Wernigerode Aviation Museum

If you drive into the Harz on the A 36, you see something on the edge of Wernigerode that nobody expects there: a gray transport aircraft on a hall roof. The Transall C-160 is the landmark of the Wernigerode Aviation Museum, a privately run museum in old factory halls. Beneath it, around 50 aircraft and helicopters stand in four hangars – from a Lilienthal glider replica through Starfighters and MiGs to a Junkers Ju 52 that carried passengers over the Alps until a few years ago.

From factory site to aviation museum

Behind the museum stands a single collector. Clemens Aulich, born in Braunschweig with a flight instructor for a grandfather, was commissioned in 1992 to redevelop and privatize the former Elmo plant in Wernigerode. In the company’s old shipping hall he saw the right place for his growing aviation collection.

In 1998, 16 workers from a job-creation program – eight men and eight women – began preparing the hall for visitors. In summer 1999 the museum opened with initially three large aircraft. The collection grew quickly: By 2016, around 50 aircraft and helicopters, plus models and engines, stood in two halls. Then came the big leap. An extension costing around two million euros brought a new entrance, the café, offices and two additional hangars.

Today the museum counts over 60 aircraft and helicopters by its own account, some of which are stored at other places in Germany. About 50 are on display, spread over roughly 6,000 square meters. Add about 1,000 smaller exhibits: ejection seats, cockpits, landing gear, navigation instruments, pilot equipment, engines and models.

Unlike many aviation museums in Germany, Wernigerode is not an association-run museum. It is operated privately and finances itself through admission, simulator flights, gastronomy and the shop. You notice this in the equipment: a smartphone audio guide, bookable experiences and an online ticket shop are standard here.

The landmark: the Transall on the roof

The Transall C-160 is the museum’s largest exhibit and at the same time its trademark. The aircraft arrived in Wernigerode in October 2018; before that it stood at Ballenstedt airfield. It was then lifted onto the museum roof and opened to visitors on February 24, 2019. The museum calls it the “Silberne Gams” (Silver Chamois).

The Transall is fully walk-through. You can look into the cockpit and walk through the cargo hold, where a small exhibition tells the story of the type. You get up by stairs – so this part is not accessible. To get back down you can take a long tube slide, which kids especially love.

For spotters, the Transall is a type with a farewell story. The German-French joint development shaped the Bundeswehr’s air transport for decades until it left German service in the early 2020s. How to tell it from its successors and other transports is explained in the article Identifying military transports; the type page on the Transall C-160 summarizes technology and history.

The four hangars at a glance

The exhibition is spread over four halls, which visitor reports name after their respective focus. The division helps you plan your visit – especially if you have little time or want to see specific types.

H1: how flying works

The history hangar shows aviation in Wernigerode and the Harz foothills. Alongside are interactive stations where you can try out lift and airflow yourself. Replicas of a Lilienthal glider and the Jatho glider recall the pioneers. You can read more about the man who researched heavier-than-air flight in practice in the article on Otto Lilienthal – or visit the Otto Lilienthal Museum in Anklam.

H2: the Hollywood hangar

At the end of 2013, Clemens Aulich received an unusual request: whether he could help build a cockpit of the Lockheed U-2 – for Steven Spielberg’s Cold War thriller “Bridge of Spies.” The team researched photos, obtained documents from the US military and worked for about half a year on the replica, first as a 3D model, then in wood and finally in metal. The finished cockpit could be split so the camera could also film from inside. At the end of 2014, Aulich advised Spielberg for two days on the set in Berlin-Tempelhof.

According to newspaper reports, the film cockpit itself is not in Wernigerode but stayed with Spielberg. The Hollywood hangar tells the story anyway – with exhibits from various film projects. What the original spy plane looks like is shown on the type page on the U-2.

