Cargolifter AG

CargoLifter AG
legal form	Corporation
founding	September 1, 1996
resolution	2002
Reason for dissolution	insolvency
Seat	Berlin , Germany
management	Rolf-Dieter Mönning, insolvency administrator
Number of employees	495 (February 2002)
Branch	Aviation industry

Exterior view of the shipyard hall (2001)

Location in Brandenburg

Cargolifter AG ( original spelling : CargoLifter ), founded in 1996, was a company in the aviation industry. The main objective of the company was to develop, construct and operate a cargo airship for cargo weighing up to 160 tons. After a successful phase of several private placements , the company went public in May 2000 and was admitted to the MDAX in December 2000 . Due to repeated cost increases within the technical development project and a lack of willingness to invest on the part of private investors and the public sector , Cargolifter had to file for bankruptcy in June 2002 and terminate the airship development project.

The company achieved international fame primarily through its airship hangar, which was completed in November 2000 . This hall, 360 meters long, 210 meters wide and 107 meters high, is considered to be the largest self-supporting building in the world. After the sale of the shipyard hall from the bankruptcy estate to a Malaysian group, a tropical amusement park called Tropical Islands has been located within the building since 2004 .

history

Pre-foundation phase

The origins of the CargoLifter company go back to 1994. An initial market analysis was carried out in 1994 under the leadership of the VDMA . At that time, the ten largest plant construction companies in this association awarded annual transport orders worth more than 60 million DM. These heavy-duty transports mostly involved systems and components weighing more than 100 t and around 25 meters in length. Since the companies also reported that they had significant problems with heavy goods transport to countries with poorly developed transport infrastructure, the CargoLifters business idea arose : With a cargo airship to be developed and built, heavy goods should be transported more cheaply and quickly in the future.

After the first study, a second study was carried out in 1995, which compared the possibility of heavy load transport by airship to conventional transport technologies and identified their benefits. In February 1996, smaller teams of experts began to describe the CargoLifter concept in more detail from a technical, economic and scientific perspective. In the summer of the same year, preparations began to found a company to develop and construct a cargo airship.

1996 to 1997

The company was founded on September 1st, 1996 in Wiesbaden and CargoLifter was established as a stock corporation. 90 individual and institutional shareholders were part of the founding group. Carl-Heinrich von Gablenz , who was a central and driving force behind the project of the cargo airship in the pre-founding phase, was appointed sole board member of the company at the founding meeting. The Stuttgart aerospace designer Bernd Kröplin , the logistician and freight forwarder Rolf Riedl and the then board member of ABB Kraftwerke , Heinz Herrmann, were elected as members of the supervisory board during the inaugural meeting. The Supervisory Board also later appointed Herrmann as Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

The year 1997 was initially marked by increasing share sales. In addition to individual individuals, companies also increasingly subscribed to CargoLifter shares. At the first ordinary general meeting in November 1997, it was announced that the now around 600 shareholders included, for example, ABB , Siemens , Schenker and Danzas . Thyssen later joined the group of institutional investors .

1998

At the beginning of 1998 the group of shareholders had grown to 1,350 shareholders who had given the company over DM 15 million in equity . 60% of the company shares were held by private investors, while the large plant manufacturers each took 5% to 15%. In addition, 20 large haulage companies together held 25%. The price of the unlisted registered shares was also raised by the company from DM 27.50 to DM 32.50. As a result, 2 million shares were issued to old and new shareholders.

In the spring of the year, the board of directors was expanded by one person. In addition to Carl von Gablenz, the graduate engineer and graduate of an MBA program , Karl Bangert, has now been appointed deputy member of the board. As a member of the team of experts, Karl Bangert had already worked on the initial development of the CargoLifter idea. Since August 1997 he has also been the managing director of Cargolifter Network GmbH . He continued to perform this managerial position parallel to his deputy executive position in personal union.

At the beginning of May 1998, the first groundbreaking ceremony for the planned airship yard was celebrated at the Brand location (see section Airship hangar and its location ). With 500 spades, the contours of the planned building were excavated by visitors and shareholders with 1000 ground-breaking ceremonies.

Just a few days later, the company presented itself to the specialist public at the logistics fair in Leipzig . The Joey airship was presented to the public for the first time, although it was not yet airworthy at the time. Nevertheless, the airship was presented assembled by being attached to the ceiling of the exhibition hall. In addition to the airship, a smaller loading frame was also shown, on which the planned load exchange process was to be demonstrated. The only flying airship that CargoLifter was able to show at the Leipzig trade fair was the Lotte 3 solar airship , which floated remotely over the outdoor area of ​​the trade fair.

In the middle of 1998 the number of shareholders in the company had already grown to around 2,800, who had added DM 50 million in equity to the company. The company gained further public recognition at an event in July 1998. It was invited by the Office of the Federal President to present itself on the “Day of Innovation” in the garden of Bellevue Palace . In addition to CargoLifter, other innovative German companies also presented themselves on this day. This event was initiated by the then Federal President Roman Herzog , who had already spoken out in favor of change in Germany and more forward thinking in his Berlin Ruck speech in 1997 .

In August 1998 the company announced that the site for the planned shipyard had just been bought by the Brandenburg government. At the same time it was announced that the number of shareholders had grown to over 4,000.

At the end of 1998, 4,200 shareholders held shares in the company. Equity had thus risen to around DM 80 million. In the course of the year, Linde AG also acquired shares valued at DM 120,000. In return, CargoLifter promised to purchase at least 25% of every helium airship filling from Linde in the future - at the prices at the time, this cooperation would have meant sales of DM 5 million per CL-160 airship for Linde.

1999

At the turn of the year at the beginning of 1999, CargoLifter received an 80 percent default guarantee from the German Bundestag for the borrowing for the construction of its shipyard.

At the company's general meeting, which was held on March 10th in the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt-Höchst , the shareholders decided to move the company's headquarters from Wiesbaden to the federal capital Berlin . In addition, a successful vote was taken during the event to double the previous share capital. The shareholders also approved a capital increase to then DM 120 million.

In mid-March 1999, the Airship Design Center was presented to the public for the first time as part of an open day event , within which technicians and engineers would then work on the development of the cargo airship. This newly built center consisted of two buildings and a small hall, within which the demonstrator Joey of a keel airship, reduced in size and volume, was initially to be completely constructed. Around 10,000 visitors accepted CargoLifter's invitation and visited the area of ​​the future production facility.

In mid-1999, broader criticism of the CargoLifter project was expressed for the first time. An aeronautical engineer analyzed the planned and published business case of the CargoLifter in an article and showed that the calculations and figures published by the company are probably far too low. The journalist also expressed this criticism in an interview he conducted with the company's CEO, Carl von Gablenz.

Also in mid-1999, the company and the Brandenburg Minister for Economic Affairs, Burkhard Dreher, announced that CargoLifter would present itself as a project at Expo 2000 .

From a financial point of view, the third private placement of shares was ongoing at this time . The price of the registered share with restricted transferability was set at the previous Annual General Meeting at EUR 25 (~ DM 48.90). The price for the second placement was still 40 DM. At that time, around 5,300 shareholders held shares in the company. In a conversation with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, an employee responsible for financial planning mentioned that CargoLifter AG is one of the largest companies in Germany that is not listed on the stock exchange.

In August 1999, a lengthy article in Der Spiegel magazine dealt with Cargolifter AG for the first time . In addition to the presentation of the hangar and the general business purpose of the company, criticism of the company was also expressed. On the one hand, it was shown that the schedule for the development of the airship named by CargoLifter was hardly feasible. On the other hand, it was shown that the first version of the cargo airship will not yet be suitable for long distances, as CargoLifter will not yet have a ballast water recovery system for this first copy . In addition, it was stated in this article that Zeppelin Luftschiffechnik rated the project's chances of success as low. On the one hand, enormous technical hurdles were mentioned here, on the other hand, a study by the Zeppeliner came to the result that the transport costs of a CargoLifter were ten times higher than those of conventional and established transport systems such as trucks, ships or aircraft.

In mid-September 1999, Carl von Gablenz was named Entrepreneur of the Year as CEO on behalf of Cargolifter AG .

In October, the company celebrated a so-called bow festival . The first two of a total of five 107 m high steel arches of the airship hangar under construction had been erected by then. Around 25,000 visitors flocked to this public event at CargoLifters. The Deputy Prime Minister of Brandenburg Jörg Schönbohm was present at the event, and he uttered many words of praise for the company and its plans.

Only a few days later, the company was able to celebrate another milestone: The experimental airship Joey took off on October 18, 1999 at around 5:45 p.m. local time for its maiden flight after it had received preliminary traffic approval from the Federal Aviation Office in early October. During the 16-minute problem-free test flight, the test pilot was the only person on board to fly a few laps over the CargoLifters shipyard area.

