German Lufthansa (east) was the first airline in the former GDR.

Establishment

On 27 April 1955 the Council of Ministers of the GDR decided after agreement of the Soviet message: "For the execution of the civilian person and freight air traffic is with effect of the 1. To base May 1955 German Lufthansa. German Lufthansa is subordinate to the Ministry of the inside. "

Board of directors

On 8 July 1955 one week met before destined board of directors for the first time. Meeting place was the meeting room of the principal office administration of the GDR government. The meeting of the Hauptdirektor Arthur Pieck, the son William Piecks was led. Arthur Piecks of first deputies, director Fritz responsible for the air traffic, was a learned pilot. Technical director Ernst Wendt, a polar flier, had become also after his activity as fitter and a master at German Lufthansa's AG director of work. Director Karl welfare and was responsible finally for the political work, he was however to that extent war-conditioned by the subject, when he had made pilot training at the Air Force, although without conclusion.

First flights

On 30 July 1955 the first machine of the new society with the identification DDR-ABA on the airport landed. On 16 September 1955 the first official flight took place. The machine brought a government delegation under Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl to the signing of the state contract between the Soviet Union and the GDR to Moscow.

Line flight

On 4 February 1956 Lufthansa (east) on the distance Berlin Warsaw opened the regular transport service. In the same year 16 followed Berlin Leipzig on 27 February the fair air traffic as well as to. May the line Berlin Prague Budapest Sofia, to 19. May Berlin Prague Budapest Bucharest and on 7 October Berlin Wilna Moscow.

Personal and machines

First the Germans in Lufthansa (east) placed only the ground personnel. The crews originated like the machines of the type Ilyushin IL 14 of beginning exclusive from the Soviet Union. To 13. March 1957 flew for the first time with Gerhard Friess a German as a commander on a line flight of Lufthansa (east) to Moscow. To the crews gradually also aircraft came from the own country. If the first 14 IL 14 had been imported still from the Soviet Union, was the 15 already. a manufacture under licence from Dresden. Nearly Lufthansa (east) would have not built only in the own country, but also in the GDR sketched machines receive. Neither the type 152 nor the type 153 went however into series, and so Lufthansa (east) covered its need at larger passenger airlines further with Ilyushin machines. To the IL 14 28 came starting from that. March 1960 IL 18, nevertheless turbo-prop. machines. At the end of of 1962 had Lufthansa (east) 26 older IL 14 and five IL 18.

The end of the society

For the end of the society its West German counterpart, which made it contentious soon after the establishment the name and the picture mark, was responsible. Like that West German Lufthansa was not only somewhat older than those the GDR, but, before Lufthansa (east) was at all created, of Lufthansa from the realm time, in liquidation, the rights at names and mark had already bought.

Arthur Pieck had represented few months after the establishment of Lufthansa (east), on 12 January 1957, opposite Otto Grotewohl the opinion: "Formal-legally seen we find in a situation, after that our own courts us the right to guidance of the name German Lufthansa and the representative Kranichs as registered trade marks to forbid itself must."

To 13. March 1958 decided to create and in the registered trade mark register (GDR, Madrid, Berne) register a round with Erich Honecker, to which also Arthur Pieck belonged, for the "emergency" a new society. On 8 September 1958 the "interflight, society for international air traffic ltd." was created. Lufthansa (east) places with 1.1 million Marks the majority to that altogether two million Marks capital stock and with Arthur Pieck the managing director.

In the face of a threatening defeat of Lufthansa (east) opposite Lufthansa (west) during a process in Belgrade the retreat began into the developed catching line. In July 1963 the SED explained itself with it in agreement to have "that Lufthansa is liquidated, because it is unprofitable, two societies and that a society under the name interflight is formed ". On 1 September 1963 the air traffic enterprises of the GDR were folded up and resumed with the personnel point of Lufthansa (east), but under the company name interflight.

Further history of the aviation of the GDR

The further history of the aviation of the GDR is described in the article interflight.

Articles in category "German Lufthansa (east)"

We found here 17 articles.

Related Websites

We found here 3 related websites.

• Deutsche Lufthansa 1952-1963 (East Germany)
  [Deutsche Lufthansa der DDR GmbH 1952-1963 (East Germany)] 3:5 ... Thus a flag for the East German Lufthansa was already adopted in 1952, even though at ...


• Deutsche Lufthansa 1952-1963 (East Germany)
  [Deutsche Lufthansa der DDR GmbH 1952-1963 (East Germany)] 3:5 ... Thus a flag for the East German Lufthansa was already adopted in 1952, even though at ...


• Interflug 1958-1990 (East Germany)
  This is how Interflug assumed also the regular flights and the East German Lufthansa ceased to exist. Jens Pattke, translated by Santiago Dotor, ...