H3: helicopters from East and West

In the helicopter hangar stand types you rarely see side by side. The Bell UH-1D was long the workhorse of the Army and Luftwaffe; the type page on the Bell UH-1 explains the difference between the versions. Next to it stand a Bo 105, a Mil Mi-2 as it also flew in East Germany, the Alouette II and the Alouette III. A British classic is the Westland Whirlwind HAR.10. Curiously, a Revolution Mini 500, a small kit helicopter, is also part of the collection.

If you want to place helicopters in the sky faster, the article Identifying helicopter types helps. For a whole day with nothing but rotorcraft, the Helicopter Museum Bückeburg is also worthwhile.

H4: the jet hangar

The jet hangar is the real destination for many. Here stand combat and training jets from both blocs of the Cold War, and on many you can look into the cockpit from ladders. Add a collection of ejection seats where you can compare the rescue technology of different generations.

The collection’s most important aircraft

The list of exhibits is long and changes occasionally. The following types are mentioned in reference works and reports on the museum.

Jets from the West

• Lockheed F-104G Starfighter – two examples at once. Why the jet was so controversial in West Germany is explained on the type page for the F-104 Starfighter.
• Dassault Mirage III RS – the reconnaissance version of the Swiss Air Force with the serial R-2113.
• de Havilland Venom FB.1R – also from Switzerland, serial J-1635.
• Hawker Hunter F.4 – the elegant British fighter of the 1950s; more on the page for the Hawker Hunter.
• North American F-86 – the MiG-15’s opponent over Korea, details on the page for the F-86 Sabre.
• Fiat G.91R/3 – the light ground-attack jet that the Luftwaffe also flew.
• Lockheed T-33A, Cessna T-37B “Tweet” and Hunting Percival Jet Provost as training jets.
• HAL HF-24 Marut – an Indian fighter-bomber and a real rarity in European museums.

The Swiss jets go well with a side trip to the Flieger-Flab-Museum Dübendorf, where the history of the Swiss Air Force is told in detail.

Jets and aircraft from the East

• MiG-15bis – the swept-wing fighter of the early jet age; background on the page for the MiG-15.
• MiG-21 SPS – a version of the East German air forces; the type page on the MiG-21 shows why the type was built so often.
• MiG-23 MF – the swing-wing fighter on which you can study the variable wings up close.
• Antonov An-2 – the big biplane, used in East Germany for agricultural flying and transport; more on the An-2.
• Let Z-37 “Hummel” (Bumblebee) – the Czechoslovak agricultural aircraft, also a typical East German aircraft.
• Aero Ae-45S and Zlin Z-42 as touring and training aircraft from Czechoslovakia.

If you are interested in East German aviation, you will find more pieces at the Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus and the Military History Museum Berlin-Gatow.

Pistons, short-takeoff aircraft and oddities

• Dornier Do 27 and Do 28 – the short-takeoff aircraft from Oberpfaffenhofen; more on the Do 27.
• Bücker Bü 131 – the classic trainer biplane.
• Nieuport 11 – a World War I fighter.
• Nord 1101 – a French postwar touring monoplane.
• Scheibe L-Spatz 55 – a glider from the 1950s.
• Platzer Kiebitz – a homebuilt ultralight biplane that, according to Wikipedia, can be seen in no other museum.
• Beechcraft Queen Air – displayed as a fuselage.

The Ju 52 from Switzerland

In April 2023 a new arrival with a history came: the Junkers Ju 52/3m HB-HOS. The aircraft originally comes from the Swiss Air Force and later flew sightseeing flights with passengers at Ju-Air. After the crash of its sister aircraft HB-HOT in August 2018, commercial sightseeing flights with the Ju-Air aircraft ended. An elaborate refurbishment project meant to bring HB-HOS back into the air was discontinued. The Wernigerode Aviation Museum finally bought the Ju 52 for a symbolic franc; disassembled, it arrived in the Harz on April 20, 2023.

HB-HOS will no longer fly. It is displayed as a fuselage and, according to reference works, is being restored to its 1939 condition, including the instruments. The type’s history is told in the article Junkers Ju 52 – Tante Ju; technology and data are summarized on the type page on the Ju 52. If you want to go even deeper into the Junkers world, head to the Technikmuseum Hugo Junkers in Dessau, also in Saxony-Anhalt.

Simulators, cockpits and tours

Wernigerode relies heavily on experiences. You can book two simulators for an extra fee:

• a cockpit simulator of the Messerschmitt Bf 109,
• a cockpit flight simulator of the Bell UH-1D.

You will find dates and prices in the museum’s online ticket shop. During school holidays and on public holidays the slots are in demand; then it is best to book tickets and simulator flights online in advance. Cockpit visits can also be booked. If you want more after your visit, the article Getting started with flight simulation has tips for home.

Guided tours are available for groups:

For groups of eight or more children or teenagers outside the school holidays, a tour is included in admission according to the museum, but must be booked online in advance. Two adult chaperones then get in free.

Photography in the museum

Almost all exhibits stand in the halls. Only the Transall on the roof stands in daylight – here it is worth paying attention to the sun position.

If you want to decode the serials of the Bundeswehr exhibits, the article on serials of Bundeswehr aircraft helps.

Opening hours, prices and directions

According to the website, the museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with last admission at 4:30 p.m. It is closed on only three days: December 24 and 25 and January 1. The café CafetAIRia is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with hot food until 2 p.m.

Admission includes an audio guide that you use on your own smartphone – bring headphones. According to the museum, you can see the model-building special exhibition, which opened on October 1, 2026, even without a museum visit.

How to get there

The address is Gießerweg 1, 38855 Wernigerode. The museum is in the Nord-West industrial area on the edge of town.

• Car: via the A 36 to the Wernigerode Nord exit, then follow the brown signs for “Gießerweg.” There are 50 free parking spaces at the museum, with an overflow area about 900 meters away.
• Train: from the direction of Halberstadt or Goslar to the Elmowerk stop, which is right behind the museum.
• Bus: “Luftfahrtmuseum” stop (lines 203 and 204) or “Kurtsteich” (lines 201 and 204). Vacationers with a guest card ride free with HATIX.
• Bicycle: parking spaces at the entrance, charging stations for e-bikes and lockers.

The exhibition in the hangars is accessible; only the Transall is reachable by stairs alone.

Visiting the museum with kids

Wernigerode is exceptionally family-friendly. The slide from the Transall, the hands-on experiments in the history hangar, ladders on the jets and the kids’ audio guide make sure even younger visitors don’t just read signs. Children up to five get in free, and the family tickets make the visit easy to budget. You will find more ideas in the article Plane spotting with kids.

Combining museum and spotting

There is no scheduled air traffic in Wernigerode itself. The nearest major commercial airports are Leipzig/Halle and Hannover, each roughly one and a half to two hours away by car. At Leipzig/Halle the cargo traffic at night and early morning is the main draw – tips on locations are provided by the plane spotting guide for Leipzig/Halle, and the observation deck is a good start. For Hannover, the plane spotting guide for Hannover helps.

If you are coming from the north, you can also link the Harz with Lower Saxony. The Laatzen-Hannover Aviation Museum shows, with the Fw 190, Bf 109 and Spitfire, exactly the World War II fighters that Wernigerode lacks – the two venues complement each other well. And with the knowledge from the halls, you will also recognize vintage aircraft in the sky more easily; the article Spotting vintage aircraft in the sky helps with that. You will find more destinations for your museum tour in the overview Aviation museums in Germany.

Conclusion

The Wernigerode Aviation Museum is the work of a collector who turned an old factory hall into one of the most varied aviation museums in central Germany. Its strength lies in the postwar era: Starfighter next to MiG-23, Mirage next to Hunter, Bell UH-1D next to Mi-2. With the Transall on the roof and the Ju 52 from Switzerland, it has two large exhibits that tell a story of their own.

For spotters, Wernigerode is an ideal day in the Harz – especially if you want to study up close types that disappeared from the sky long ago. Plan three to four hours, book simulators in time and bring a warm jacket.