Also in October the company announced a workforce of 154 employees; “Experts from all over the world” had been poached for the company.

By the end of the year, the company had around 10,000 shareholders. As an institutional investor, the aerospace company DASA had meanwhile also acquired shares in CargoLifter.

2000

At the beginning of the year 2000, the company announced that it would announce detailed plans for the planned IPO and the banking consortium at the annual general meeting in March . It was also publicly announced for the first time that a British pension fund , Henderson, held around 5% of the shares in CargoLifter and was thus the largest single shareholder.

At the beginning of February CargoLifter announced that it would work closely with IBM , Cisco and E-Plus in the area of ​​information technology and telecommunications . Company representatives spread that this cooperation was not a financial investment. At the CeBIT computer fair, which took place in Hanover only a few months later, a miniature airship with the IBM logo was hung above the IBM booth.

In March 2000, several major events took place. At the beginning of the month CargoLifter had 13,000 shareholders who had paid a total of around DM 300 million in equity into the company. According to the company, CargoLifter was the largest non-listed company in Germany. At the Annual General Meeting on March 11, the company's management announced more detailed plans for the upcoming IPO for the first time. In addition to the planned second quarter, the banking consortium responsible for Commerzbank , Bayerischer Landesbank , Schroders and Hauck & Aufhäuser were also presented.

CargoLifter's IPO was due in May 2000 and attracted a lot of media attention. The new listing was under unfavorable economic conditions. For example, the Neuer Markt had fallen sharply since its all-time high. The so-called dot-com bubble had already "burst" in March 2000. In mid-May, CargoLifter and the supervising banks announced the bookbuilding spread for the shares to be issued. The maximum of 935,000 shares resulting from a capital increase could be subscribed to by investors between May 16 and 24. The company was aiming for a range of 14 to 18 euros. By the time the private placement was completed and the official listing was announced, CargoLifter had around 16,000 shareholders. During the bookbuilding period, the public was also informed of the total amount invested in the project: By the time series production was reached, two prototypes and two pre-series models of the cargo airship would be required, which, together with the investments in the shipyard, were estimated at around DM 1 billion.

On Tuesday, May 30, 2000, the CargoLifter share was listed for the first time in official trading under the security identification number 540261 . When it was first listed, CargoLifter made a conscious decision not to place it in the Nemax market segment . The issue price was 15 euros and the share developed relatively stable in a moderate market environment and closed at 14.50 euros. Originally the company had planned to raise about 250 million DM with the IPO. In fact, only 89.2 million US dollars (~ 188.2 million DM) were made when the company went public.

The stock market launch was accompanied by the report on the company and the upcoming IPO published in Der Spiegel magazine one day before the new issue . The company was presented positively and was even referred to as “one of the most spectacular IPOs in German economic history”. In addition, however, the magazine report also discussed the project risks mentioned in the stock market prospectus , other possible technical problems and the stock options that had been granted to some people from the top management team in the course of the IPO.

At the beginning of June 2000, the CargoLifters shipyard in Brandenburg officially became part of the World Exhibition Expo 2000 as an external location . At the same time, a visitor center was officially opened on the shipyard's construction site, offering the public guided tours of the construction site and the area. Towards the end of the month, Noël Forgeard , then managing director of Airbus , announced at a press conference in Paris that a CL-160 airship would be used for the planned A3XX (later called A380 ) in order to transport within Europe Realizing aircraft components for large aircraft.

At the beginning of September 2000, then Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder paid a visit to CargoLifter as part of a summer trip through East Germany . During a one-hour tour of the shipyard, the Chancellor, who was accompanied by many journalists and the Brandenburg Prime Minister Manfred Stolpe , was visibly fascinated by the construction site and the dimensions of the airship hangar that was being built. CargoLifter also celebrated a so-called peat festival in mid-September . On this open day, the completion of the two hangar doors of the shipyard hall under construction was celebrated with 6000 visitors. During the celebrations, the Skyship 600, acquired a few months earlier, was christened by Federal Transport Minister Reinhard Klektiven .

In October 2000, the energy center at the company site in Brand went into operation for the first time, operated by the CargoLifter subsidiary Energieversorgung Brand .

In mid-November 2000, Deutsche Börse announced that the Cargolifter AG share would be included in the MDAX with effect from December 18 . The merger of SKW Trostberg with Degussa freed up a place in this share index of the 70 most important German small caps . The inclusion of CargoLifter was based solely on the trading volume of the share.

At the end of November 2000 the most important event in the company's history took place. The completion of the shipyard hall was officially celebrated during two events. On Wednesday, November 22nd, the handover of the hall to the company was celebrated during an event with around 500 representatives from politics and business. The invited guests included Manfred Stolpe and Wolfgang Fürniß , but also 50 diplomats and representatives from Berlin-based embassies attended the event. The second event to celebrate the opening of the hall took place on Saturday, November 27th. CargoLifter invited its shareholders and the general public to a ten-hour celebration. Although the guests had to pay an entrance fee of DM 150, 10,000 people appeared who followed the program presented by the moderator Volker Hirth .

The celebrations for the completion of the airship hangar were not only accompanied by a large number of media reports that were advantageous for the company. On November 21st and 23rd, the Financial Times Deutschland dealt with the airship project and its risks in large articles. The second article in particular received a high level of perception - the full-page article was provided with a drawing of a crashing airship.

Parallel to the opening of the hall , the CL-75 cargo balloon project, which was still known as Towtech at the time, was presented to the public for the first time at a press conference on November 22nd .

Towards the end of 2000, a blocking period for existing shareholders ended on December 1 . Those shareholders who had already held shares in CargoLifter during the private placement phase had committed to a voluntary six-month holding period before the IPO . After the share price reached its all-time high in August. H. v. Had reached 27.60 euros, it fell again in the following period. On the day the holding period expired, the price fell by 10% to a value of EUR 14.40 and for the first time fell below the initial issue value.

In mid-December 2000, a public dispute between CargoLifter AG and the aviation journalist Heiko Teegen began over several months . The publisher of the magazine Aviation pilot and aircraft expressed at the beginning of the dispute public criticism of the general feasibility of the airship project. In particular, the technical performance data of the planned CL-160 airship specified by the company in the stock market prospectus are incorrect, which prompted the editor to write a letter to Brandenburg's Minister of Economics, Wolfgang Fürniß , asking him not to continue paying the funding to CargoLifter. The management of CargoLifter AG reacted to this criticism with a public reply in which the technical criticism was rejected as unfounded. At the same time, a criminal complaint was filed against the editor for possible defamation and a violation of the Stock Exchange Act.

Shortly before the turn of the year, the Financial Times Deutschland , which referred to internal company documents, reported that the first prototype of the CL-160 airship would have a lower performance in terms of performance than previously publicly announced by CargoLifter. Instead of the original 160 tons of payload and a range of 10,000 km, the first prototype would only be designed for 129 tons of payload and a maximum range of 4,680 kilometers. The company also announced that a deployment within a 3000 km radius in particular would be the most profitable from an economic point of view, which was the reason for this reduction in performance. CargoLifter had put these company documents and changed data on its company homepage, especially in response to the critic of the aviation magazine Pilot und Flugzeug , as this publisher had repeated its criticism of CargoLifter again. The critic had sent a second letter to the economics minister of the state of Brandenburg and accused the company again of communicating incorrect figures and technical data.

2001

The company's dispute with Heiko Teegen continued in January 2001 and was presented very publicly in the media. CargoLifter reacted to the criticism at the turn of the year by publicly presenting technical data and plans of the company from external industry experts and operating engineers. At the time, however, there were doubts in the media and in the public as to whether the company could stick to its ambitious schedule for the development of the airship CL-160. In the middle of the month, the Berlin public prosecutor announced that it would not pursue the aviation journalist's complaint because there was no sufficient initial suspicion, so that his criminal complaint for abuse of subsidies and violation of the Stock Exchange Act was unsuccessful.

Also in mid-January, the Towtech transport balloon, designed and constructed in America, was “inflated” with air for the first time, according to media reports . However, the actual printing with helium did not follow until August.

A few days before the annual press conference scheduled for January 23, further bad news came up for the company. Airbus announced through a press spokeswoman that the company had decided against using a CL-160 airship to transport individual parts of the A380 aircraft . In addition, newspapers close to the stock exchange reported that the company management would make concessions to their ambitious time and cost planning for the technical development project. From the technical side it was also announced that the CL-160 would have fewer, but pivoting engines in its current draft plan . Instead of 16, only 8 or 10 turbines per airship were planned in the current planning draft. Instead of the envisaged diesel generator sets, the engines now envisaged would be gas turbines .

