Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH , known as Weserflug, was an aircraft manufacturing company in Germany .
21-652: Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG ( German pronunciation: [ˌfɔkəˈvʊlf] ) was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II . Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 . It is one of the predecessor companies of today's Airbus . The company was founded in Bremen on 24 October 1923 as Bremer Flugzeugbau AG by Prof. Henrich Focke , Georg Wulf and Dr. rer. pol. Werner Naumann . Almost immediately, they renamed
42-499: A major stakeholder from Focke-Wulf A.G. and reconstitution followed resulting in the privatized company Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH. Focke-Wulf formally merged with Weserflug in 1964, becoming Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), which after several further mergers became the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. (EADS) . EADS was later renamed as Airbus SE . In early 2021 Focke Wulf Aircraft
63-481: A new Weserflug factory at Lemwerder, near Bremen, which opened in 1936. He had been working on ideas for VTOL (Vertical TakeOff and Landing) aircraft since 1933, and now developed them further. In 1938, the company developed the Weserflug P.1003 , a VTOL aircraft. It had 4 m diameter propellers that swivelled between horizontal and vertical, and could fly up to 650 km/h. It requires very complex gearing to tilt
84-543: Is a German word for a corporation limited by share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders ) whose shares may be traded on a stock market . The term is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (where it is equivalent to a société anonyme or a società per azioni ) and South Tyrol for companies incorporated there. In the United Kingdom, the equivalent term is public limited company , and in
105-632: The Luftwaffe during World War II . Repeated bombing of Bremen in World War II resulted in the mass-production plants being moved to eastern Germany and General Government , with AGO Flugzeugwerke of Oschersleben as a major subcontractor for the Fw 190. Those plants used many foreign and forced labourers , and from 1944 also prisoners of war . Focke-Wulf's 100-acre (0.40 km) plant at Marienburg produced approximately half of all Fw 190s and
126-474: The Code of Obligations , Article 620. Article 950 specifies that the business name must indicate the legal form. German AGs have a "two-tiered board" structure, consisting of a supervisory board ( Aufsichtsrat ) and a management board ( Vorstand ). The supervisory board is generally controlled by shareholders, although employees may have seats, depending on the size of the company. The management board directly runs
147-543: The Entwicklungsring Nord (ERNO) to develop rockets. ITT Corporation , which had acquired a 25% stake in the company prior to the war, won $ 27 million in compensation in the 1960s for the damage that was inflicted on its share of the Focke-Wulf plant by WWII Allied bombing. Colonel Sosthenes Behn , Ludwig Roselius and Barbara Goette outfoxed Hitler in 1936 when he tried to have Roselius removed as
168-515: The United States, while the terms " incorporated " or "corporation" are typically used, technically the more precise equivalent term is " joint-stock company ." The German word Aktiengesellschaft is a compound noun made up of two elements: Aktien meaning an acting part or share , and Gesellschaft , meaning company or society. English translations include share company , or company limited by shares , or joint-stock company . In German,
189-595: The company Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG (later Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH). Focke-Wulf merged, under government pressure, with Albatros Flugzeugwerke of Berlin in 1931. The Albatros Flugzeugwerke engineer and test pilot Kurt Tank became head of the technical department and started work on the Fw 44 Stieglitz (Goldfinch). Dr Ludwig Roselius became Chairman in 1925 and handed over to his brother Friedrich in early 1933. In 1938 Roselius' HAG combine increased its shareholding to 46% and C. Lorenz AG secured 28%. The company
210-464: The company, but its members may be removed by the supervisory board, which also determines the management board's compensation. Some German AGs have management boards which determine their own remuneration, but that situation is now relatively uncommon. The general meeting is the supreme governing body of a Swiss company limited by shares. It elects the board of directors ( Verwaltungsrat in German ) and
231-679: The driving force of Focke-Wulf. He and his closest collaborator, Barbara Goette , often met with technical director Professor Kurt Tank. When Roselius died in May 1943, Heinrich Puvogel (later chair of Focke-Wulf) raised 4 million RM and continued handling the financial affairs of Focke-Wulf as chief of Seehandel A.G. Hanna Reitsch demonstrated the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 , the first fully controllable helicopter (as opposed to autogyro ), in Berlin in 1938. The four-engined Fw 200 airliner flew nonstop between Berlin and New York City on 10 August 1938, making
