Allgemeine Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft, Flugzeugfabrik, Hennigsdorf (AEG)

Aircraft Development:

  In 1910, at the instigation of Mr. Baurat Jordan, a “Flight Technology Department” was added to the “A.E.G.”. The first flying experiences were gained on a purchased Wright machine, which then led to the construction of a series of test types under the direction of the chief engineer Stumpf. This resulted in an airplane whose main components, such as the fuselage, undercarriage, wing spars and struts, were made of steel. The special feature of this aircraft was that the wings were retractable on the ground. It was therefore possible, without dismantling, to transport the aircraft on a country road and to store it in small tents in the field.
  This resulted in the first military aircraft, the Aeg B.I, in which, in contrast to aircraft from other aircraft factories, all structural parts, such as the fuselage, landing gear, wing spars and stalks, were made entirely of steel, thus guaranteeing weather resistance. The wings were arranged so that they could be pivoted simply by turning them.
  Initially, the aircraft were flight tested at the Teltow airfield, as the AEG site in Hennigsdorf was not suitable for this purpose. Since the long distance between the workshops and the airfield led to various inconveniences, AEG decided in the summer of 1912 to set up its own airfield and flying school in the immediate vicinity of Nieder-Neuendorf.
  In 1913, the first officers were trained on the new A.E.G. aircraft at the Nieder-Neuendorf airfield; at the same time, Captain Mackenthun joined the flight engineering department in that year.
  AEG was the only company that decided to introduce metal aircraft construction right from the beginning. This was based on experience in other branches of industry, where wooden construction was replaced by steel construction in the course of development. Particularly during the war in the construction of large aircraft, these principles proved their worth to a large extent.
  By the spring of 1914, the tests had been completed to such an extent that the military administration ordered and accepted a number of the new aircraft. The experience of the Fliegertruppe soon brought the certainty that the steel construction, which had not been used in aircraft construction until then, was particularly well suited to field requirements.
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Allgemeine Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft, Flugzeugfabrik, Hennigsdorf (AEG)

Aircraft Development:

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  In the winter of 1914/15, at the suggestion of the Inspectorate of German Air Forces, AEG engineers worked on a large aircraft that was also designed entirely of steel. Initially, the propellers were located at the front, in contrast to aircraft built later by other companies. This method of mounting the engines made for smooth takeoff and comfortable flying. The two 100 hp Mercedes engines located between the engines in the G.I type were connected to the fuselage and undercarriage by a structurally sound tubular structure, which reduced engine vibration to an acceptable minimum, since the entire mass of the aircraft resisted vibration. This solution also kept the wing system vibration-free. These design features resulted in high operational reliability. The pilot’s seat was located in the center behind the propellers, had a seat for an attendant next to it and a connecting walkway to the balcony, which was intended to prevent accidents during bad landings. This type G.II, which was equipped with two 150 hp Benz engines, was first flown by pilot Kanitz. This giant aircraft was taken into troop service under the designation Aeg G.II in the summer of 1915, where it achieved remarkable success and proved itself as a fighter and bomber. With a wingspan of 16 m, the large aircraft was also the smallest of all competing aircraft and posed fewer difficulties in terms of packaging and accommodation, which was achieved by folding the engines back against the fuselage and thus allowing them to be accommodated in the cargo profile. Road transport was also accomplished without significant disassembly, and stowage in a narrow hangar was made possible by simply folding down the wings.
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  Parallel to the C types, the G-aircraft were developed. The AEG G.II received 220 hp Mercedes engines and was delivered to the Fliegerkrafte as Aeg G.III (1916), where they proved themselves especially as bombers.
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Albatros-Werke GmbH, Berlin-Johannisthal (Alb)

  Captain (ret.) Dr. Walther Huth carefully studied the development of aviation, especially the progress in France.
  Believing in the positive signals and in the conviction of a profitable business, Dr. Huth had a hangar built for 6,000 Marks at the first German airfield at Johannisthal near Berlin. The company founded here under the name “Ikaros-Gesellschaft” intended to carry out demonstration flights all over Germany with one and two-seater Antoinette monoplanes. In 1910, a Farman III biplane was added. At the first international air show in August 1909, the Grande Semaine d’Aviation de la Champagne, the Farman machine had won the long distance prize and the Antoinette the high altitude prize. These machines were used as training aircraft and as patterns for license replication in the later Albatros factories. In addition to the Antoinette and Farman types, the three best-known Albatros replicas were the French summer biplane. All aircraft were successfully flown and used in student pilot training.
  In the absence of trained pilots, Dr. Huth sent his chauffeur Simon Brennhuber and the employed engineer Eugen Wiencziers to France to learn to fly.
  On December 20, 1909, the "Ikaros-Gesellschaft“ was renamed „Pilot-Flugtechnische Gesellschaft". Initially, no aircraft were designed, built or sold. The French airplanes, which had arrived in the meantime, were demonstrated at various air shows, mainly by Wienczier, and won several prizes.
  On December 29, 1909, Dr. Huth renamed the company “Albatros-Werke” to implement his acquired license rights to build French airplanes. As early as the spring of 1910, with the participation of other financiers, including engineer Otto Wiener, the “Albatros-Werke” was transformed into a limited liability company GmbH.
  The Farman aircraft, imported from France by Albatroswerke, was sold to the Army Administration on December 18, 1910, having already been loaned out for military pilot training at Doberitz. Under the Army designation “B.I”, it was the first German military aircraft. Among the five other “flying machines” acquired by the German Army Administration at the end of 1910 were a Farman and a Sommer biplane, two French types copied from Albatros. In 1911, further important development steps followed with the first in-house design, the MZ 1 twin pigeon, and with the victory of Benno Konig on Albatros-Farman in the Deutschlandflug.
  During 1912, five Albatros F.2s were built, a further development of the French Farman III biplane (hence the letter F) with a gondola for the crew and Argus in-line engine instead of the original Gnome rotary engine. Four aircraft were delivered to the newly formed Bulgarian Aircraft Department, where they participated in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. One of them flew its first military mission in the skies over Europe on October 16,1912.
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Aircraft Development:

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  1911: In this year the company released an improved Sommer-Farman type, equipped with 70 hp Gnome 7-cylinder rotary engine. The flight requirements placed on the flying machine were: Minimum speed: 60 km/h. The aircraft must be able to fly for 30 minutes at an altitude of at least 300 m with foil load. The takeoff distance was not allowed to exceed 50 m.
  At the same time, a military type was also created: M.Z. 2, a biplane with a 100 hp Argus engine weighing 480 kg, equipped with two protected seats and dual controls with levers. The engine was located in the rear, pressurized propeller. Speed was 80 km/h. At the end of the year, another Farman type with 50 hp Gnome and 70 hp Renault engine was developed. The required performances were now: Minimum speed 60 km/h, 2 hours flight time at minimum altitude 300 m.
  1912/13: During this period the military type 1912 (VM.Z. 1) was built, which was a biplane equipped with a 100 hp Argus engine. The total weight was 420 kg, the payload 300 kg. Fuel was available for 4 hours, maximum speed was 90 km/h.
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Hanseatische Flugzeugwerke AG (Karl Caspar), Hamburg-Fuhlsbuttel (Hansa)

Foundation:

  Karl Caspar learned to fly on Etrich-Taube and received the pilot certificate No. 77. In 1911, at the age of 28, he laid the foundation stone for his company. In the fall of 1911, Mr. Karl Caspar founded the local company, which at that time consisted of a small flight school under the name “Centrale fur Aviatik Hamburg” on the Wandsbek parade ground. The transformation into a stock corporation took place on January 1,1917.
  A fire accident in the summer of 1912 led to the company being relocated to a more suitable airfield - Hamburg-Fuhlsbuttel. The Hanseatische Flugzeugwerke were rebuilt there on the basis of a contract with the Hamburg Luftschiffhafen-Gesellschaft, which had already leased another hangar to the Navy.
  Caspar was by all means a successful pilot: on June 19, 1912, he set a German altitude record of 3,245 m with a Rumpler pigeon on the occasion of the Nordmarken flight. He achieved further successes at the “Krupp Flight Week 1912” and the “East Prussia Flight 1913”.
  In 1914, the company name changed from “Centrale fur Aviatik Hamburg” to “Hansa-Flugzeugwerke Hamburg Karl Caspar,” while the flying school was henceforth known as the “Hanseatische Flugschule”. At the outbreak of the First World War, Caspar immediately fulfilled his so-called “army duty” and reported for military service with the Fliegertruppe. In order not to leave his company without management for a long time during wartime, he negotiated a merger of his company with the “Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke GmbH” in Briest near Brandenburg (Havel) and the “Deutsche Aero-Gesellschaft AG” in Berlin in 1915. The new company was named “Hansa- und Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke AG,” and Berlin was set as its headquarters, with operating facilities in Berlin, Hamburg and Briest. The main shareholder of the merged plants was the Vienna-based Kommerzialrat Camillo Castiglioni, who also held the position of general manager.
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August Euler Flugzeugwerke, Darmstadt and Frankfurt a.M. (Eul)

Foundation:

  August Euler initially founded his own automotive parts company in 1903. By founding his “Handelshaus fur Automobilkonstruktionsmaterial”, he successfully monopolized the sale of products from German, French, English and Belgian companies. From 1903 to 1908, Euler had great success selling ignition systems made by Bosch in Stuttgart, which helped him to become wealthy in a short time.
  The passion for the automobile was decisive for Euler’s further development. The constant exposure to the rapidly developing automotive technology and the associated financial success formed the basis for his real life’s work, aviation. August Euler was not only an industrialist, but remained a sportsman, now, however, no longer as a bicycle racer, but as an automobile driver. Through his active participation in various automobile races, including in France, where he won the long-distance automobile race Barcelona-Paris in 1906, contact was made with French aviation pioneers who were also initially addicted to automobile racing. Among them were the future pilots Bleriot, Delagrange and Farman.
  In 1908, Euler visited the aeronautical exhibitions in Paris. During this visit, August Euler and the Voisin brothers agreed on the basic elements of a license agreement, which included “the exclusive right of sale and the exclusive right of reproduction” of the Voisin apparatuses, including applicable patents in Germany. The contract, which was concluded on January 18, 1908, provided for the delivery of an airworthy apparatus of the latest design by mid-December 1908.
  In anticipation of prompt delivery, August Euler intended to set up his factory at his home in Frankfurt am Main. Without being able to designate a specific location for his new company, Euler registered a trade for a flying machine factory with the city of Frankfurt in October 1908. The foundation stone for the oldest German aircraft factory had been laid. The city administration itself had the greatest reservations and was rather “outweighed by the fear of being put in the wrong light with this new-fangled business idea.”

Gothaer Waggonfabrik A.-G., Gotha (Go)

Foundation:

  The company was founded on July 1,1898 in Gotha as a wagon factory. Subsidiaries in Furth (Bavaria) and Warnemunde were under construction until the end of the war. However, aircraft construction did not start until the end of 1912.


Aircraft Development:

  In 1913, construction of the first Taube began, still in a primitive design with a trapezoidal fuselage covered with fabric and fitted with a large tangle of bracing wires. The undercarriage was the original of the Taube designs with hinged wheels. The first Tauben were equipped with 70 hp 4 cyl; 75 hp 6 yl, 100 hp 6 cyl, Mercedes and 100 hp 4 cyl Argus engines. The climbing ability of the pigeons designed at that time, which had a total weight of about 650 kg and handled a payload of 250 kg, was good. They reached 800 m altitude in 15 minutes, and the speed was between 80 and 95 km/h.
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  In 1913, only the Gotha-Taube was produced in series, the improvement of which, especially in the comfortable arrangement of the pilot’s seat, resulted in a substantial increase in the dead weight by widening the fuselage. It should also be mentioned that the bracing and controls were also improved, which made the Gotha-Taube popular as a comfortable, safe and easy-to-fly representative of military aviation.
  The year 1914 began with the insistent demand for better flight performance of all Tauben in general, which could no longer be postponed. Although the “Tauben” in general showed significant progress in the development of flight technology, they could not compete with the biplanes, which were in fierce competition. The company soon decided to reduce the development work on the Tauben and turned to the production of biplanes in series.
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  The old popularity of the Taube in the field did not allow it to disappear so quickly in production, because a number of pilots who had used the Taube in the beginning could not let go of it so quickly. For this reason, they tried to adapt it better to the requirements of war, developing an enlarged tank, more comfortable interior and easier rigging.
  The Tauben had remarkable flight successes on September 2, 1914, when they circled over Paris in a squadron flight. It was reserved for the Gotha Taube to be the first aircraft (pilot Lt. Caspar) to fly to England (Dover) during the war.
  It is also worth mentioning that in cross-country flights the Taube already had significant successes in pre-war times. In the national flight competition, Schlegel won the 1st prize of 60,000 marks on the Gotha Taube after Stoeffler’s world record, and Lieutenant Caspar won the 2nd prize of 50,000 marks.
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Automobil- und Aviatik AG, Subsidiary Bork i. Mark

  The Bork branch of Automobil- und Aviatik AG has a differentiated history, having evolved from the “Hans Grade Flieger-Werke”.

Hans-Grade-Werke, Bork i. Mark

Aircraft Development:

  Hans Grade developed a new monoplane from the “Libelle”, the “Schwalbe” in the basic models A, B and C, which differed in their wingspans of 8, 8.5 and 12 meters. The C basic type was designed as a two-seater. Grade also offered a total of seven different engines. This large number of possible combinations was intended to help meet special customer requirements. The competition was huge at the time. Grade felt this during many competitions and display flights in which he participated. The speeds that could be achieved with the “Schwalbe” (swallow) were no longer sufficient, so Grade decided to develop a racing monoplane. Two new models were developed. Type D was a single-seater with a 30 or 45 hp four-cylinder engine. For the first time, this type had a partially aluminum-clad fuselage made of tubular steel, in which the pilot was accommodated. However, the attainable maximum speed increased only to 110-115 Km/h.
  Although further types were also built at the Grade works in 1913 and 1914, the expected success failed to materialize, not least because of the collapse of civilian sport aviation. In particular, the measures taken under the National Flight Donation led to a steady decline in sales.
  After the outbreak of the World War, the capacities of Grade Flieger-Werke were used to repair front-line aircraft. Therefor an independent aeronautical development in Bork did not existed after the beginning of WWI. Grade’s influence within his company was so weakened by the directive rights of the military construction supervisors that he decided to sell his factory in 1916. The date of the establishment of the above company is January 1, 1917, the date of the takeover of Hans-Grade Flieger-Werke by Aviatik. The company manufactured about 550 Albatros B.II aircraft under license and repaired 250 Aviatik C I, C II and C III and DFW C V aircraft in 1917.

Halberstadter Flugzeugwerke GmbH, Halberstadt (Halb)

Foundation:

  In December 1911, the “Halberstadter Flugplatzgesellschaft” was founded. This paved the way for the construction of an airfield. The city also had the foresight to lay a cable line. This made it possible to build an aircraft factory on the edge of the new airfield site.
  The fact that Halberstadt became an “aviation town” was mainly due to the efforts of Max Heckel, a mining councilor.
  It can be assumed that Heckel also thought about creating an aircraft factory or at least an aircraft workshop. He was very well acquainted with the owners of the Oschersleben-based company Behrens & Kuhne, which was already building novel and transportable aircraft tents and airship hangars in 1911. When Hermann Behrens demonstrated his products in Berlin, he was asked to add light aircraft for the German army headquarters to the company’s production program in addition to the production of tents. These were primarily Bristol monoplanes, which were considered the best machines at the time and had been successfully flown by British pilots at Doberitz, the heart of German “military aviation”. Behrens therefore contacted Bristolwerke (The British and Colonial Aeroplane Comp., Ltd.), which had only been founded in 1910. He succeeded in concluding an agreement that Bristol aircraft could also be built in Germany.
  This company was then founded on April 9, 1912 under the name “Deutsche Bristol-Werke GmbH”. After the demonstration of the first Bristol aircraft, the Army Administration commissioned four aircraft, but required that the HFW simultaneously train pilots for the German Army. Thus, the Bristolwerke were also among the flying schools financed by funds from the Nationalflugspende.
  In September 1914, the company was renamed Halberstadter Flugzeugwerke GmbH. The founders were H. Behrens, G. Behrens, T. Stockhausen and Eduard Schnebel. The “Halberstadter Militar-Fliegerschule GmbH” and Plant II in Klusstrasse, where mainly boat building was carried out, were affiliated as subsidiaries.


Aircraft Development:

  The first new development to leave the Halberstadt aircraft works in 1913 was the so-called “Halberstadt-Taube” with a 70 hp engine. The Bristol monoplane (also known as the “Bristol pig”), which had been built up to that point, turned out to be difficult to steer. The Halberstadt Taube, on the other hand, was more cumbersome, but was smoother in the air. In addition, it was more stable (due to the so-called “Rover fuselage”).
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Junkers-Fokker-Werke, AG, Dessau (Junk and Jfa)

Foundation:

  Professor Hugo Junkers had been working on aerodynamics since 1908. His laboratory was located in Aachen at the time. In 1911, he built a wind tunnel in Aachen that resembled Mr. Eiffel’s.
  His numerous experiments led him to conclude that the airplane of the future would be made entirely of metal, with thick wings, no stalks or braces. In April 1915, he had another aerodynamic laboratory with tunnel built at his factory in Dessau, so that he could more easily continue his research and apply the results of his experiments.
  This factory was already engaged in metal processing (production of heating stoves, bathtubs, etc.). In September 1915, he had it start building the first German all-metal aircraft (J.1).
  The first official tests of this aircraft took place in January 1916. The Flugzeugmeisterei rated them as interesting. The Junkers factory then received its first government order and continued to produce various types of all-metal aircraft.
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Aircraft Development:

  In May 1914, Professor Junkers, who at the time was primarily concerned with the design and construction of his opposed-piston engine, began preliminary work on the construction of a metal monoplane without bracing. Junkers recognized in the braceless cantilever wings a significant advance in the aerodynamic sense, because such a wing has a significantly lower air resistance. For these cantilever wings, metal was and is definitely preferable to wood because of its uniform strength properties, its weather resistance, its fire resistance and the construction method that is largely ensured with metal.
  Following the principles of Eiffel in Auteuil and Prof. Prandtl in Gottingen, Prof. Hugo Junkers created a wind tunnel facility to establish the scientific basis for his design. In May 1914, the first facility was commissioned in Aachen, followed by a second facility in Dessau in February 1916. After the positive laboratory results led to the conclusion that the wing required for the cantilever design with a relatively large airfoil height compared to the usual thin airfoils could be built not only without a noticeable deterioration in the lift-to-drag ratio but with more favorable stability characteristics, construction of test flights could begin. These first tests were carried out in 1915 at the Junkers company in Dessau. Iron was used as the building material and a steel tube construction was used for the wing interior. The wing surface (covering) was designed as a flexurally rigid beam and was thus part of the load-bearing wing structure. The fuselage structure was also made of steel tubes.
  In January 1916, the first experimental aircraft, the J1 (monoplane with 120 hp Mercedes D II engine) was demonstrated, followed by an order for 6 aircraft. The rapid development of the aircraft as a weapon on both sides of the front led to a permanent increase in the requirements for flight characteristics and performance. For example, Junkers was forced to make technical changes to the monoplane while the first small order was being processed, among other things to improve the climb performance of the relatively heavy aircraft.
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Junkers-Fokker-Werke, AG, Dessau (Junk and Jfa)

Foundation:

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  In the fall of 1917, Junkers merged with Fokker on government orders to increase the production of its factories.
  The “Junkers-Fokker-Flugzeugwerke” A. G., which was founded in this way, had new buildings constructed in Dessau. The new company set forth especially the construction of the metal airplanes.
  During the war, the Flugzeugmeisterei gave the “Junkers” factories the short name “Junk”, after the merger with Fokker: “Jfa”. Fokker near Schwerin had the abbreviation “Jfo”.


Aircraft Development:

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  During this period (late 1916) Junkers received a trial order to build 3 experimental J-airplanes (armored biplanes for ground combat) with 200 hp Benz engines. Although the J4 (military J.I) aircraft, which underwent its flight tests at Doberitz in February 1917, had a mass of 2,000 kg, which was enormous by the standards of the time, it proved that the required climb times could also be achieved in metal construction. The first armored aircraft for the front were released in the summer of 1917 and had quite satisfactory results, so that series production could begin. Duralumin instead of steel was used for the first time in the J4/J.I. Due to the lower strength, reinforcing corrugated sheets made of duralumin were also used for the first time in the structural area of the J4. Incidentally, there was also a single J4 in which the entire fuselage, including paneling, was built from duralumin for test purposes.
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  All in all, it can be said that the two partners, Fokker and Junkers, pursued too different approaches to aircraft construction, so that a fruitful collaboration did not materialize after the takeover. It was not until after the end of the First World War, when both entrepreneurs went their separate ways again, that decisive impetus was given to aircraft construction by both companies.


Story behind the fusion from Fokker and Junkers (taken from “The Hugo Junkers Homepage" by Horst Zoeller

  The initial Junkers aircraft J1 to J3 and the J4 prototypes were still produced within the Junkers & Co. workshops. Following the successful tests of the Junkers J4, Idflieg was interested in a serial production of this combat aircraft. However, Idflieg was not convinced with the Junkers facilities in Dessau, as Junkers did not have any experience in a large-scale serial production of aircraft. Nevertheless, an initial order for 50 Junkers J.4s was placed in February 1917. Difficulties with the material supply of the armour plates, which were provided by Huttenwerk Dillingen and change requests from the still ongoing test program at Adlershof resulted in the Idflieg expected delivery delays. The first aircraft 100/17 was delivered in August 1917 for front tests. At this time Junkers was still unable to put out the promised number of 30-50 aircraft per month. Therefore, Idflieg refused to put any further orders for the J4 until Junkers solved his production problems. Idflieg also promoted a merger with one of the larger experienced aircraft manufacturers in Germany. Due to the missing Idflieg orders Junkers got into financial problems and therefore started discussions with several potential partners, like Daimler, Stinnes, Siemens-Schuckert, Bosch, Aviatik, Oesterreichsiche Fiat, and Fokker as well.
  The experienced manufacturers were interested in picking up the J4 design for their own production lines and offered Junkers a minority shareholder position. But Hugo Junkers still intended to set up an own production line at his facilities at Dessau and was therefore looking for a partnership with knowledge transfer. Camillo Castiglioni of the Oesterreichische Fiat made a promising offer leaving Hugo Junkers with 70 percent of the shares. The joint venture company was intended to take a license agreement for the J4 from the Forschungsanstalt at Dessau and Fiat would be responsible for the setup of a serial production in the new company. However, these discussions did not come to a successful end.
  Anthony Fokker was another discussion partner. Instead of picking up the J4 for his own production lines, he offered the setup of a new facility at Dessau. As the Fiat offer, the Fokker offer was heading for a license agreement between the new company and the Forschungsanstalt. Junkers and Fokker should hold 50 percent of the company. On 20th October 1917 the Junkers-Fokker-Werke A.G. was founded at Dessau with a capital of 2.6 Mio. Mark. The Junkers capital was added with facility grounds, tools and materials.
  Following the foundation of the Junkers-Fokker-Werke Idflieg promptly put several orders for Junkers aircraft. With the engagement of Fokker at the Junkers facility and with additional staff from the Fokker-Werke at Schwerin the production rate at Dessau was raised from 17 J4 aircraft in January 1918 to 31 aircraft in October 1918. However, this was still less than the promised output rate of 50 aircraft per month. Initially the J.4s were shipped to Doberitz for flight tests, still in 1917 the flight tests were transferred to Wurzen near Leipzig. In May 1918 Junkers was able to offer test flights at a newly established airfield at Dessau as well. At least with the production setup of the Junkers J.9 new complexities arise.
  To increase the number of available J4 aircraft, in Summer 1918 Idflieg placed orders at other aircraft manufacturers for the J4 as well. In June 1918 a number of 100 J4 aircraft were ordered at Linke-Hofmann in Breslau. But as the license discussions between Linke-Hofmann and the Junkers did not make progress, this order was later cancelled. Another third-party order was put by Idflieg at Hansa-Brandenburg for a total of 50 Junkers J9 aircraft. Again, this third-party order was not realized. Therefore, all WWI Junkers aircraft were produced at Junkers & Co. or at Junkers-Fokker-Werke. At the end of WWI deep differences between Junkers and Fokker existed. During the time of Junkers-Fokker-Werke Fokker always tried to transfer technological knowhow from the Junkers-Fokker-Werke to his own facilities at Schwerin. Additionally, Fokker took opposite positions to Junkers’ designs as he liked to promote his own aircraft at Idflieg. On the other hand, Jco and Jfa were competitors regarding Idflieg orders, at least a number of pre series aircraft were built at Jco. Therefore, when WWI came to an end, both Hugo Junkers and Anthony Fokker quickly separated from each other, and the Junkers-Fokker-Werke were dissolved.

