Then known as Fliegerhorst Kassel, the facility was used during World War II by the German Luftwaffe as a combat airfield.

It was seized in early April 1945 by the United States Army and used as a Ninth Air Force combat airfield until the end of the war in Europe.

After the military left, the airfield and barracks were converted to civilian use, including a photovoltaic power station and a business park.

In December 1935 the first pupils arrived for the new flying school which had been established there, and by mid 1939 the Fliegerstab Rothwesten was completed and at war strength, hosting a reconnaissance group taking photographs over Poland, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

[1][better source needed] As a result of having been built with very deep foundations, some buildings could be equipped with basements, and some even with a sub-basement.

In its day it was one of the most modern and best-equipped Luftwaffe bases: it had a swimming pool, hospital, gas station for private cars, barber shop, post office, and other facilities.

[1][better source needed] From 1944 until April 1945, the remaining larger buildings of Rothwesten were used by Fieseler aircraft industries as a small production line for planes.

[1][better source needed] Spare parts for these machines were eventually stored in some of the basements, but by March/April 1945 production stopped as supplies ran out.

[1][better source needed] Once confirmed suitable for operational use, the airfield was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "R12" Kassel/Rothwesten.

The 48th moved out in a few days, and was replaced by the 36th Fighter Group on 21 April and continued operations from the airfield until the German Capitulation on 7 May.

The ASA unit at Rothwesten was a main intercept and MARBURG-equipped special identification techniques (SIT) site during the Cold War.

Directed by Edward A. Tenenbaum, they were cut off from the rest of the world for seven weeks, and worked on the details of introducing the Deutsche Mark as the new currency of (West) Germany.

[5] After the US troops left on 1 October 1972, the facility passed to the Bundeswehr in 1973 and in 1975 it was renamed Fritz Erler Kaserne.

The civilian conversion involved the creation of a Gewerbepark Fritz-Erler-Anlage (business park), the former technical facilities of 42 hectares with various old buildings (power station, tank repair shop).

[6] In 2015, the State of Hessen rededicated the former barracks as a "camp" for refugees (Erstaufnahmeeinrichtung or facility for initial accommodation).

[8] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency