Deutsche Lufthansa (abbreviated DLH) was an airline serving as the

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

from 1955 to 1963. Because of the usage of the ''Lufthansa'' branding (the trademark rights were owned by West German

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

) the East German company was under constant legal pressure, and was subsequently liquidated and replaced by Interflug.

History

On 27 April 1955, East Germany and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

signed an agreement by which

Berlin Schönefeld Airport Berlin Schönefeld Airport () was the secondary international airport of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It was located southeast of Berlin near the town of Schönefeld in the state of Brandenburg and bordered Berlin's southern boundary. It w ...

was transferred to civilian use (since 1945, it had been operated by the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

, with scheduled passenger flights having been operated by

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (, ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; , , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo Interna ...

). As a consequence, the Council of Ministers of the GDR decided to set up a national East German airline, a move which was finalized on 1 July with the appointment of the company's initial management committee. ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' was chosen as the name for the airline (previously, it had been used by

Deutsche Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline. It served as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and t ...

, the German flag carrier from 1926 to 1945), even though the branding rights had been purchased by West German

in 1954. Deutsche Lufthansa acquired a fleet of

Ilyushin Il-14 The Ilyushin Il-14 (NATO reporting name: Crate) is a Soviet twin-engine commercial and military personnel and cargo transport aircraft that first flew in 1950 in aviation, 1950, and entered service in 1954. The Il-14 was also manufactured in East ...

aircraft, which were initially operated by Soviet crews. The first flight of the airline took place on 16 September 1955, by which East German prime minister

Otto Grotewohl Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (; 11 March 1894 – 21 September 1964) was a German politician who served as the first prime minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany) from its founding in October 1949 until his death in Septembe ...

travelled to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

for a state visit. Scheduled passenger flights were launched on 4 February 1956 with the inauguration of the East Berlin-

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

service. In the same year, the route network was expanded to include Moscow and

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

as its most remote points. On 28 March 1960, the

Ilyushin Il-18 The Ilyushin Il-18 (; NATO reporting name: Coot) is a large turboprop airliner that first flew in 1957 and became one of the best known Soviet aircraft of its era. The Il-18 was one of the world's principal airliners for several decades and wa ...

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

airliner) was put into service with Deutsche Lufthansa. Because of the usage of the ''Lufthansa'' branding, the company was sued by West German Lufthansa. As a side effect, the East German airline was prevented from being admitted into the

International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

(it could not become a member of the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

either, because at that time neither East nor West Germany had been accepted into the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

). As a consequence, Deutsche Lufthansa was liquidated on 1 September 1963. Its staff, fleet, and route network were transferred to Interflug, which had been founded as a state-owned charter airline in 1958 and served as the East German flag carrier thenceforth.

Route network

Deutsche Lufthansa served the following destinations on a scheduled basis. As airline code for its flight numbers, DH was used.1963 Deutsche Lufthansa timetable, at timetableimages.com
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References

Citations

Bibliography

* Klaus Breiler: ''Das große Buch der Interflug''. Das Neue, Berlin 2007, . * Helmut Erfurth: ''Das große Buch der DDR-Luftfahrt''. GeraMond, München 2004, . {{Authority control Airlines of East Germany Airlines established in 1955 Airlines disestablished in 1963 Aviation history of Berlin 1955 establishments in East Germany East Berlin