German Airfield (Dzhily-Su)

The German Airfield (Nemetsky Aerodrom) is a flat high-mountain plateau on the northern slope of Mount Elbrus, in the Dzhily-Su area of the Zolsky District, Kabardino-Balkaria. It is the bed of a dried-up lake, roughly 1.5 by 2 kilometres, at about 2,850–2,900 metres above sea level. The place is known for a legend about German planes and Tibetan lamas arriving here in 1942, and is considered one of the most mysterious corners of the Northern Elbrus region.

History

In the autumn of 1942, during the Battle of the Caucasus, Elbrus and its surroundings became a front line: German mountain troops tried to hold positions on the slopes. According to old-timers, German planes landed on the dry lake at that time; retellings mention the twin-boom Focke-Wulf Fw 189 reconnaissance aircraft, which locals called "double-fuselage". This is where the plateau got its name.

After the war and until the 1960s, the Northern Elbrus area remained closed to tourists, geologists, archaeologists and even shepherds, reportedly first on the orders of the NKVD and later the KGB. There is no published documentary evidence that an airfield operated here; the story is known mostly from oral accounts.

Legends and accounts

The main legend of the German Airfield goes like this. Narrow-faced, dark-skinned people in white robes resembling monks' habits stepped out of a landed plane, escorted by men in SS uniforms, and the plane then flew off without them. According to one version, they were Tibetan lamas sent to Elbrus on Hitler's orders: the mountain was seen as a place of power where one could glimpse the future, and the lamas were to foresee the outcome of the war through meditation.

Then the legend turns dark. The prophecy is said to have been unfavourable for Germany, and the lamas were shot in the Dzhily-Su tract. Somewhere nearby there is supposedly a swastika laid out in stones marking their grave.

Other beliefs are attached to the plateau too. A local "minotaur" is said to live in the stone labyrinths, a healing cross-shaped stone stands on the hill with the stone mushrooms, and some see holes in certain rocks that were supposedly used for sacrifices. All these stories remain legends: they feed interest in the place but are not backed by documents.

Nearby sights

Above the plateau, at about 3,200 metres, stand the Stone Mushrooms, some twenty rock pillars up to five metres tall. The trail follows rivers that start at the Ullukol and Karachaul glaciers; nearby are the Sultan waterfall (about 40 metres) and the Karakaya-Su waterfall, and below lie the Dzhily-Su mineral springs.

How to get to the German Airfield

Dzhily-Su is about 84 kilometres from Kislovodsk along a dirt mountain road; organised transfers and local drivers with off-road vehicles go there. The walk up to the plateau starts at the Emmanuel Meadow: about 2 kilometres, roughly an hour on foot.

Good to know

The road to Dzhily-Su can be blocked by snow even in spring, so summer and early autumn are the best time to go. At this altitude the weather changes quickly: bring warm clothes and waterproof footwear.