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#1732793509818252-640: The external auditors. The board of directors may appoint and dismiss persons entrusted with managing and representing the company. The equivalent terms in other countries include the following, which mostly mean literally either "share company/society" or "anonymous company/society". Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH The company was founded in 1934 as a subsidiary of the ship and machine company Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG (DESCHIMAG). It began production that year at Berlin Tempelhof , and in Bremen . In 1935, Dr. Adolf Rohrbach became technical director of
273-474: The journey in 24 hours and 56 minutes. It was the first aircraft to fly that route without stopping. The return trip on 13 August 1938, took 19 hours and 47 minutes. These flights are commemorated with a plaque in the Böttcherstraße street of Bremen . The Fw 190 Würger (Shrike/butcher-bird), designed from 1938 on, and produced in quantity from early 1941–1945, was a mainstay single-seat fighter for
294-711: The public of the limits on their liability , all German (required by § 4 Aktiengesetz ) and Austrian stock corporations include Aktiengesellschaft or AG as part of their name, frequently as a suffix. In Switzerland, the Company Limited by Shares ( Aktiengesellschaft in German , société anonyme in French , società anonima in Italian , societad anonima in Romansh ) is defined in Title Twenty-Six of
315-487: The shipbuilding industry, and joined the board of Weser AG. Production of motorized aircraft was forbidden in Germany from 1945 until 1955. In the 1950s the Hoykenkamp area was used for small businesses. In 1960, while retaining his other commitments to the reindustrialisation of Bremen, Janson became chairman of Weser AG. In 1961, Weserflug joined forces with Focke-Wulf - also of Bremen - and Hamburger Flugzeugbau in
336-757: The use of the term Aktien for shares is restricted to Aktiengesellschaften . Shares in other types of German companies (e.g., GmbH or a cooperative ) are called Anteile (parts-of) rather than Aktien . In Germany and Austria, the legal basis of the AG is the German Aktiengesetz (abbr. AktG; "shares law") or the Austrian Aktiengesetz (abbr. AktG). Since the German commercial law (§ 19 Handelsgesetzbuch ) requires all corporations to specify their legal form in their name, in order to inform
357-796: The wings without varying the power to the propellers, and therefore was never built. During World War II Weserflug had another factory in Liegnitz . It built Ju 188 and Ju 388 bombers, one of which survives in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Perhaps foreseeing the end of the war, the management of Weserflug transferred in 1944 from Berlin to Hoykenkamp , 15 km west of Bremen. It took over buildings previously used by Focke Achgelis . During 1940-5, Weserflug built 5215 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka planes at Tempelhof. This plant also constructed Fw 190 fighters. Forced labour
378-677: Was bombed by the Eighth Air Force on 9 October 1943. Many Focke-Wulf workers, including Kurt Tank , worked at the Instituto Aerotécnico in Córdoba, Argentina between 1947 and 1955. Others, like Henrich Focke , went to Brazil's Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, helping Brazil's effort to build Embraer . Focke-Wulf began to make gliders in 1951, and in 1955, motorised planes. Focke-Wulf, Weserflug and Hamburger Flugzeugbau joined forces in 1961 to form
399-574: Was re-registered as a trademark across the EU, the UK and Australia as a retailer of aviation watches and associated official Focke Wulf merchandise. In alphabetical order: Note: Official RLM designations had the prefix "8-", but this was usually dropped and replaced with the manufacturer's prefix. Aktiengesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft ( German pronunciation: [ˈaktsi̯ənɡəˌzɛlʃaft] ; abbreviated AG , pronounced [aːˈgeː] )
420-580: Was reconstituted as Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH and no longer had to publish its accounts. A substantial capital injection occurred at this time. In August 1933 Hans Holle and Rudolf Schubert were given power of attorney over the Berlin branch of Focke-Wulf. Then in October 1933, Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau A.G. Albatros Berlin was officially registered with the Department of Trade. Dr Roselius always remained
441-483: Was used; on 20 April 1944 2,103 of the 4,151 Tempelhof workers were foreign forced labourers. Ju 86 aircraft were manufactured at Lemwerder. At the end of the war, all aircraft production in Germany halted for several years. In 1948 a trustee, Horst Janson, was appointed to collect the assets of Weser AG, to which Weserflug belonged. He was responsible for some postwar reindustrialization in Bremen, such as reactivating
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