Rheine - Hopsten Air Base Rheine - Hopsten Air Base is a closed German Air Force military air base , located 9 . 3 km northeast of Rheine in Westphalia , Germany . The runway was closed in 2005 with the retirement of the F - 4F Phantom II aircraft . History . In 1939 works to build an air base for the Luftwaffe began . These works were completed in 1940 . World War II . Hopsten AB played only a secondary role as an operational base for the Luftwaffe in the opening stages of World War II . In the years between 1939 and 1944 , the base was used only for short periods by different day and night fighter units as well as various bomber wings . As part of the " Defense of the Reich Campaign " begun in 1944 as Allied air attacks became more intense against Germany , Hopsten AB became a hub for a multitude of Luftwaffe activity . Daily operations were conducted with the Bf 109 . Bf 110 , Heinkel He 111 , He 219 and Focke Wulf 190 aircraft . Starting in September 1944 , the Me 262 equipped Kampfgeschwader 51 ( KG 51 ) " Edelweiß " was based at Hopsten . Known Luftwaffe units assigned to the base were : Towards the end of the war , Hopsten Air Base was a frequent target for allied air raids . But due to the extremely heavy air defence - with up to 500 AAA guns based in the vicinity of the base - and the fast repairs done to the runways , it remained relatively intact . Good camouflage and widely dispersed aircraft parking kept the airfield operational until the occupation by British troops . During the last days of the war , German units destroyed the infrastructure and made the airfield useless . RAF Advanced Landing Ground B - 112 . British forces moved through the area in early April 1945 after their crossing of the Rhine River ( Operation Varsity ) at Wesel . The Royal Air Force established a temporary presence at the base and it was designated as Advanced Landing Ground B - 112 Hopsten on 6 April . After the war ended in May , the British decided it was not worth the effort to rehabilitate the base and it was abandoned . Return to German military control . In 1956 , only a few months after the establishment of the Bundeswehr , the new German Air Force began to set up new units and therefore needed airfields . In 1959 , three years later , the German Defence Ministry decided to use the area of the former Hopsten AB to build a new air base from the ruins of the former World War II air base . Paid with NATO funds , specialized companies from the region were tasked to build a completely new air base to modern NATO Standards , The north to south runway was 3 . 000 meters long and 30 meters wide , was constructed between the villages of Dreierwalde and Hopsten in the North and Hörstel in the South . Ramp space , airfield infrastructure and roads , as well as a housing and administration complex in the city of Rheine eight kilometers away , were completed to new NATO Standards for Western Europe . The old name of Hopsten Air Base was maintained . It was the first new German Air Base built to NATO standards . In 1961 the new Jagdbombergeschwader 36 ( JG 36 ) was equipped with United States F - 84F " Thunderstreak " jet fighter - bomber aircraft . The Wing held its first Open House on June 16 , 1962 . A crowd of 150 . 000 visitors attended from the Münster region , acknowledging the achievements of the wing personnel during the build - up phase . In 1965 JG 36 received Lockheed F - 104G Starfighters . On February 4 , 1975 , Wing Commander Oberst Winfried Schwenke would bring the first assigned F - 4F “ Phantom ” with the serial 37 + 97 to Hopsten . As the F - 4F “ Phantom ” was a multirole aircraft , JG 36 , would gain the secondary task of air defense .