Baden-Soellingen

Geschichte

Canadian Forces Base Baden–Soellingen or CFB Baden–Soellingen was a Canadian Forces base located near the farming community of Söllingen, part of the municipality of Rheinmünster in the West German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is now a commercial area called Baden Airpark, which also includes the regional airport Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.HistoryTo meet NATO's air defence commitments during the Cold War, No. 1 Air Division RCAF was established in Europe in the early 1950s with four Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) bases in France and West Germany. These included RCAF Station Marville (No. 1 Wing) and RCAF Station Grostenquin (No. 2 Wing) in France and RCAF Station Zweibrücken (No. 3 Wing) and RCAF Station Baden–Soellingen in West Germany. These wings consisted of three fighter squadrons each.Construction of the airfield at Baden–Soellingen began in December 1951 at a location between the Black Forest and the River Rhine under the supervision of the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) (AA). The runway and associated facilities were completed by June 1952 and were intended to accommodate a brigade of the AA which arrived in August for the first operational use of the base. At that point support buildings were under construction.