During the annual press conference, the company's management announced that CargoLifter's liquidity situation would be sufficient for a full year. For this reason, it was announced for the upcoming general meeting that the issue of convertible bonds or bonds with warrants would be approved there. In addition, more precise details on the planned business model were announced during this press conference, in which it was planned to sell CL-160 airships to leasing companies in order to use a sale-and-lease-back procedure . The cargo transport balloon , previously known as Towtech , was named the CL-75 Towtech for the first time during this event .

At the beginning of March 2001, the Liebherr company , which had been working with CargoLifter since 1997 on the conception of the load-bearing frame for the CL-160 airship, announced its withdrawal from the cooperation. At the same time, the cargo lifter company management declared the proposal of the then FDP -Landesvorsitzenden of the state of NRW Jürgen Möllemann , a CL-160 for nuclear waste from nuclear waste transport containers to use, a clear rejection.

One day before the 2001 general meeting, the company announced that it would purchase the engines for the CL-160 airship from General Electric . CargoLifter signed a preliminary contract with GE CEO Jack Welch for the delivery and maintenance of up to 50 CT7-8 Turboshaft engines. The letter of intent also contained information about a possible cooperation in the development of the airship. However, GE did not participate financially. The American technology company only guaranteed support with resources and know-how. The announcement of the contract with GE was received with great surprise in the industry, as Rolls-Royce with the Turbomeca RTM322 engine had long been considered the favorite. At the general meeting on March 17, 2001, CargoLifter had to publicly declare that the airship development would again be subject to an increase in costs of an additional 80 million euros. According to the state of communication at the time, this would not affect the schedule until the airship was commissioned. For the overall profitability of the group it was announced that in future the CL-75 cargo balloon would be sold so that liquid funds could be brought into the company. Heinz Herrmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of CargoLifter, announced during the general meeting that the CargoLifter board would be expanded to three people in the future. In particular, a new member would be sought who could be appointed to the company as Chief Technology Officer.

April 2001 was again marked by public criticism of the company. On the one hand, the magazine Der Stern published a critical article about the future prospects of CargoLifter. However, the article only achieved widespread public awareness after the CEO of CargoLifter published an open letter on the company's website in response to this magazine article, dealing with the article and criticizing the journalists' guild as "negative journalists". On the other hand, the editor of the flight magazine Pilot und Flugzeug , Heiko Teegen, went into action again and filed a criminal complaint against the CEO of CargoLifter. Teegen accused Carl von Gablenz of having made a false affidavit in court in December 2000 . At the end of 2000 CargoLifter AG obtained an injunction against the critic, but withdrew it in February 2001 on the urgent recommendation of the Berlin Regional Court . Part of the order was an affidavit from the CEO, according to which the trial period of the CL-160 airship would last around eight years. However, this mentioned test period would have indicated the start of series production in 2011, which was in clear contradiction to the plan otherwise communicated by the company of wanting to start series production of the airship at the end of 2004.

In July 2001 CargoLifter announced a contract with BAE Systems to supply flight control, instrumentation, navigation and communication systems for the CL-160 airship. The CargoLifter press department also announced that the in-house Skyship 600 should receive German flight approval from the Federal Aviation Office in August and then offer sightseeing flights with up to nine paying people. On the technical side, the company was able to announce a success story. In cooperation with the high-voltage laboratory of the Technical University of Cottbus , CargoLifter Development checked the optimal arrangement of lightning conductors on the airship hull on a helium-filled airship model on a scale of 1:25 and successfully completed the lightning protection tests. The Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder also came into contact with CargoLifter again as part of this university cooperation. During a visit by the head of government in early July, he also took part in the lightning protection tests as an observer.

The company reached two important milestones in the company's history in August 2001. The Federal Aviation Authority granted the subsidiary CL Development approval as a maintenance organization under European aviation law. This approval allowed the company to independently carry out scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on type-approved airships. In addition, the company managed to fill the CL-75 balloon with helium for the first time. During a 38-hour process, the shell of this largest aerostat ever built was first filled with ambient air and then the 110,000 m³ of air was replaced by helium using a layering method (through a lower density of helium compared to air).

At the end of September 2001, CargoLifter celebrated the start of production of the CL-160 airship in its shipyard in the presence of politicians such as Federal President Johannes Rau and the Brandenburg Minister for Economic Affairs, Wolfgang Fürniß . During this ceremony, a 262 m long and 4 m wide airship hull cutting table was officially inaugurated. In fact, however, the company left the public in the dark and understood the start of production merely as “preparing and testing the systems and production facilities”. In retrospect, the start of production could therefore only be understood as a large public relations event.

In mid-October, the CL-75 balloon was pulled out of the airship hangar for the first time with the help of semi-trailers and tested outdoors. During this first test run, a 24-ton crane was pulled with the balloon to a height of seven meters.

The contract with General Electric announced in March was signed in November of that year. CargoLifter committed itself to purchase up to 400 Turboshaft turbines GE-CT7-8L. In addition, the contract, which was signed for a period of ten years, provided for repairs and replacement parts with a value of up to US $ 500 million.

Also in November, CargoLifter was awarded the contract to deliver and provide lighter-than-air logistics services to America. At the time, an American consortium was planning to build a maglev train in Pennsylvania . The consortium, based in Pittsburgh under the name Maglev , planned to build a 75-kilometer route on extremely hilly terrain, for which the CL-75 balloon and the CL-160 cargo airship would have been ideal transport methods for the construction work. Part of the contract was an exchange of shares between CargoLifter and the Maglev consortium, which up to now consisted of seven partners. CargoLifter received 12.5% ​​of the votes in Maglev and also a seat on the board of directors of this American stock corporation . In return, Maglev received around 0.3% of CargoLifter, which was equivalent to US $ 500,000.

In mid-November, CargoLifter announced that its financial resources would only be sufficient until the end of the 2001 financial year. A capital increase announced at the beginning of November, with the issue of 6.75 million shares, was subscribed to 92% during the month. H. v. Received 34.1 million euros. However, this new fundraising gave the company only a short delay, as it was announced at the same time that the fresh capital would only secure business operations until the end of April 2002, unless a new capital measure was carried out or an investor would join the company.

In order to get the financial situation threatening the company's existence under control and to advance the development of the airship project, the CargoLifter management approached the public at the beginning of December. It was announced that there would be an increased look out for strategic partners in the industry. In addition, however, an appeal was also made to the public sector, which should give guarantees for loans.

However, Rainer Hertrich , co- director of EADS , pointed out in mid-December that Airbus and EADS saw no opportunities to invest in CargoLifter even after a second intensive technical and financial review. However, his company would continue to have talks about strategic agreements or partnerships with CargoLifter.

The year ended with a critical report on the company. In addition to the worrying news about the company's financial sustainability, the press continued to report critically about CargoLifter's technical approach and the technical performance of airship technology. Shortly before the turn of the year, the magazine Der Spiegel again published a larger article about technical backlogs and problem areas of the company.

The Skyship 600 in the hall, in the middle the cutting tables for the outer skin, June 2002

2002

January: The year 2002 started with negative news for CargoLifter. An editor of the Financial Times Deutschland took part in a shareholder and public event CargoLifters at the European Patent Office in Munich in mid-January . Following the event, the editor reported on the newspaper's Internet edition and wrote that the CEO of CargoLifter had said during the event that the CargoLifter project “could no longer be done in the changed environment without state aid” - the company would therefore become state-owned Need help to prevent bankruptcy. After the German press agency took up this report and other online media reported about it, CargoLifter's share price dropped from 5 to 2 euros. The CargoLifter press office initially confirmed this report to some media and referred to intensive discussions that were being held with the state and federal government. In contrast, the report was denied to other media on the same day and referred to as a false report. From the company's perspective, it is true that discussions are being held with the public sector and that CargoLifter, like other publicly funded aerospace companies, is hoping for funding. Nevertheless, the project would not be close to the end without funding.

In the public defense of the company, the CEO of Gablenz referred in particular to a study by the management consultancy Roland Berger Strategy Consultants , which presented an initial interim report and found even greater future market opportunities for the company than the company had previously in its own business. Case calculations. According to the study results of the consultants, the technical feasibility is also given, so that von Gablenz pointed out that CargoLifter could work profitably in the future.

At the end of January, CargoLifter announced that the previous deputy chairman of the supervisory board, Bernd Kröplin , would move from the supervisory board to the management board. After the appointment, Kröplin should primarily take care of the technology department, which had previously been taken over by CEO Carl-Heinrich von Gablenz . It was also announced that further development partners had been found in the companies Hamilton Sundstrand , Denel and mt-Propeller. According to the contract, Hamilton was to take care of the electrical power generation system. Denel would develop the structure of the central keel and mt-Propeller would be the first German technical cooperation partner to supply eight propellers for the CL-160 airship.

February: At the beginning of February, CargoLifter, which at the time consisted of around 70,000 shareholders, announced that it would approve a doubling of the share capital at the upcoming general meeting in March. In addition, the company planned to have further convertible bonds or bonds with warrants in the amount of around EUR 50 million approved by the shareholders. The supervisory board should also be expanded from three to six permanent members. Due to the upcoming change of Bernd Kröplin to the Board of Management, CargoLifter announced many new candidates that should be available for election at the Annual General Meeting.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Federal Association of the German Aerospace Industry , Rainer Hertrich, received positive encouragement for the project and company . He not only spoke of a technically highly interesting project, but also announced that the association would do everything possible to support CargoLifter. As a first step the association would organize a supplier forum in order to be able to find new cooperation partners for CargoLifter.

March: At the beginning of March 2002 a central technical milestone was pending for the CL-160 development project . During a preliminary design review lasting several days , all high-ranking project managers involved in the development of the airship came together within the company and summarized the status of the previous development.

This milestone meeting was accompanied by a critical publication by the news magazine Der Spiegel . The article, which was published shortly before the end of the developer conference, and the content of which had already been launched to the public in advance via news agencies , relied on internal company documents that had been covertly passed on to the news magazine. According to Spiegel , the CargoLifter internal document indicated that the airship in its current state of planning is too sensitive to the weather and the kerosene consumption is too high. Problems could also arise with the instrument flight , since at the planned flight altitude of a maximum of 2000 meters this would often not be offered by air traffic control and the airship would have to rely on visual flight . Overall, according to the statements in this document, the CargoLifter CL-160 airship would represent a “fair-weather aircraft”, which would result in considerable problems in commercial use.

CargoLifter's management reacted immediately to this critical report and announced in a press release that the PDR milestone meeting had been extremely successful and, above all, that there were no fundamental technical project risks. In addition to this press release, in which all statements were rejected as false reports, CargoLifter also announced that it would report the case to the Federal Supervisory Office for Securities Trading and initiate criminal and civil legal action against the informant and the news magazine.

Only years later could it be shown in an empirical study that Der Spiegel was right with its reporting. In fact, in the internal summary of the technical milestone meeting, it was said that essential technical problem areas had not yet been sufficiently addressed. The management of CargoLifter presented its technical performance and previous technological achievements in external communication much more positively than they were discussed internally in the project summary.

At the beginning of March it was also announced that the CargoLifter management had applied for a federal loan of 300 million euros from the Federal Ministry of Economics . This application was confirmed by both the company and a ministry spokeswoman, whereupon the company's share price rose by 20%. However, it later became known that the documents submitted to the ministry were still incomplete, so that the application was delayed.

The annual general meeting, which focused on the still prevailing problems in time and cost planning with regard to the technological development project, was due in mid-March. The calculations and results of a study by the management consultancy Roland Berger were presented in detail. At that time, the company lacked between 420 and 580 million euros financially until the start of series production and there were further delays, so it was announced that the first prototype of the airship would be put out again a year later.

At the general meeting, the shareholders decided to define the business purpose of CargoLifter more broadly. Instead of “development, construction and operation of the Cargolifter, especially for the purpose of large and heavy load transports”, the definition was now: “Use of 'lighter-than-air' technology”. With this step, the company's management wanted to set the standard for other possible uses of lighter-than-air technology beyond large and heavy-duty transport.

Immediately before the beginning of the general meeting, CargoLifter was also able to announce its first sales success at a press conference. A contract for the purchase of a CL-75 balloon and an option for the possible purchase of 25 additional CL-75 systems was signed with the Canadian company Heavy Lift Canada . The purchase price quoted was $ 10 million per balloon system. The newly created Canadian company stated that it wanted to use the balloons on ice roads in northern Canada . The balloons would be particularly suitable for transporting oil production equipment when spring sets in and makes the ice roads impassable. With the help of a balloon, however, it is possible to transport heavy loads even on less stable roads.

CargoLifter also stated that it would take a 20% stake in Heavy Lift Canada Inc. in order to benefit permanently from the operational operation of lighter-than-air systems.

Immediately after the end of the Annual General Meeting, the media questioned whether there were any solvent investors behind Heavy Lift Canada Inc. Der Tagesspiegel , published in Berlin, researched this more intensively and found around ten days after the end of the annual general meeting that the company, which was based in Calgary, Canada , had not yet been entered in the city's local commercial register. Accordingly, according to the interpretation of the Tagesspiegel, it had to be a very young company. Very critical voices were also raised by analysts and market observers, which showed that the financial world interpreted the sale very critically. Since CargoLifter had stated that it would buy 20% of the shares in Heavy Lift with $ 1.5 million, the value of the company would only be valued at around $ 7.5 million. A stock market analyst commented Heavy Lift's purchase option on 25 balloon systems as a pure “propaganda message”, as around $ 250 million would be due if these options were exercised.

Towards the end of the month, the company announced in an ad-hoc announcement that the company GTS Global Trans Systems Concept GmbH had sold shares in CargoLifter AG to a strategic financial investor and now, instead of more than 6%, less than 5% in the airship manufacturer hold. The press judged this step quite critically, as the main shareholders of GTS were also the two board members of Cargolifter AG, so that it was assumed that both board members no longer had confidence in their own company.

The chairman of the CargoLifter supervisory board then addressed the public directly and stated that this step should not be interpreted as a loss of trust between the two board members in their company. Rather, in 1996 GTS had to take out a loan to finance the shares in CargoLifter AG, which was to be repaid by the sale of shares that had now taken place. The chairman of the supervisory board also announced that the two board members had not benefited financially from this transaction and had not yet sold any of their privately held shares.

April: As the company's financial equilibrium deteriorated, the management called on its employees and shareholders at the end of March to subscribe to a convertible bond in order to bring liquidity into the company. As early as mid-April, it was announced that at least enough shares had been subscribed to keep the company running until May.

May: At the beginning of May, the rumors that had been circulating in the media for months were confirmed that CargoLifter wanted to work with the aerospace company Boeing . By both companies was announced that after one and a half years negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding ( intent Letter of was signed), which formally held to review possibilities together for the development and use of airships. At this point, Boeing did not want to rule out the possibility of a financial commitment. CargoLifter also pointed out that Boeing would examine a financial commitment in detail and announce it in the course of 2002.

Meanwhile, there was less positive news from politics. The state government, which had been asked to provide a bridging loan, announced that this could only be done if the overall financing of the project was secured.

CargoLifter then stated that its solvency would only be sufficient for a few days. This drastic deterioration in the financial situation was mainly due to the extremely poor response to the convertible bond being offered. The bond, which had been offered to the 71,000 shareholders at the time, was originally planned with a volume of around EUR 50 million. In mid-May, however, only EUR 3.8 million had been transferred.

Only a little later it became known that the Federal Ministry of Economics would rule out funding for CargoLifter with federal funds. However, the company announced that talks would continue with the Federal Chancellery and the State Chancellery in Potsdam .

One day later, Wolfgang Fürniß , Brandenburg's Minister of Economic Affairs, informed the cabinet about the company's situation during an evening meeting. The state politicians agreed that they would no longer support CargoLifter. Neither the federal government nor the state therefore showed willingness at the time to support the company with loans or commitments before the impending insolvency.

More negative news emerged for the company just a day later. The Wirtschaftswoche reported that the Federal Ministry of Economics considered the future prospects of CargoLifters as damaging in an internal study. The main criticism was that the company followed a "wrong development strategy" from the start. However, this report and the assessment by the Federal Ministry of Transport caused astonishment , which described the decision not to give any subsidies as "absurd".

On May 20th, the company's management announced that it would temporarily not pursue its ambitious CL-160 development project due to a lack of liquid funds. Instead, the company planned to concentrate exclusively on the further development and production of the CL-75 transport balloon - in particular to fulfill the existing purchase agreement with the Canadian company and thus bring liquidity into the company. In the course of this news, Boeing's Chief Technology Officer David Swain , who was staying in Berlin at the same time, stated that Boeing had no interest in taking over CargoLifter and that there were no takeover plans.

After no re-financing could be secured by the company's management in the following days, the employee strongest subsidiary CL Development requested a preliminary insolvency proceedings in on Friday, 31 May 2002. District Court in Cottbus . At that time, the CL management was still planning to present its own concept for restructuring and reorganization of the company and to submit it to the court together with the preliminary insolvency administrator.

insolvency

The visitor gallery in June 2002

After the most important group subsidiary, CL-Development, had already filed for bankruptcy at the end of May , the parent company CargoLifter AG also filed for insolvency on June 7, 2002 due to insolvency. The Berlin office had previously been relocated to the shipyard in Brand. The closure of the American subsidiary, CL Inc., had also been initiated beforehand.

Cause of bankruptcy

In the course of its corporate history, CargoLifter AG failed to meet its ambitious time and budget plans. Time shifts and financial increases occurred repeatedly within the development project.

