Focke-Wulf

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Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG was a landmark German aircraft manufacturer based in Bremen, active from the interwar period through the mid-20th century, best known for designing and producing the Fw 190, one of the two primary frontline fighter aircraft operated by the German Luftwaffe during World War II.

Key moments

1923Founded in Bremen by Heinrich Focke, Georg Wulf and Werner Naumann, initially named Bremer Flugzeugbau AG before rebranding to Focke-Wulf shortly after establishment.
1931Completed merger with Albatros Flugzeugwerke, and renowned aeronautical engineer Kurt Tank was appointed the company's chief technical director.
1941Mass production and frontline deployment of the Fw 190 fighter began, which quickly became a core Luftwaffe combat platform operating across all European theaters of WWII.
1945WWII ended, the company's Bremen facilities sustained heavy bombing damage; most senior technical staff including Kurt Tank relocated to Argentina to pursue aviation development projects, while remaining local operations faced initial Allied restrictions.
1951Resumed small-scale production of gliders and light civilian aircraft, as West German aviation industry restrictions were gradually eased.
1964Formally merged with Weser Flugzeugbau to form Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), ending Focke-Wulf's independent corporate operation.

Military Aerodynamic Innovation Legacy

The Fw 190, the firm's signature creation, adopted a rugged air-cooled radial engine design that avoided overreliance on scarce liquid-cooled powerplant supplies, a key strategic advantage for the German air force that faced persistent component shortages during the later stages of WWII. Its exceptional low-altitude maneuverability and heavy multi-weapon armament set a new benchmark for versatile single-engine combat aircraft capable of performing air superiority, bomber interception, and close air support missions without major modification.

Foundational Role in European Aerospace Consolidation

Long after WWII, Focke-Wulf's engineering teams contributed to the formation of the ERNO (Entwicklungsring Nord) aerospace consortium that focused on civilian rocket and space technology development in the 1960s. Its subsequent absorption into successive merged aerospace entities including MBB, DASA, and eventually the Airbus Group means its technical lineage forms a little-documented part of the foundational history of modern collaborative European aerospace manufacturing.

Cross-Regional Technology Diffusion Impact

The exodus of Focke-Wulf's top engineering talent to Argentina in the post-war era transferred cutting-edge late-WWII German jet aircraft design expertise to South America, directly supporting Argentina's early domestic jet fighter development program in the 1950s, and accelerating regional aerospace capacity building across the continent that was independent of post-war U.S. and Soviet technology supply chains.

Overview

Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau

location city
former name	Bremer Flugzeugbau
type	initially AG, later GmbH
fate	Merged with Weser Flugzeugbau
successor	Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke
foundation	October 24, 1923
founders	Henrich Focke Werner Naumann Georg Wulf
defunct	1964

History

location country	Germany

key people	Hans Multhopp Kurt Tank

industry	Aerospace

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 the company Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG (later Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH).[2]

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 was reconstituted as Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH and no longer had to publish its accounts. A substantial capital injection occurred at this time.[3]

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.[4]

Dr Roselius always remained 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.[5]

Hanna Reitsch demonstrated the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first fully controllable helicopter (as opposed to autogyro), in Berlin in 1938.[6] The four-engined Fw 200 airliner flew nonstop between Berlin and New York City on 10 August 1938, making 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 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 plant at Marienburg produced approximately half of all Fw 190s and was bombed by the Eighth Air Force on 9 October 1943.[7]

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.[8] 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 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.[9] Colonel Sosthenes Behn, Ludwig Roselius and Barbara Goette outfoxed Hitler in 1936 when he tried to have Roselius removed as a major stakeholder from Focke-Wulf A.G. and reconstitution followed resulting in the privatized company Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH.[10] Focke-Wulf formally merged with Weserflug in 1964, becoming Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), which after several further mergers became the

In early 2021 Focke Wulf Aircraft 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.[11]

Aircraft

Company designations

In alphabetical order:

Focke-Wulf A 3
Focke-Wulf A 4
Focke-Wulf A 5
Focke-Wulf A 6
Focke-Wulf A 7
Focke-Wulf A 16 – light transport aircraft, 1924. First design built by Focke-Wulf.
Focke-Wulf A 17 Möwe (Gull) – 8-passenger airliner, 1927.
Focke-Wulf A 20 Habicht (Hawk) – 4-passenger feederliner, 1927.
Focke-Wulf A 21 Photomöwe – aerial photography version of A 17, 1929.
Focke-Wulf A 26 – engine testbed
Focke-Wulf A 28 – A 20 with Bristol Titan engine

References

. William Yenne. From Focke-Wulf to Avrocar: Secret Weapons of World War II: The Techno-Military Breakthroughs That Changed History Berkley Books, 2003^

Initially, it produced several commercial aircraft, typically with thick wings mounted high over bulky fuselages. Focke-Wulf retrieved 2006-07-01^

Dieter Pfliegensdörfer; Volker Bergmann; Willi Elmers; Manfred Fittkau; Michael Jung; Michael Wolf; Wolfgang Günther. Wellblech & Windkanal. Arbeit und Geschäfte im Bremer Flugzeugbau von den Anfängen 1909 bis heute. Steintor, 1989, ISBN 3926028513^

Focke-Wulf

WorldBrand briefing

Military Aerodynamic Innovation Legacy

Foundational Role in European Aerospace Consolidation

Cross-Regional Technology Diffusion Impact

History

Aircraft

Company designations

See also

External links

References

RLM designations

Built under license

Planned/unfinished designs

Projects