Background and early years
Following the end of the Second World War in Europe, Germany was divided into West Germany and East Germany. In the East, the Soviet Union became politically dominant over the region; Soviet officials sought to obtain all possible aerospace-related material in East Germany, the engineers and scientists associated with such projects were deported to the Soviet Union.[2] During October 1946, it was announced that all East German aerospace-related projects would be transferred to the Soviet Union, while material that could not be transferred was deliberately destroyed. Following the formation of German Democratic Republic during 1949, many of the deported German scientists were allowed to return to East Germany and to practice their professions once more.[3]
During 1955, the company was founded under the name VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden and established its base in the German city of Dresden. The use of the Junkers site in Dessau was rejected for confidentiality reasons, as it was located underneath a West Berlin Air Corridor. The revival of the East German aerospace industry had occurred at a faster rate than that of neighboring West Germany.[4] VEB was not the first effort to establish new aeronautical facilities in East Germany; however, following a popular uprising during 1953, officials chose to publicly renounce military aviation ambitions in favor of civil aircraft.[2]
VEB was initially engaged in the manufacture of Ilyushin Il-14 airliners, which were built under license. Additionally, VEB also embarked on the development of an indigenously developed four-engine jetliner, known as the Baade 152, which was intended to be the German Democratic Republic's (GDR) first passenger jet. The company had intended to develop the 152 as a commercial endeavor; an assembly line capable of producing up to 18 aircraft per year was to be established in Dresden to manufacture the type. As envisioned, the 152 would have been developed initially as a 57-seater airliner, plans were made to accommodate alternative seating layouts, such as a high-capacity 72-passenger configuration or a more spacious 42-passenger arrangement.[5] At one point, up to 8,000 personnel were employed on this program, along with an additional 25,000 jobs across numerous other companies involved in the supply chain; these were bundled in a combined Volkseigener Betrieb during 1958.[6]
A total of three airworthy 152 prototypes were constructed, two of which actually being flown.[5] However, flight testing of the 153 yielded tragedy and disappointment. On 30 April 1958, the second prototype crashed during one such flight, resulting in the airliner's development being delayed. The reasons for the crash were never fully investigated and the results of the limited investigation were only made public in 1990.[7] The loss has been attributed as having been a major setback to the 152 program and having subsequently played a factor in its termination.[8]
On 28 February 1961, the East German government issued an order for the dissolution of its national aeronautical industry; this decision was reportedly heavily influenced by the Soviet Union, which was then promoting its own similar-sized airliner, the Tupolev Tu-124; despite earlier promises, it no longer wanted to purchase any Baade 152s or provide further support towards its development. Similar curtailing of autonomous aviation-related program was carried out throughout the Eastern Bloc during this period.[9] Following the GDR's instruction to stop work on all indigenous aircraft programs, VEB underwent heavy restructuring, becoming a maintenance facility for both MiG combat aircraft and Mil helicopters of various Warsaw Pact air forces. Following the delivery of East German airline Interflug's Airbus A310 jetliners in 1989, VEB undertook servicing and overhaul work for the fleet.[6]
Post-Cold War activities
Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, VEB quickly became heavily supported by Deutsche Airbus, based in Hamburg. On 27 April 1990, Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) was founded by DASA and Airbus. After the merger of DASA, Aérospatiale-Matra and Construcciones Aeronáuticas to form EADS in 2000, the new entity became EFW's sole owner.[6]
Since 1993, EFW has been a supplier of fiber-reinforced furnishing components, which have been commonly used throughout Airbus' airliners. It reportedly has a capacity to manufacture up to 200,000 sandwich components per year.[10] During 1996, the company started converting passenger aircraft into freighters. Early on, it converted Airbus A300 and Airbus A310 airliners, a process which takes about four months to complete, which includes higher Aircraft maintenance checks.[11]