When the company was founded, it was originally planned to spend around DM 135 million on the development and construction of the first cargo airship prototype. In addition, the company set-up was calculated at DM 160 million, so that total project costs of DM 295 million were assumed.

In the course of the development project, there were not only delays, but also multiple increases in costs. In November 1997, for example, a supervisory board reported in a guest article for the logistics specialist magazine Transportmarkt of total project costs of DM 340 million.

At the general meeting in March 1999, the costs for production up to the first airship were given as 437 million and the total project costs as 850 million DM.

Shortly before the planned IPO, a further increase in costs was announced at the 3rd annual general meeting in March 2000; In the meantime, total project costs have been spoken of as DM 1.5 billion (around EUR 767 million).

In the following years, too, cost increases were announced again and again. A few months before the bankruptcy, in March 2002 cost calculations from a study by the management consultancy Roland Berger Strategy Consultants by CargoLifter were made public. In the best case, the management consultancy calculated the costs up to the start of series production of the airships at 720 million euros.

Although CargoLifter had collected around 350 million euros in equity and public funding by the time the bankruptcy occurred, the company still lacked at least 370 million euros to finance the development up to the series production of the cargo airships.

In the spring of 2002, neither private investors nor the public sector were ready to inject further capital into the company, so that CargoLifter had to file for insolvency due to a lack of liquid funds.

Status of the development project at the time of insolvency

A few months before the bankruptcy, at the beginning of March 2002, a key technical milestone was pending for the CL-160 development project . During a preliminary design review lasting several days , all high-ranking project managers involved in the development of the airship came together within the company and summarized the status of the previous development.

At the time of filing for bankruptcy, the development of the airship was therefore not yet complete. The planned large airship CL160 was ultimately never built.

On July 10, 2002, the shell of the prototype of the CL75 AirCrane crane and transport balloon was destroyed in a storm that caused gusts of wind in Berlin and Brandenburg with speeds of up to 152 km / h.

Central events within the insolvency proceedings

2002

• Just a few days after filing for bankruptcy, around 100 shareholders founded the “Future in Fire Initiative”. On the second weekend in June 2002, she called “thousands of people, employees, shareholders and guests” to a day of action on the CargoLifter premises to show solidarity with the insolvent airship builder. In fact, far fewer than 1,000 people came. In addition, the initiative announced that it wanted to raise around 7 million euros in capital to support the company. After just a few days, various people had deposited around 300,000 euros into an escrow account to enable CargoLifter to restart. At the beginning of August, a “Zukunft in Brand GmbH” was founded with the aim of designing a viable business model for the company. The “Future in Fire Initiative” was later established as a shareholders' association .
• On June 18, 2002, CargoLifter received a short-term loan of 4.15 million euros from the state of Brandenburg. This emergency aid was given in particular to secure the infrastructure.
• At the end of June 2002, the company's founder and long-time CEO Carl-Heinrich von Gablenz switched to the supervisory board. Wolfgang Schneider, who was previously a member of the supervisory board and long-term head of development at Airbus Germany, followed in his old position. Also Bernd Kröplin , who only a few months was changed before the insolvency application to the board, was no longer a board member.
• On the evening of July 10, a storm destroyed the balloon envelope of the CL-75 prototype. A thunderstorm front moved over Brandenburg that evening at speeds of up to 156 km / h. In the weeks before, the balloon had withstood wind speeds of up to 100 km / h, and now it was hit by a gust roller with multiple changes in wind direction. Since the weather forecast for the unlucky evening was also within the load parameters, it was decided not to move the balloon to the shipyard. At the “expert hearing” on the following day, the accident was rated as a “developmental stroke of luck”, as it was expected that the measurement data obtained could significantly shorten the completion, approval process and market launch of the balloon.
• In mid-July 2002, the provisional insolvency administrator organized an “expert hearing”, during which internal and external experts discussed the status of the project for eight hours. No fundamental doubts about the technical feasibility of the concept were identified. In some fields, such as the development of lightning protection, important technological successes were recognized, on the other hand, in central development fields, such as ballast extraction to compensate for the buoyancy of fuel consumption, there is still a need for fundamental research. Overall, the opinion was expressed that the cargo airship should first be built in a scaled-down version in order to achieve learning progress through a "scaling process".
• On August 1, 2002, the insolvency proceedings were opened against CargoLifter AG as the parent company. A few weeks earlier it had been announced that the workforce would be reduced by 60% that day.
• At the end of September 2002, the Brandenburg State Investment Bank revoked a funding decision for 40 million euros that had been paid out for the construction and construction of the shipyard hall.

2003

• At the end of January 2003, the Potsdam Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Offenses began investigating the former company management because of an initial suspicion of bankruptcy . In June 2004, she closed the investigation and stated that there were no indications of the bankruptcy being delayed or that there were no false statements with regard to the IPO.
• On June 11, 2003, the airship hangar and the 500 hectare property surrounding it were sold to the Malaysian company Tanjong for 17.5 million euros. The group rebuilt the hall and in December 2004 opened the "artificial tropical paradise" Tropical Islands .
• In September 2003, Hans-Georg Engelken replaced Wolfgang Schneider on the board.
• From October 8 to 11, 2003, around 3,000 additional company values ​​were offered for sale in an auction organized by the insolvency administrator. The small test airship Joey was auctioned for 13,500 euros. The SkyShip 600 airship with the nickname “Charly” was sold to the Swiss Skycruise for 150,000 euros with expired approval (D-LCLA) . Before the auction, the insolvency administrator and the auctioneer who carried out the auction had expected proceeds of around EUR 2 million, but only EUR 1 million was actually achieved.

2004

• In March 2003 the Cottbus District Court rejected a complaint by the shareholders' initiative Zukunft in Brand against the insolvency administrator Mönning. The initiative had accused the administrator of a breach of duty and complained about a consulting fee of around 200,000 euros for the sale of the shipyard hall.
• The insolvency proceedings for the subsidiary CL Finance were not opened in July 2007 due to lack of assets, so the company was dissolved.

2005

• On August 24, 2005 the collecting company Air Brand GmbH handed over some intangible goods in the form of exploitation rights, documents and archives to Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen and offered them for sale. During an examination, Zeppelin found insufficient value and gave back the patents, waiving the purchase option. All patents are now owned by the ideal successor company CargoLifter KGaA . This later also acquired the company logo , the naming rights to the term “CargoLifter” and the rights to the internet domains from the insolvency administrator .

2007

• At the beginning of 2007 the shareholder initiative Zukunft in Brand submitted an application to the Cottbus district court for the administrator to be removed from office in order to appoint a new administrator. In addition, the existing administrator was accused of leading too many legal proceedings against former company employees and of destroying the company's remaining bankruptcy assets.

• In April, spam shares influenced the CargoLifter share price. On that day, the trading volume with five million shares was 50 times higher than before and the price rose from 8 to 15 cents.

2008

• On October 1st, 2008, the board member Hans-Georg Engelken left the insolvent company. Carl-Heinrich von Gablenz was again appointed as his successor .

2011

• On February 10, 2011, the subsidiary CargoLifter Development GmbH received a new insolvency administrator with Enrico Schwartz as special administrator.

2012

• In mid-October 2012, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange granted the insolvency administrator's application to revoke admission to the regulated market and delisting took place . The CargoLifter share remained in the over-the-counter market .

Little things worth knowing

• In mid-September 1999, Carl von Gablenz was named Entrepreneur of the Year as CEO on behalf of Cargolifter AG .
• In 2001 CargoLifter was ranked 16th and in 2002 25th in Wirtschaftswoche's employer ranking of the most popular employers among prospective engineers.

Business purpose and subsidiaries

The main goal of CargoLifter AG was to develop, construct and operate a cargo airship for cargo weighing up to 160 tons. In order to do justice to this business purpose, a total of 13 subsidiaries have been founded in the course of the company's history.

Planned business purpose

Cargolifter AG planned to develop a cargo airship, later to construct it and also to use it operationally. The company thus defined a three-stage production process: In the first production stage, the airship was to be developed and built.

The second production stage then provided for the operational operation of the airship. The airship should be part of a logistics service on this.

The third production stage provided for the operational operation of a logistics network. In addition to logistics services, the routes for the airship should have been developed with a view to economic flight planning and weather planning. It was also considered to use the airship at this third stage as part of a process chain in combination with other modes of transport.

Throughout these three production stages, the company planned to set up various subsidiaries and to entrust the relevant tasks. In fact, the main companies were founded and operated in the company's history. CargoLifter Development GmbH was founded for the development and construction of the airship . CargoLifter Airship Operations GmbH was supposed to operate the airship. CargoLifter Network GmbH was set up for network operation at production level 3 .

