Although only about two months have passed since this year’s edition of Tag der Bundeswehr – the annual open-doors event of the German armed forces – the German Ministry of Defence has already announced the date and locations for 2026. Next year, the event will take place on 6th June at ten different military facilities across the country.
As has become tradition, the Bundeswehr units participating in the event will represent various branches of the German armed forces. Starting with the three conventional military branches – Heer (the Army), Luftwaffe (the Air Force) and Marine (the Navy) – through its modern domains, such as Cyber- und Informationsraum (the Cyber and Information Domain Service), and including civilian organisations within the German armed forces structure, including Infrastruktur, Umweltschutz und Dienstleistungen (Infrastructure, Environmental Protection and Services) and human resources departments.
The recently released information reveals that the list of locations for Tag der Bundeswehr 2026 includes two air bases – Marineflugplatz Nordholz (Naval Air Station Nordholz) in Lower Saxony and Fliegerhorst Laage (Laage Air Base) in Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania.
It will be the second time for the event to be organised at Nordholz. The home base of Marinefliegerkommando (the German Naval Air Command) already hosted Tag der Bundeswehr in 2019, with an additional spotter event organised prior to the official open day (for more details, see our report from the event – Visiting the Marinefliegerkommando – Tag der Bundeswehr 2019 in Nordholz).
Currently, the two German naval wings based at Nordholz – Marinefliegergeschwader 3 and Marinefliegergeschwader 5 – are undergoing a generational change in terms of their of equipment, which marks a major milestone in their history. Therefore, the open day in Nordholz will not only provide an opportunity to see the latest acquisitions of the German Naval Aviation fleet but also the last chance to observe the retiring aircraft.
Last year, Germany retired its last Sea King Mk 41 helicopters, replacing them with the NHIndustries NH90 Sea Lion. The second naval rotorcraft, the Sea Lynx Mk 88A, is due to be withdrawn from active service by the end of 2026, when it will be replaced by the NH90 Sea Tiger.
In addition, Marineflieger are retiring the iconic Lockheed P-3C maritime patrol aircraft, which soon will be replaced by the Boeing P-8A Poseidon. All six of the German P-3Cs have been sold to Portugal, with delivery of four of the aircraft already having taken place. The remaining two Orions are scheduled for handover to be handed over by the end of this year, at the time the first German P-8A is expected to enter service.
The Laage Air Base, located within the Rostock-Laage Airport area, is home to Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 73 (the 73rd Tactical Air Wing) ´Steinhoff´, equipped with Eurofighter 2000 jets. The history of the base dates back to the late 1970s, when a military airfield for the East German armed forces was constructed near Laage. Officially opened in 1984, the facility was then used by Jagdbombenfliegergeschwader 77 (the 77th Fighter-Bomber Wing) and Marinefliegergeschwader 28 (the 28th Naval Air Wing).
In 1990, the airfield was taken over by the Bundeswehr and activated as a fighter base for the 73rd Fighter Squadron within three years. At the same time, civilian operations at Rostock-Laage Airport began.
In 2026, Fliegerhorst Laage will host the Tag der Bundeswehr for the first time in ten-year history of the event. For the first time, the country-wide open day was organised in 2015 at fifteen different locations.
However, in 2020 and 2021, organisation of the open day at military bases was not possible due to coronavirus restrictions. Therefore, Tag der Bundeswehr was turned into a digital event and only broadcasted online. In 2022, facing outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the national open day was replaced by just a single event, held in Warendorf (North Rhine-Westphalia).
It should be also mentioned that the pre-covid editions of Tag der Bundeswehr were marketed with a common slogan ´Willkommen Neugier´, which can be translated into English as ´welcome the curious ones´. Since 2020, the the event adopted a new motto – ´Wir sind da´ (We are here). In addition, the overall format of Tag der Bundeswehr was changed. Currently, particular emphasis is put on talent search and presenting Bundeswehr as an attractive employer, able to offer several modern occupational backgrounds, both with and without the uniform.
