1947 to process out excess American aircraft and to destroy surrendered Luftwaffe aircraft . The Luftwaffe buildings were repaired and reconstructed , the facility eventually becoming a major Army garrison as part of the Army of Occupation . During the 1950s , as a part of the United States Army NATO facilities in the Frankfurt area , the airfield was closed and Eschborn Airfield became " Camp Eschborn " , the home of Army Engineering units . Army forces remained at Eschborn for the next 40 years during the Cold War , being withdrawn in 1992 as part of the general American drawdown of forces in Germany . The facility has been basically abandoned since 1992 , and today the ghostly relics of empty buildings ; streets and other facilities used by the United States Army during its 50 year use of Eschborn remain . Parts of the former military base are being redeveloped into an industrial estate . The airfield , not used since 1947 , remains in part with an abandoned aircraft parking apron and a large Luftwaffe hangar , used for storage by the Army , but now a reminder of the wartime past of Eschborn as a combat airfield by both German and United States forces .