Subsidiaries

CargoLifter AG has founded 14 subsidiaries in the course of its history . Four companies in the group were designated as so-called core competence areas. These companies, which included CL Development, CL Network, CL Airship Operations and CL World, were supposed to manage the provision of activities directly related to the company's purpose.

There were also eight companies designated by CargoLifter as service areas , which primarily provided services for the group and all other group companies.

A 15th company, CargoLifter Alert, was conceived as a non-profit GmbH and was in the process of being established . This society should be run in cooperation with the THW and coordinate and plan disaster and relief operations using the CL airships. However, due to the insolvency, this company was never finally entered in the commercial register.

CargoLifter Development GmbH

In July 1997 CargoLifter Development was founded in Wiesbaden as a subsidiary of CargoLifter AG.

According to the articles of association, the company's purpose was the development of the CargoLifters including the construction of test vehicles and prototypes as well as the planning, development, construction and operation of aircraft, in particular according to the "lighter-than-air" principle, as well as all activities and services related to this purpose.

Initially, Dr. Ingolf Schäfer, who had accompanied the CargoLifter project from the technical side from the very beginning and was also heavily involved in the project of the solar-powered airship LOTTE in the early 1990s. At a shareholders' meeting in January 1998, the company's articles of association were changed and an additional managing director, Mr. Norbert Meinl, was appointed. With this amendment to the articles of association, both managing directors were always individually authorized to represent the company. In July 1998, Schäfer resigned from the management and Carl von Gablenz was appointed as the new managing director .

In March 1999 the company headquarters was relocated from Wiesbaden to Krausnick and an authorized signatory was appointed for the first time . With an amendment to the statutes in mid-2000, the two managing directors were no longer authorized to represent individually. In addition, three further authorized signatories were named.

In March 2000, CargoLifter Development was recognized by the Federal Aviation Office as a development company in the aerospace industry . A novelty here was that the company was the first company approved according to JAR-21, Subpart JA . The certificate of approval therefore bore the number 001. The company had also managed to work with national and international authorities as well as other airship manufacturers to create a new safety catalog as a standard, which was laid down as Transport Airship Requirements (TAR) .

In 2001 von Gablenz resigned as managing director of Development GmbH. Instead, Christoph von Kessel and Ralph Maurer were appointed as new managing directors.

CargoLifter Development GmbH was the first company from the Cargolifter AG group to file for bankruptcy. On May 31, 2002, an application for insolvency was filed with the responsible local court in Cottbus due to impending insolvency . On August 1, 2002, the insolvency proceedings were officially opened. At the time of registration of the proceedings, the company was the largest and most important subsidiary with 283 employees.

CargoLifter Network GmbH

In August 1997, CargoLifter Network GmbH was founded in Frankfurt am Main as a subsidiary of CargoLifter AG. Karl Bangert was initially appointed as managing director , who also became deputy director of CargoLifter AG in spring 1998 and carried out both activities throughout the company's history. Dirk Steffes was later appointed as the second managing director.

The business purpose of the company consisted in the planning and implementation of the construction and subsequent operation of a worldwide network of infrastructures for airship development, construction and operation. In addition, the company should develop concepts in the area of ​​location development and logistics as well as market the transport capacities of the CargoLifter airship system and optimally distribute transport capacities.

CargoLifter AG initially held 51% of the shares in Network GmbH until 2000. Another 49% was held by GTS , in which Carl-Heinrich von Gablenz held 50% , Karl Bangert 40% and Andreas Moder, the managing director of CargoLifter Communications, held 10%. Before Cargolifter AG went public, the share capital of CL Network was increased from 100,000 DM to 5 million DM and the shares in GTS were transferred to CargoLifter AG in exchange for shares.

CargoLifter World GmbH

According to its business purpose, CL World was founded for the conception, construction and operation of visitor centers and theme parks at all CargoLifter locations. In the course of the company's history, the company was primarily responsible for the marketing of merchandising items , the planning of events and the creation of PR campaigns and corporate films.

Filmmaker and journalist Dirk Pohlmann was one of two managing directors of this Berlin-based company.

The visitor center located at the shipyard in Brand was operated by CL World with economic success. From the opening in June 2000 to August 2002, over 400,000 paying visitors visited the shipyard and took part in factory and site tours.

CargoLifter Inc.

In April 1998 a subsidiary was founded in the USA . A corporation based on shares, the corporation , was chosen as the legal form . The company was located in Raleigh , North Carolina .

The main purpose of the company was to plan and implement all corporate activities in America in coordination with the parent company.

Towards the end of 1999, the subsidiary announced that it had already identified a location for the construction of a second shipyard area and a second airship hangar for CargoLifter: In Pasquotank County, not far from Elizabeth City in North Carolina, an ideal area had been found on the future one North America flights of the cargo airships should have been carried out. The management therefore announced that they would like to start purchase negotiations for the location. After nine months of due diligence , the company officially announced that it had found a location near New Bern , North Carolina , which was officially designated as the site for the construction of a second shipyard.

In addition, the company also acted as a buyer for the parent company. For example, Inc. acquired the SkyShip 600 for a system price of $ 6.4 million from the Orlando, Florida- based airship manufacturer Airship Operations .

CL Airship Operations GmbH

CL Airship Operations GmbH was founded in early July 2000 as a wholly owned subsidiary of CargoLifter AG. The main purpose of the company was the preparation, development and subsequent training of airship pilots. When the company was founded, it was originally announced that the training of pilots would officially begin in 2001. According to the company, it was estimated that at least 2,000 pilots would be required by 2015 for the business purpose of CargoLifter. For this purpose, 50 airship pilots should have been trained per year, the training costs of which would have been around 150,000 euros.

At the beginning of the year 2000, a SkyShip 600 was also acquired as a training airship for the company in order to carry out the practical training of pilots and training.

CargoLifter Finance GmbH and CargoLifter Finance BV

CL Finance GmbH and CL Finance BV were founded to carry out financing measures for CargoLifter AG and all other subsidiaries.

The insolvency proceedings for the subsidiary CL Finance were not opened in July 2007 due to lack of assets, so the company was dissolved.

Energieversorgung Brand GmbH

CargoLifter AG held 49% of the GmbH shares in Energieversorgung Brand. The remaining 51% was held by EWE AG , which was also responsible for supplying natural gas to the two combined heat and power systems located on the site . At the beginning of October 2000 the energy supply center was put into operation. This system was designed for the production of 808  kilowatts of electrical energy and 1144 kilowatts of thermal energy . The core task of this company based at the company site in Brand was to supply the site with electricity, natural and liquid gas as well as heat and compressed air. The energy center was built within 5 months for around 7 million DM.

GFT Society for the Promotion of New Transport Technologies mbH

In the fiscal year ended August 31, 2001, CargoLifter AG acquired 50% of the shares in this Wiesbaden-based company, which had primarily acted as a financial investor and broker of shares in CargoLifter AG.

CargoLifter MAP GmbH

The CL MAP steered the planning and construction activities of the group and was founded at the beginning of October 2000 in Frankfurt and represented by two managing directors and two authorized signatories . In addition to the headquarters in Frankfurt, the company also had an office in Munich. The object of the company was the planning and provision of planning and monitoring services, their mediation and the necessary consulting services for the construction of airship locations in structural terms. In particular, the company played a key role in the planning and construction of the shipyard and contributed its architectural knowledge.

In August 2008 the company was dissolved within the bankruptcy proceedings of the parent company.

Other subsidiaries

• The CargoLifter Landeplatzbetriebsgesellschaft mbH was founded to operate the Brand Airfield.
• The Cargo Lifter Industrial Park Brand GmbH was established to supply companies to locate in the industrial and service sectors in the shipyard.
• The Cargo Lifter Industrial Logistics GmbH was responsible for the procurement operations and production logistics at the shipyard sites.

Planned and existing airships and balloons

In the course of the company's history, the CargoLifter company had not only planned to construct a cargo airship. At the same time, a smaller keel airship was designed and produced in-house. In 2000 a cargo balloon was also presented. In addition, the company acquired an impact airship .

CL-160 cargo airship

→ Main article : Cargolifter CL160

Solar airship

Carl-Heinrich von Gablenz , the Board of Cargo Lifter, wrote in November 1996 in a commentary for the German Transport newspaper that the company had begun immediately after the company was founded so that is a thought for the CL-160 load airship load exchange process with a solar-powered airship of Try out the University of Stuttgart . This airship was a test object designed under the name “Lotte 3”.

Since 1991, students and employees at the University of Stuttgart have been researching the possibilities and limits of solar-powered airships. In fact, in the following years this project group succeeded in developing, constructing and operating the world's first solar-powered airship. The first airship of this type, LOTTE , 10 m long, was destroyed on July 16, 1993 by gusts of wind during the International Horticultural Exhibition in Stuttgart in 1993 when its hall collapsed due to thunderstorms. “Lotte 2”, the second airship of this type, was destroyed in 1993 by a collision with a thorn bush during the World Solar Challenge taking place in Australia .