Kaiserliche Werften

Foundation:

  The Imperial Shipyards in the German Empire were state-owned shipyards, alongside private shipyards, responsible for the design, construction, repair, modernization, and conversion of warships and submarines of the Imperial Navy in the period from 1871 to 1920. Some of their history began as Royal Shipyards for the Prussian Navy and, from July 7, 1867, for the Navy of the North German Confederation. In addition to the 3 shipyards in the German Empire:
  Kaiserliche Werft Danzig (1852-1920)
  Kaiserliche Werft Kiel (1867-1920)
  Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven (1853-1920)
  the Kaiserliche Werft Antwerpen in Hoboken (1914-1918) continued to exist at the time of WWl.
  The Ottoman Navy also had facilities in Istanbul, Izmit and Gemlik known as Tersane-i Amire (Turkish for Imperial Shipyards).
  Repairs were carried out at the Kaiserliche Werft, as well as the construction of licensed and own designs. In addition, a whole series of experiments were carried out in the interest of naval aviation. At Danzig-Putzig, Coulmann carried out experiments with central floats around 1912, using a converted Albatros fuselage biplane. Around 1917/18, the first catapult starts of a Hansa-Brandenburg from a military ship also took place here.
  Surprisingly, in addition to the already established aircraft companies, the Navy administration decided to develop and build aircraft on its own responsibility from the end of 1914. All 3 above-mentioned shipyards of the Kaiserliche Marine built a total of only 20 floatplanes, a number that seems insignificant when measured against the total number of all aircraft in service with the Navy.


Aircraft Development:

  Marine numbers 404 and 405 were the sole two examples of a unique seaplane design produced for the flying service of the Imperial German Navy during the First World War. By 1917, the output of the major German seaplane manufacturers was taken up producing machines for frontline service. As a consequence, the only machines available for training purposes were those that had been made obsolete or which had been damaged and rebuilt. In order to provide modern trainers for the Navy, the Kaiserliche Werft Danzig undertook the design and construction of two brand-new seaplanes between March and June, unarmed two-seat biplanes. These machines were supplied to the naval base at Putzig along with a batch of four trainers of a different design, numbered 467-470.
  Construction of these unarmed two-seat biplanes took place between October 1916 and March 1917, ahead of a separate order for two more machines of different design that had been assigned lower serial numbers by the Navy (404-405).
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Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven

Foundation:

  Shortly after the commissioning of the war port in the middle of the 19th century, the construction of the third royal Prussian shipyard in Germany was started on the site in 1870, following the already existing royal Prussian shipyards in Danzig and Kiel. With the proclamation of the German Empire in January 1871, the navies of the North German Confederation and Prussia were in turn combined to form the Imperial Navy, and the former “ Konigliche Werften” (Royal Shipyards) were renamed “Kaiserliche Werften” (Imperial Shipyards) accordingly.
  In the meantime, a new town had grown up on the area around the naval facilities, which was given the name Wilhelmshaven in 1869 on the occasion of the inauguration of new harbor facilities by Wilhelm I.
  The company did not turn to aircraft construction until the end of 1914. For this purpose, vacant hangars on the shipyard’s waterside were used.


Aircraft Development:

  Imperial German Navy seaplanes numbers 401 to 403 were the only three examples of a unique seaplane design produced for the Navy’s flying service during the First World War. Production of these types commenced in April 1915 in an effort to supply the navy with a seaplane trainer of contemporary design. With the outbreak of war, the output of Germany’s major seaplane manufacturers was taken up with producing front-line types, and the only trainers available were obsolete or rebuilt machines withdrawn from their original duties. Number 401 and its two siblings were delivered to the Navy in August 1915.
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Kondor-Flugzeugwerke, Essen (Kon)

Foundation:

  Kondor-Flugzeugwerke, founded by the Lord Mayor of Dusseldorf, Wilhelm Marr, in Essen an der Ruhr on July 20, 1912, maintained its main plant on the site of the former Gelsenkirchen-Essen-Rotthausen airfield. The company also maintained a flying school there. A second flying school was opened in Nordhausen.


