1994:Russian jets leave Pütnitz

Children stood at the edge of the runway to say goodbye. They covered their ears with one hand and waved at the passing pilots with the other. On April 11, 1994, the last MiG 29 took off from Pütnitz airfield in Ribnitz-Damgarten. The 48 jets of the 16th Fighter Division were to land at Russian airfields shortly afterwards.

With the return flight of the guard aviators of the western group of the Russian armed forces - which formally belonged to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) after the collapse of the gigantic empire - the last chapter of the Soviet occupation period in East Germany ended at the Saaler Bodden.

One of the most important Soviet bases

A total of 65,000 Russian soldiers have left Mecklenburg-West Pomerania since reunification. The federal state in the north-east was a military stronghold:3.2 percent of the land area - around 70,000 hectares - had been occupied by units of the Red Army and the National People's Army (NVA) by the time the fall of the communism. The almost 600 hectare Pütnitz base was one of the most important of the Soviets in East Germany. 13,000 army members are said to have been stationed here at times:aviators, paratroopers, radar and repair units. Official figures were never given.

Shattered windows, Russian slogans

The place where one of the last chapters of the age of East-West conflict ended still feels like it has fallen out of time decades later. The large hangars, built by the Nazis for a sea pilot school and then taken over by the Russians, are among the few remaining buildings on the airfield, along with the runway and some aircraft bunkers. Today they are listed monuments. Many window panes are shattered, greenery is growing everywhere in the joints, the Russian lettering on the outer walls, on the other hand, has hardly faded and is still legible today.

Plans:amusement park, holiday homes

There was no lack of plans for civilian use after the property first became federal property and was bought by the city of Ribnitz-Damgarten in 2010. Sometimes it was said that an amusement park would be built, then again huge holiday settlements should be built. There was also talk of the Dornier works in Friedrichshafen wanting to build a production plant for seaplanes on the Baltic Sea. But nothing came of all this. Instead, the Technikverein Pütnitz has moved into parts of the area. The legacy of the Cold War is on display in the halls:from the old Ural truck and tanks to the decommissioned MiG 21. The demonstrations at the club's Eastern Bloc meetings, where military and civilian vehicles from the old Eastern Bloc countries are presented, attract everyone many visitors to Ribnitz-Damgarten.

"The tables were partially set"

Frank Jastrzynski is closely associated with the airfield. His grandfather came from Prussia and found work as an officer's tailor at the airport. His grandson Frank Jastrzynski is a member of the Technikverein and still remembers it well when he set foot on the airfield for the first time around the year 2000:"On some corners there were still burned-out trucks. And in the buildings the tables were still partly set - as if the Russians had just left," says the 40-year-old. An old prototype of a Gotha paraglider from the 1930s from the sea pilot squadron was also lying around on the site. "The Russians didn't care at all."

Vodka for fuel

"The base was a closed city in itself," says Jastrzynski. Contacts between the soldiers and the local population were limited. "There was an exchange of school classes," he recalls. "We exchanged presents at Christmas." The company sports groups from the surrounding area occasionally came to the barracks to do sports with the soldiers. "And on Thursdays, when there was a market, the Russians came into the city to buy fresh groceries. The officers then went shopping with their wives, but the simple soldiers weren't allowed to come with them and had to wait in the trucks. There was also a lot of bartering. Once the post office in Ribnitz couldn't deliver any letters because they ran out of fuel. They then exchanged them with the Russians for vodka," Jastrzynski remembers. Occasionally there were also encounters of an unusual kind. Once a Russian parachutist landed right in front of the family's balcony. The wind must have blown it away.

Crashes, kills and arrests

But there was also some drama surrounding the army location. At the time, of course, they did not find their way into the newspapers. Again and again planes from Pütnitz crashed in the region. In the 1980s, a MiG 21 that had started on the Bodden was shot down by anti-aircraft guns over Zingst. The Russian pilot wanted to desert. Also in the 1980s, members of the British military mission were arrested near Wiepkenhagen. The agents had tried to spy on the airfield.

Take with you what is not nailed down

For the Russian soldiers and their relatives, the troop withdrawal meant a turning point. While the ordinary soldiers had a hard life between drill and harassment, the officers and their families were comparatively well off. After the political upheaval, an uncertain future awaited at home. "Some didn't want to leave at all. Some of them hid in the cupboards. Later I saw how walls in the barracks had been knocked out to make the rooms bigger. People probably still lived in there," Jastrzynski looks back. Everything that could be used in any way was taken away - to farm, burn or sell. The steel doors on many buildings were torn out - because of the valuable precious metal. "An acquaintance from the Rostock seaport told me that the Russian containers with steel and scrap metal were always loaded onto the ships immediately, while those with personal belongings sometimes only left half a year later."

Russian veterans are coming back

While the airfield is bogging down these days, Russian veterans keep finding their way back to the site of their time in the army and often times of suffering, reports Jastrzynski. "Lately, more and more former soldiers have been coming to take a look at the place again. The other day someone was there who cried bitterly. He said that there had been nothing to eat or drink for days. They weren't allowed to go to the toilet either. The peed their pants." In September there will be an official meeting of veterans in Pütnitz for the first time.

Future in tourism?

How the history-steeped scene will continue in the future is open. The city is currently planning to develop an artificial island with an inner harbor on Lake Ribnitzer - the southern part of the Saaler Bodden. Up to 3,500 overnight beds are to be created all around. According to Ribnitz-Damgarten's mayor, Frank Ilchmann, a regional planning procedure should be completed in the autumn. Preliminary talks with possible operators are currently being held.