The third version of this airship, which has now grown to 16 m in length, was used for the first time in May 1994 and performed various missions for CargoLifter from winter 1996. This airship could still be seen during the logistics fair in Leipzig in 1998. In 1999 the airship was willfully damaged by strangers in Leipzig. In the course of the company's history, no further public report has been made about the use and whereabouts of the airship.

The 61 m long Skyship 600 "Charly" in the shipyard

Prototype of a keel airship

→ Main article : Cargolifter Joey

Prototype of a cargo balloon

→ Main article : CargoLifter CL75 AirCrane

SkyShip 600

In March 2000, CargoLifter acquired a SkyShip 600 airship in order to use it for pilot training as well as training and research purposes. The sale was announced by the US company Airship Operations, Inc., based in Orlando (Florida) . The total price of 6.4 million US dollars included the airship and an initial training package with which CargoLifter should be supported in obtaining approval according to German aviation regulations . CargoLifter Inc. acted as the buyer of the airship . The airship was assembled in an airship hangar by a sister company of Airship Operations, Global Skyship Industries , in Cardington ( Great Britain ) and then flown on a transfer flight over the English Channel to Germany.

This airship had its first public use for CargoLifter in the summer of 2000. From June 30th to July 8th, 2000 a well-prepared "Zeppelin Jubilee Week" took place in Friedrichshafen, which marked the 100th anniversary celebrated the first ascent of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin with his airship Zeppelin 1 . On the late afternoon of July 2, 2000, an airship parade took place over Lake Constance, in which the SkyShip 600 and the Zeppelin NT, which was named on the same day, and two other blimps from The Lightship Group took part.

The airship was christened "Charly" during the gate festival on September 16, 2000 by Federal Transport Minister Reinhard Klektiven .

The airship hangar and its location

Today's use of the airship hangar as a Tropical Islands leisure park (aerial photo 2020)

History of origin

After the management of CargoLifters had evaluated 13 possible locations for the construction of the necessary airship hangar , the first negotiations for the purchase of a plot of land with the state-owned Brandenburg ground company began in September 1997. In September 1998 this area in Brandenburg was acquired by the state government . This 580 hectare site is located near Briesen / Brand, a southern district of the municipality of Halbe , in the district of Dahme-Spreewald , about 60 kilometers south of the center and about 35 kilometers south of the city limits of Berlin .

The area, previously known as Brand Flugplatz , was opened up for the Wehrmacht's air force during the Second World War . After the war it was used and expanded by the Red Army air forces . The airport with its three runways was used until the withdrawal of the Soviet armed forces in 1990. The transfer to the German administration took place in 1992.

In April 1998, CargoLifter CEO Carl von Gablenz announced to the press that the house banks had given their commitments to finance the area and the development. Although the purchase contract for the site had not yet been signed, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the shipyard hall took place on the first weekend in May 1998 during a festival organized by the company, as well as the imminent receipt of the building permit and the start of construction of the hall in mid-May announced.

In fact, construction work did not begin until a year later in March 1999.

After signing the purchase contract in August 1998, CargoLifter began to develop the site. In particular, Soviet contaminated sites had to be disposed of, parts of the former barracks demolished and other elements of the remaining military infrastructure dismantled. Initially, 39 old aircraft shelters were preserved , which were equipped with new gate systems and some were used as storage facilities. Two of these shelters were later expanded into a visitor center and IT server room and used accordingly.

The northern runway of the area was demolished. The vacated area not only served as a compensation area for the planned hall construction, but the crushed concrete of this runway was used as a substructure for the hangar construction.

In the summer of 1999, after 24 drafting rounds, the master plan for the airship hangar construction was laid down so that construction work actually began. In mid-October 1999 the first of five arches in the hall was set up, which the company celebrated with a topping-out ceremony known as the “Arch Festival” and 25,000 visitors.

In May 2000, the roofing of the 40,000 m² hall membrane began, for which 120 industrial climbers were deployed. The hall was sealed for the first time to be rainproof in September 2000, after both the membrane and the hall doors had been installed. The completion of the last hall gate was celebrated by the company with a ceremony known as the "Gate Festival".

Construction work on the airship yard was completed in November 2000, which the company celebrated with two large-scale events. In addition to an event for invited guests from industry and politics, the public was also allowed into the hall in a Saturday evening event at the end of November. Despite admission prices of 150 DM for non-company members and 120 DM for shareholders , around 10,000 visitors took part in this event.

Architecture and construction of the shipyard hall

The hangar was originally designed for the simultaneous production or maintenance of two CL-160 airships . For the reverberation and reverberation process of finished airships or airships pending maintenance, shell gates with a quarter-circle dimension were attached to the front sides of the hall. Possible deformations are prevented by door seals in spring leaf construction, each 150 m in length. It is forbidden to open the doors when there is a load of snow on the hall, as this could result in excessive deformation of the doors.

Architects and building consortia

The construction of the airship hangar and the development of the area were planned by SIAT GmbH & Co. KG , a former architecture office and subsidiary of Siemens AG . The construction of the hall was technically realized by a building consortium under the leadership of the Berlin office of Hochtief AG. Other companies involved in the consortium were, for example, DSD Dillinger Stahlbau and Max Bögl Bauunternehmung .

Dates and numbers

Parameter	Data
Start of building:	March 1999
Completion:	November 2000
Building-costs:	150 million DM
Public funding of construction costs:	39.4 million euros
Lot size:	520 ha
Length Width Height:	360 m / 210 m / 107 m
Gross floor area Hangar:	66,000 m²
Gross floor area Base zone:	6,300 m²
Enclosed space:	5.5 million m³
Installed steel:	14,500 t
Installed concrete / reinforced concrete:	40,000 m³
Membrane:	40,000 m²
Gate cladding:	60,000 m²
Glazing / glass facade:	11,000 m²

criticism

Despite its imposing appearance, criticism was expressed about the building and its technical specifications:

• On the one hand, it is stated that during planning and design it was disregarded that the shell gates would take up too large an area compared to the base area. While the area below the shell gates was intended as a production area for the airships, there was no possibility of installing rope hoists above this area. However, these cables would have been necessary for the construction of an airship.
• The integration of office space into the planned production facility within the hangar resulted in too many regulatory hurdles; in particular, there were various regulations for temperature control within the hangar.

Little things worth knowing

• The airship hall is the largest self-supporting hall in the world. Five 200 m long steel arches span the semi-cylindrical shaped hall without any supports.
• For health and safety reasons, the airship hangar was provided with 136 km long underfloor heating , which means that an average temperature of at least 18 degrees Celsius can be ensured at all times.
• The construction of the airship hangar was subsidized with public funds amounting to 39.4 million euros. These investment grants came from funds from the joint task to improve the regional economic structure (GA) and were linked to the permanent creation of 239 full-time jobs within the Brandenburg regions.
• In mid-October 2000, Corus Bausysteme was awarded the Aluminum Award industry prize for its work on the hangar. The prize was awarded annually by the Aluminum Center of the Netherlands.

Other buildings on the site

In addition to the shipyard hall, other buildings were also built on the site. These served the planned business purpose of CargoLifters, the development and construction and the later operation of cargo airships.

• Airship Design Center 1
  • This construction was the first building completed on the site.
  • Year of completion: 1998.
  • Construction from construction containers.
  • Later used as a cafeteria.

• Lighter than Air Academy
  • Buildings designed and used as office units.
  • Construction in modular design so that individual buildings can be combined to form larger structures.
  • Gross floor area per module: 760 m².
  • Gross volume per module: 3,000 m².
  • Planning period: April – August 1999.
  • Construction time: October 1999 - February 2000.
  • Construction costs: 1.2 million DM.
• Visitor center
  • Conversion and expansion of a former Soviet aircraft shelter into a visitor center. The former Shelter 34 was converted as the first component of the center .
  • Gross floor area: 1,300 m²
  • Gross volume 10,200 m²
  • Planning period: April – August 1999.
  • Construction time: October 1999 - March 2000.
  • Construction costs: DM 2.7 million.

• Energy center
  • Block-type thermal power station to supply the area with energy.
  • Gross floor area: 1,440 m².
  • Gross volume: 7,800 m².
  • Planning period: February – December 1999.
  • Construction time: January – November 2000.
  • Construction costs: 2.3 million DM.

The master development plan for the area provided for the construction of two anchor masts for airships over and above these actually constructed buildings . Due to the bankruptcy of the company and the production of airships that was never started, the construction of these was never tackled.

On June 11, 2003, the shipyard hall was sold for 17.5 million euros to the Tanjong group from Malaysia , which received 10 million as a subsidy from the state of Brandenburg and then rededicated the building as a tropical amusement park.