Aircraft Development:

  Although Suwelak, as the most experienced of the Kondor pilots, demonstrated the first pigeons designed by the company in flight, at first no orders were placed for the pigeons. The company endeavored to produce aircraft types through further improvements, which were not entirely without success in aircraft competitions and records, such as:
  1913:
   8-hour endurance record, Prinz Heinrich flight,
   Aeroplan tournament in Gotha, flight around Berlin,
   Krupp flight week, triangle flight;
  1915:
   Altitude record 4,000 m with 4 passengers (Lieutenant Hohndorf).
  Since the German army administration could not decide on the orders in the Kondor-Flugzeugwerke, the company first turned to the foreign market and exhibited its own design of an aircraft in Madrid on February 1,1914. This exhibition and demonstration was a complete success, as the Kondor-Flugzeugwerke received a trial order from the Spanish government for the delivery of a series of Kondor Taube G. This seemed to secure the further development of the company, but as a result of the outbreak of war, the delivery of the aircraft was prohibited by the army administration, as the aircraft were needed by Germany’s own aviation forces. Due to the difficulties associated with the outbreak of war, such as the mobilization of a large part of the personnel, including the technical director at the time, Mr. Josef Suwelack, the company itself ran into difficulties, although it was itself constantly seeking Army orders. By hiring new designers, 4 biplanes D.I, D.II, D.6 and D.7 were developed in succession.
  In 1915, due to good experience with this Spanish G export version, the factory received an Army order for several Type H “Kondors”with 100 hp Daimler D.I engines.
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  Since the airfield in Essen-Gelsenkirchen-Rotthausen was unsuitable for effective training operations, the company transferred its flight school to the military airfield in Grossenhain/Saxony on April 20, 1915, and finally began training operations in Nordhausen on September 1,1917. The training aircraft, mainly Kondor Tauben and Kondor B.I, had the identifiers K1 to K23, but DFW, Albatros and LVG aircraft were also used for training.<...>

Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft mbH, Berlin-Charlottenburg (Rol)

Foundation:

  Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft mbH (LFG) is one of the oldest German plants established for the factory production of aircraft. It had its origins in Motorluftschiff-Studiengesellschaft mbH, which was founded in Bitterfeld in 1906. LFG was founded when Motorluftschiff-Studiengesellschaft merged with Parseval-Gesellschaft to build airships in 1908. The company headquarters moved from Bitterfeld to Berlin-Charlottenburg. The focus until then had been on the Parseval airships.
  A short time later, LFG took over the “inheritance” of the “Flugmaschinen Wright Gesellschaft”, which had gone into liquidation, and also began to manufacture aircraft, originally in Reinickendorf near Berlin on a site adjacent to the Luftschifferbataillon.
  Initially it built Wright-type aircraft under license, then in 1912 it launched the first LFG-branded aircraft, which soon became known as “Roland” aircraft.
  During the war, LFG was given the short name “Rol” by the Flugzeugmeisterei.
  The LFG comprised various business facilities:
   Plant in Charlottenburg (aircraft factory);
   Bitterfeld plant (factory for airships and seaplanes built in 1908);
   plant in Stralsund (factory for seaplanes);
   an old hangar in Reinickendorf near Berlin (see above).
  For the purpose of flying in the newly produced aircraft, a branch factory was established at the airfield in Berlin-Adlershof.
  The shareholders of Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft m.b.H, included a number of banks, Bank fur Handel und Industrie, Deutsche Bank and Nationalbank fur Deutschland, as well as companies such as Elektrochemische Werke Friedrich Krupp, Ludwig Loewe and Hugo Stinnes.


Aircraft Development:

  The LVG company was originally engaged in the construction of non-rigid airships, Parseval system, and in 1909 started building airplanes. In 1913, the Roland-Stahl-Pfeil biplane with a 100 hp Mercedes engine was built. The first aircraft of this biplane were made almost exclusively of metal, because the company wanted to undertake test flights in the colonies and wood was out of the question because of the climatic conditions. As early as the spring of 1913, a Roland steel biplane was taken to German Southwest Africa, which made numerous cross-country flights and excelled especially after the outbreak of the war until it was destroyed. During the war, it reverted to wooden construction due to the shortage of raw materials.
  The company bought the Wright Company, which had gone into liquidation as a result of patent disputes, and in further development and using the existing facilities began building modern aircraft in 1912, for which it introduced the trademark “Roland” as a symbol of power and reliability. With these self-designed machines, it achieved not insignificant successes in 1913 and 1914 and received an incentive for further lively activity from the Nationalflugspende, which was int ended to secure Germany a leading position in aviation.
  The first monoplanes and biplanes were made almost entirely of steel and were called “Roland-Stahl-Taube” and “Roland-Stahl-Doppeldecker” respectively.
  At the outbreak of war in 1914, the LFG initially saw its main task in training young pilots.
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Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft mbH, Berlin-Charlottenburg (Rol)

Aircraft Development:

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  Although Roland monoplanes and biplanes had already been delivered to the Army Administration, these types were not yet sufficiently war-tested to send them to the front. Therefore, on the advice of the Army Administration, LFG decided to build the proven Albatros aircraft under license. License construction then began rapidly at the beginning of 1915 under the type designation Alb B.II(Rol), equipped with 120 hp Mercedes engines. In further development, a reconnaissance aircraft without armament was built, and later a more powerful two-seater biplane Alb C.I(Rol), also an Albatros design, but with a rotating machine gun.
  As a result of extensive tests conducted by the Gottingen Experimental Institute, the company produced an aircraft under the designation “Roland-Walfisch”, which was characterized in particular by increased speed (by 30 km/h), improved field of fire and climbing ability. The Rol C.II “Whale” aircraft achieved an epoch-making reduction in propulsive drag. This Roland C.II biplane (Walfisch) began its test flights in October 1915. However, the first plane already had an accident, because forced to land quickly by engine failure, it rolled against a bollard and broke the wing.
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  Above all, efforts were made to reduce the harmful frontal drag of the aircraft to a minimum. This problem could not be solved with the practical experience of the aircraft builders alone. It was now necessary to apply the findings of science, in particular those of the Gottingen Aviation Research Institute. The low-drag drop shapes developed here were to form the basis of future aircraft fuselage shapes. Thus, the Rol C.IIa “Whale” developed by LFG was the first to emerge, which allowed the top speed to shoot up by 30 km/h.
  At that time (1916), the emerging shortage of metals, especially steel, was already foreseeable. Skilled metal workers were tied up in other industries, such as the munitions industry. In contrast, carpenters and wood were freely available, which led to the “Whale” being made predominantly of wood. Even the stems, the basic framework of the hull, the frames, for which steel had also been used exclusively up to then, were now made of wood. This required a completely new strength determination for the entire aircraft. As a result, the Rol C.IIa was structurally better and lighter. External features, such as the propeller hub and ear cooler and the teardrop-shaped muffler, promised aerodynamic progress.
  Four weeks after the catastrophic fire at the Adlershof plant (September 6, 1916), the move to the hangars on Kaiserdamm (Charlottenburg) was completed. On October 9, 1916, the first aircraft left the factory there. Several hundred “Walfische”, now no longer built solely by LFG itself but under license from several major aircraft factories, reached the front. The German aircraft industry made the most imaginable efforts to catch up with LFG’s lead. The shape of the Rol C.IIa became the model for most of all subsequent aircraft designs.
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Lufttorpedo-Gesellschaft (LTG), Berlin-Johannisthal (Torp)
  
Foundation:

  The Lufttorpedo-Gesellschaft Berlin, founded around 1916/17, worked mainly as a supplier for the aviation industry and generally produced wings, rudders, tension towers and tail units. The director of the Lufttorpedo-Gesellschaft, Max Schuler, contributed a patent for a sliding torpedo to the company when it was founded.
  The military abbreviation was Torp.


Aircraft Development:

  From the beginning, a design department was also established, which developed two types of aircraft during the war: an unspecified biplane with wheeled undercarriage, built only in small numbers (if at all), and the FD1 fighter on floats. On February 8,1917, the Navy Department placed an order with LTG for the construction of 6 of the latter, although the prototype was destroyed during the mandatory strength tests at SVK.
  The LTG received the order for the three prototypes (Marine numbers 1299-1301) of a floatplane fighter on 8 February 1917. The first airframe for static testing was delivered three months later and was destroyed during the process. The next aircraft was delivered in July; flight testing showed that it was not very maneuverable and lacked longitudinal stability, so the third prototype was returned to the factory on 7 September.
  LTG therefore revised the design and extended the keel and fin forward by about twice their length to improve stability in particular, whereupon the Navy ordered three more SD1s, which were assigned numbers 1518 to 1520. MN 1518 was delivered to the SVK on March 4,1918, and were accepted as early as the 8th of that month. The Imperial Navy ended up taking delivery of five of the aircraft, but did not use them. One was given a wheel landing gear on a trial basis. The sixth FD1 was used for static testing and was destroyed in the process.
  The LTG SD 1 was a single-seat sea-fighter aircraft which had as a special feature an upper wing directly connected to the fuselage. According to the Kaiserliche Marine’s aircraft group classification, it belonged to the type of single-seat floatplane with fixed MGs (ED).
  The two single-stage floats were 5.00 m long, 0.60 m wide and had a capacity of 948 l.

Flugzeugwerft Lubeck-Travemunde GmbH, Travemunde

Foundation:

  In the course of the expansion of the Deutsche Flugzeugwerke (DFW) plant, they founded the Flugzeugwerft Lubeck-Travemunde in 1914 at the initiative of its director, Kommerzienrat Bernhard Meyer, together with the city of Lubeck and its financial support. The Flugzeugwerft Lubeck-Travemunde was entered in the commercial register on June 8, 1914.
  A 5-year contract between the finance directorate of the city of Lubeck and the “Flugzeugwerft Lubeck-Travemunde GmbH,” newly founded by the entrepreneur Bernhard Meyer of the Deutsche Flugzeugwerke Leipzig, initiated the start of aviation and the construction of an airport on the Priwall, a peninsula about three kilometers long at the mouth of the Trave River in eastern Schleswig-Holstein. This had been preceded by explorations to find a combined land and seaflight site on the Baltic Sea suitable for the German Reich. Priwall was given preference over Warnemunde for geographical reasons.
  In August 1917, after the death of Kommerzienrat Meyer, the aircraft company was taken over by Fokker. In late summer 1918, however, Karl Caspar was in negotiations with Anthony Fokker regarding the takeover of Flugzeugwerft Lubeck-Travemunde GmbH. The company, located in Travemunde on the Priwall, had originally belonged to the Deutsche Flugzeug-Industrie GmbH group in Leipzig (DFW), along with Deutsche Flugzeugwerke GmbH in Leipzig-Lindenthal and National-Flugzeugwerke Allgemeine Flug GmbH in Berlin-Johannisthal. Within this group, the Lubeck-Travemunde Flugzeugwerk specialized in the production of seaplanes. It thus became a branch of Hanseatische Flugzeugwerke Caspar AG Hamburg (HFC). The sole shareholder was Dr. Karl Caspar.


