The airfield was originally opened in 1936 for
Nazi Germany's
Luftwaffe. During
World War II, it was seized by the
British Army in April 1945. After the battle, the base was over by the
Royal Air Force and designated as
Advanced Landing Ground B-114 Diepholz. After the war, the airfield was closed. In 1957, the base was returned to the control of the
German Air Force and became a
NATO Air Base. In October 2011, the German
Federal Ministry of Defence announced a reorganisation/reduction of the
German Armed Forces. As a consequence, the number of personnel stationed at Diepholz Air Base was reduced from 1,020 to 110, with the airbase facilities being only used as a material storage site.
Racing circuit German racing suffered from a lack of permanent circuits after the war, and airfield venues sprang up to bolster events at the Nürburgring and Hockenheim. Diepholz was among the most popular and long-lasting. In 1968, the local motorsport-club AMC Diepholz organized the first "ADAC-Flugplatzrennen Diepholz" on the airfield. The circuit utilised the airfield runways linked by fast chicanes, lined by water-filled oil barrels and tyre stacks. These races soon gathered momentum and in 1972 Diepholz was added to the prestigious DRM touring car championship. Throughout the rest of the 1970s, tin-top stars such as Frank Gardner, Hans Heyer, Toine Hezemans, Helmut Kelleners, Klaus Ludwig and Bob Wollek battled it out in BMWs, Porsches and Fords. The airfield circuit was discontinued after 1998 due to the completion of a new permanent circuit, the
Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. ==References==