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LUFTWAFFE MEMORIES
Munich's Deutsches
Museum
Messerschmitt
and Germany Aviation -
Stroll
Down Heinkel Lane
Founded
more than 100 years ago, the Deutsches Museum in Munich houses one
of the world's largest and most important collections of tecnical and
natural-science, from x-ray tubes to beer brewing, from glassblowing
to the development of the earliest musical instruments. The main center
of the Deutsches Museum, a vast monument to engineering and technology
is on the Museum Insel, an island in the Isar River to the east of
the old town center, just outside the Isartor gate. Floors
filled with displays from model railroads to diorama figures following
the processes of coal mining and mock-ups of actul factory processcess
For
those who love to fly or have ever built a model Stuka, a trip
to Germany can be a chance to follow
the
trail of those dark and wonderful flying machines of the Luftwaffe's
WWII past, begins at the Deutsches Museum.
Much of Germany's aviation engineering was based around Munich and
can still be found there. A visit to BMW downtown
showroom by Maximilliansplatz, displays the
heritage of Germany's
engine
and
design technology, and
get
a free glass of wine while you look at the current lines of cars
and motorcycles. Find a Fokker Triplane
like the one flown by the Red Baron hanging from the ceiling, a pristine
Messerschmitt Bf109 fighter
resting majestically
on the polished floors, along with the Messerchmitt 262, the twin
jet fighter that was the terror of America’s P51 Mustang.
Not
enough airplane grease to sate your aerial appetite? Head out to Shleissheim
near Dachau and the Munich Airport
to the Flugwerft Schleissheim, a restored Luftwaffe
airfield and one-time testing ground for the Third Reich’s secret
air power rebuilding program of the 30s, now part of the Deutsches
Museum collection, with of 60 more historic aircraft and helicopters
on display (see Flugwerft
Schleissheim Aircraft Museum).
A variety of displays
trace Germany’s
air flight development history, and watch through the observation
windows
of the machine shop where craftsmen painstakingly restore period aircraft
like the Junkers J52 tri-motor transport.
And for the determined enthusiast, head north-east by car to Manching, near Ingolstadt off the A9 to where the primary factory works of the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke’s (Bavarian Aircraft Works) and other manufacturers were located and where the BFW chief designer Willy Messerschmitt designed and built his masterpiece and later, both the plane and the company were named after him. As you turn from the autobahn heading toward the airfield you head up Messerschmitt Street and turn past Heinkel Road commemorating the names of German aviation’s past greatness.
But
here is where you find past meets future and the trail becomes clouded
by secrecy. For those who thought Messerschmitt as a going concern died
out with their odd little three-wheel cars, the company still exists,
but is now a division of the EADS Group and the
old airstrip from whence growling rotary piston motors strained to
gain
climbing airspeed is now home to the JG 74 "Mölders" German
Air Force Wing, named after early WWII Lufftwaffe ace Werner Mölders,
and a closely guarded secure military airfield where advanced NATO
development
aircraft roar over groves of hops from a runway hidden behind electrified
fence.
You
can now find the Willy Messerchmitt Museum in a former hanger with
some
excellent examples of his designs on display, several still air worthy.
Unfortunately it is only open to groups in advance as it is actually
on
the military property. Nearby on the main road can be found a
(replicated)
WWII era Luftwaffe airfield with sandbagged bunkers, mostly ignored
except by the farmers driving by in tractors. ©
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See Also:
SECRET
GERMAN WAR FACTORIES THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE
GESUNDHEIT
AND CULTURE IN THE NUDE DAY SUN
Munich's
Englischer Garten
NUREMBURG
TOY MUSEUM
CASTLE AIR MUSEUM
WWII and Cold War Era Aircraft
LAKELAND
MOTOR MUSEUM
TECHNIK MUSEUM SPEYER - FOKKER & MESSERSCHMITT
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