Remains Wärmehalle Nordlager II Fliegerhorst Venlo

Remains of Wärmehalle Nordlager II Fliegerhorst Venlo

At Fliegerhorst Venlo there were a small 102 hangars. Of these, 12 were heated. The name of this version has already been reviewed a few times. "Warmhalle". But what kind of hangar was that actually and what was it for?
The Wärmehalle was also called an Einflugzeughalle. O In total, the remains of seven Wärmehallen can be found. Three on the Nordlager and four on the Südlager.

The name says it all, a heated hangar. In the winter it can secretly get quite cold in the winter. Nothing is more annoying than trying to maintain and/or repair an aircraft with numb fingers. A heated hangar ensured that mechanics and maintenance personnel could carry out their work under comfortable conditions. After all, an aircraft consists of a large number of maintenance-sensitive parts that require proper and thorough maintenance.

There is a specific feature common to all types of heated hangars. Namely the fireplace.
This is recognizable in all hangars by the concrete top deck and smoke holes below it. The smoke exhaust system had three flues in the chimney. The chimney has its beginning in the boiler room. All boiler houses were located in an extension at the rear of the hangar and were usually located in a cellar.
In the boiler house was a large coke-fired boiler. Many remnants of coke can still be found in the immediate vicinity of Wärmehallen. The boilers ensured that the boilers were full of hot water. The mounting brackets of the boiler vessels are still present in some remnants. A pipe system led from the boiler tanks into the hall. One supply pipe and one discharge pipe provided the heating. The mounting brackets of this pipeline can still be clearly seen in this hangar.

Each Wärmehalle therefore had an extension. Not only for the boiler house, but it also served as a workshop and storage. Smaller repairs to aircraft parts were carried out in these workshops and also served as a small storage area. At the back you can also see one of the few, completely intact 'Splittermauer'.

The debris field around this hangar ruin is huge. Partly because there is an outbuilding in the immediate vicinity, but it also says something about the force of the explosion caused by the activities of the Sprengkommando.

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Source

• Text: Axel Repping
• Photos: Axel Repping