Aeronautical Development:

  The Deutsche Flugzeugwerke (DFW), which emerged from the Sachsische Flugzeugwerke in 1911, was first confronted with the problems of seaplanes in 1913 when it received an order from the Kaiserliche Marine to build a flying boat. The prototype, built according to the client’s specifications, was a biplane of wooden construction with a 100 hp Mercedes engine. Nothing is known about successful flights, but the company looked forward to new orders with confidence. In 1916, orders from the Navy followed, prompting DFW to establish a new aircraft plant with access to the water. This took place in Travemunde near Lubeck.
  In 1917, the first seaplane designed by Fritsch was introduced - the F.1. This aircraft was a DFW D.III equipped with floats. All three aircraft (Navy Nos. 282 - 284) were unique, because first the wings were staggered, on the next one they were unstaggered, and the latter was swept (similar to DFW’s Mars biplane). Only the Navy No. 282 was delivered, as there were delays in the first F.1 due to various improvement requests from the Navy.
  The F.2 (prototype: Marine No. 677), which had been ordered in 1916, even before delivery of the F.1, did not make its maiden flight until 1917. It was the first armed seaplane to be manufactured at Travemunde. The F.2 was also manufactured in various configurations. According to references, ten aircraft were delivered with the carrying deck raised for better pilot visibility from April 1917 to February 1918 (Marine Nos. 1147-1156). A second order for 9 aircraft was placed in October 1917 (Marine Nos. 1971-1979), with #1971-1973 being delivered as F.4s.
  The two-seater biplane with a wingspan of about 19 meters, based on the fuselage of the DFW B-types, was equipped with amphibious floats. The designer was Heinrich Oelerich. The powerplant was an eight-cylinder 220 hp (164 kW) Mercedes D.IV engine with transmission and a four- blade wooden propeller. The crew consisted of a pilot and an observer in tandem seating arrangement. The observer’s seat was equipped with a 7.92 mm Parabellum machine gun mounted on a swivel turret.
  Eleven F.2 aircraft were used by the Imperial Naval Forces of the German Empire. The aircraft were stationed at the Travemunde-Priwall seaplane base, which was also the location of the Imperial Navy’s flying school.
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  The F.4 was the flagship of the Lubeck-Travemunde aircraft plant. In addition to the three aircraft already mentioned, a further 30 aircraft of this type with Marine Nos. 7001-7030 were delivered by November 1918. It is doubtful whether all aircraft were actually completed.
  One reason for stopping the production of the F.4 aircraft may have been that the new owner of the company, Karl Caspar, signed a license agreement with Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen (FF) for the construction of the FF.49C seaplanes, which were well established within the German Navy. Some of these aircraft were not completed and sold as civilian aircraft until after the end of the war.

Luftverkehrsgesellschaft mbH (LVG), Johannisthal & Koslin

Foundation:

  Luft-Verkehrs Gesellschaft mbH (LVG) was founded by Arthur Muller even before the war (1910) with the aim of carrying out advertising trips with Parseval airships Parseval PL.6 and P.L.9 “Charlotte”.
  When the company did not deliver the hoped for results after one year due to technical difficulties, the company started building Farman type airplanes under license.
  But the time of dependence on others was not to last long. At the end of 1911, the German army administration became interested in aircraft. They began to realize that an important weapon was in the making, even if they could not yet remotely foresee the extraordinary importance that the aviation industry would have in the not too distant future. Now the LVG saw a wide sphere of activity ahead of it and was determined to exploit the possibilities. The designer Franz Schneider was appointed, who had worked for a long time in the Nieuport factory in Reims and enjoyed the reputation of being a particularly reliable and skilled aircraft builder.
  During the war, the Luftverkehrsgesellschaft mbH had been given the abbreviated designation “Lvg”by the Flugzeugmeisterei. It owned:
   A factory in Johannisthal along with its own screw factory in Berlin.
   A factory in Koslin (Pomerania).



Luftverkehrsgesellschaft mbH, Berlin-Johannisthal, (LVG)

Aircraft Development:

  Since 1910, the company was engaged in the exploitation of guided balloons designed at that time for passenger and light advertising trips. It bought some Parseval airships and made the first trips with them in 1910. The company was attracted by the growing interest in airplane construction and turned its attention to this field as well. As early as 1911, the company presented two self-built biplanes based on the Farman system and one original Farman biplane for the B.Z. flight. When the factory pilot and flight instructor Benno Konig won the first prize on an Albatros-Farman biplane built by LVG on the very last day, the company became known to the general public for the first time. The construction of further airplanes, improved by own constructions, but always after the Farman system, was taken up and civil pilots, whom the company had accepted as pupils, were trained on it in flying.
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Luftverkehrsgesellschaft mbH (LVG), Johannisthal & Koslin

Luftverkehrsgesellschaft mbH, Berlin-Johannisthal, (LVG)

Aircraft Development:

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  In 1912, the first monoplane was built, based on the Nieuport type. Although several were built, this aircraft was not accepted by the army administration. After the flop of the monoplane, the company turned to the construction of a biplane based on the Farman system and produced a design on the basis of which the Army Administration signed an order for 18 units.
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  The monoplane type, equipped with an in-line engine, was taken back into the program on an experimental basis, but was soon put aside permanently, as the results achieved were unsatisfactory. With seven airplanes of two types, the company successfully participated in the Ostmarken-Flug, as each participating airplane received a prize.
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  Returning to the monoplane, this machine was again rebuilt as such, but after Lieutenant Wentsch’s fatal crash it was finally discarded.
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Franz Schneider Flugmaschinenwerke GmbH, Seegefeld/Spandau

Foundation:

  Franz Schneider acquired the factory facilities in Seegefeld from the liquidated Deutsche Eisenbahn-Speisewagen-Gesellschaft and founded his own company, Franz Schneider Flugmaschinenwerke.


Aircraft Development:

  In 1906, Schneider joined Edouard de Nieuport and his brother Charles as technical director of the Nieuport Duplex magneto factory in Suresnes near Paris. Infected by the Nieuport brothers' enthusiasm for aircraft construction, Schneider assisted them in 1909 with the design and construction of a monoplane "Nieuport N.1". In 1910, they built a closed monoplane, and the following year Schneider and the Nieuport brothers developed a monoplane for the Gordon Bennett race that flew at more than 100 km/h.
  After Nieuport's accidental death in September 1911, Schneider moved to Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft A.G. in Johannisthal and began working as technical director, where, in addition to three different monoplanes, he designed the LVG B and LVG C biplanes, which were used in large numbers by the German air force.
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