→ Main article : Tropical Islands

Shareholders' Association

The Future in Brand e. V. (IZiB) is an interest group founded by CargoLifter shareholders in 2003, which advocates the preservation of the company and the interests of the shareholders. One of the main aims of the association is to defend the rights and interests of Cargolifter shareholders. In addition, the continued existence of lighter-than-air technology is to be actively supported.

Similar projects

Aeroscraft is the name of a transport airship project by the US company Aeros Corporation .

literature

scientific publications

1997

• Hans A. Wüthrich, Andreas F. Philipp, Martin H. Frentz: Case Study V: CargoLifter. In: Hans A. Wüthrich, Andreas F. Philipp, Martin H. Frentz: Advantage through virtualization: learning from virtual pioneering companies. Gabler, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-409-18964-5 , pp. 176-190.

1999

• Christoph Loch, Arnd Huchzermeier: CargoLifter AG. Insead case study 1999.

2002

• Alexander Glock: Technical and economic investigation of airship-based heavy-duty logistics in the construction industry. VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-18-318304-8 .
• Willi Hallmann: Balloons and airships through the ages: From the Montgolfiere to the CargoLifter. Heel, Königswinter 2002, ISBN 3-89880-013-X .

2004

• Karl Bangert: Investigations into the use of rope-guided load balloon crane systems (LTA crane systems) in construction. Mensch-und-Buch-Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89820-813-3 .

2005

• Mirko Titze: Problems of a strategic trade policy: An investigation using the example of CargoLifter AG. Deutscher Universitätsverlag, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-8244-0835-X .
• Florian Windischbauer, Jacque Richardson: Is there another chance for lighter-than-air vehicles? In: Foresight , 7 (2), 2005, pp. 54-65.

2007

• Giles Camplin: Rediscovering the Arcane Science of Ground Handling Large Airships. Unpublished dissertation, City University London 2007.

2009

• Kristin Bartsch, J.-M. Roß: CargoLifter - A failure with dormant technological potential? In: JH Fisch, J.-M. Roß (Hrsg.): Case studies on innovation management: Concepts and methods for solving problems from corporate practice. Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 3-8349-1047-3 .
• Mirko Titze: Investment subsidies only if jobs are created? Conclusions from the funding of an investment project on the joint task in the state of Brandenburg. in: Journal for Economic Policy, Vol. 58 (2), Lucius & Lucius, Stuttgart 2009, pp. 171–188.

2010

• Manfred Griehl: Typenkompass German airships since 1871. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-613-03226-2 , p. 116 f.

2012

• Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - The rise and fall of a celebrity firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 . Also as an open access version diss.fu-berlin.de.

Company publications

• Anna Christine Bergmann: CargoLifter: How it all began. CargoLifter AG, Berlin 2001.
• CL21 - The CargoLifter shipyard. SIAT Architecture and Technology, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-00-007178-4 .

Other publications

• Florian Bolk, Cornelia Dörries: CargoLifter Brand (The new architecture guide No. 25). Stadtwandel Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-933743-46-6 .
• Thomas Luther: CargoLifter: A real aerial number. In: Thomas Luther: The 30 most disastrous scandals in financial history. Moderne Industrie Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003, pp. 128-132, ISBN 3-478-25020-X .
• Gerlinde Schuller, Claudia Weber: Making the Impossible Possible: The dream of flying. The dream of paradise. Map One, Amsterdam 2006, ISBN 90-810927-1-5 .

Film documentaries

• Peter Bardehle, Franz Fitzke: Comeback of the airships. First broadcast on September 18, 2001, Norddeutscher Rundfunk .
• NDR television , Panorama : Tax money for a dive - the scandal about the Cargolifter. First broadcast on November 7, 2002, ARD video library.
• Peter Bardehle, Franz Fitzke: CargoLifter - the air number: Why the CargoLifter crashed. First broadcast on February 10, 2003, Westdeutscher Rundfunk .

Web links

Commons : Cargolifter  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Information and briefs on the insolvency proceedings of CargoLifter AG Insolnet.de
• CargoLifter annual reports and quarterly reports (1998–2002). getthereport.com, accessed November 24, 2012 . 
• Zukunft-in-brand.de - website of a shareholder initiative
• Mike Steere: The Baron's Big Balloon. A German Aristocrat-businessman Is Relaunching the Age of the Airship, Armed with Millions in the Bank and a Team of Crack Engineers. Can Superblimps Rise Again? Wired, August 1, 2000, accessed December 8, 2012 . 
• Corinna Budras: Cargolifter High-flying dreams. In: FAZ.NET. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , December 28, 2015, accessed on April 27, 2016 . 

Remarks

1. ^ Original source: Minutes of the board meeting on May 6, 1998, Linde Archive Wiesbaden (cf. Hans-Liudger Dienel : Die Linde AG: History of a technology group, 1879-2004. Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-51484- 7 , p. 449).
2. ↑ Exchange rate date 1 USD to DEM as of May 30, 2000: 2.1030 USD / DEM
3. ↑ The entrance fee for visitors was 40 DM.
4. ↑ An excerpt from the affidavit issued by the chairman of the board reads as follows: “The trial period of 8 years provided for the CL 160 is realistic. The testing time of ten years claimed by Mr. Teegen is far out of date and does not correspond to the average testing time in history. ” Pilot and airplane , May 2001: CargoLifter: End of testing not before 2011 , p. 25; Pilot and plane , July 2001: The battle CargoLifter ./. Teegen is over. Pp. 16–20., Sächsische Zeitung , May 5, 2001, p. 13: "Will the giant airship only fly in twelve years?"
5. ↑ Further information on the "Pennsylvania High-Speed ​​Maglev Project" can be found in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , Oct. 15, 2001, SA7. Google Newspapers.
6. ↑ The sources regarding the condition of the airship at the time of purchase are inconsistent. Some sources say that a new airship has been purchased. Others call buying a used airship. See for reference to a used airship: Peter Bardehle, Franz Fitzke: Comeback of the airships. First broadcast on September 18, 2001, Norddeutscher Rundfunk ; Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - The rise and fall of a celebrity firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 , p. 146.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Half-yearly report 2002. CargoLifter AG, p. 3.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Cargolifter: Hovering crane - A huge airship is supposed to solve the transport problems when building large systems. In: Wirtschaftswoche , October 24, 1996.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Cargolifter - a new generation of airships for large and heavy transport. Faster and cheaper than other modes of transport. In: Deutsche Verkehrszeitung , November 9, 1996.
4. ↑ The myth of the zeppelin revived. Airships are to be built on a former CIS airfield on the Spreewald motorway. In: Der Tagesspiegel , December 22, 1997.
5. ↑ For heavy haulage and tourism: The return of the zeppelins. In: Die Welt am Sonntag , April 20, 1997.
6. ↑ Airship reborn as green jam-buster. Cargo now has another way to travel, reports Denis Staunton in Berlin. In: The Observer , November 30, 1997.
7. ↑ With the old airship back to the new transport future. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , November 24, 1997.
8. ↑ Cargolifter on the way to the stock exchange; New cargo airship is to be built in Brandenburg. In: Börsen-Zeitung , January 20, 1998.
9. ↑ Growing shareholder interest in Cargolifter. Logistics fair preferred over aviation exhibition. In: FAZ , January 20, 1998, p. 23.
10. ^ FAZ , January 14, 1998, p. 22.
11. ↑ ^{a b} Risk capital for airship construction urgently needed. At Cargolifter, the fourth over-the-counter share placement is already underway. Sales should last until the end of July. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 25, 1999.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Annual Report 1997/1998 and Consolidated Financial Statements (Report of the Supervisory Board, January 1998). CargoLifter AG, p. 2.
13. ↑ ^{a b} A thousand groundbreaking. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , April 30, 1998, p. 13.
14. ^ Airships from the Spreewald: "Zeppelin shipyard" is supposed to give Brandenburg wings. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , May 3, 1998, p. 33.
15. ↑ Cargo airship: large model capable of flying. In: Wirtschaftswoche , May 7, 1998, p. 136.
16. ↑ Cargolifter AG: New areas of application in sight. Even the model is a full 32 meters long. In: Handelsblatt , May 7, 1998.
17. ↑ Airships experience rebirth at the interface between economy and nostalgia. Two companies smell boundless business above the clouds. Cargolifter wants to revolutionize transport technology. Zeppelin heirs proliferate with the pioneer's pounds. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , May 30, 1998, p. 13.
18. ↑ Ideas in the “jerk” mirror of society. Future forge in Bellevue Palace: Federal President Herzog invited to the Day of Innovations. In: Der Tagesspiegel , July 24, 1998, p. 4.
19. ↑ ^{a b} Purchase contract for shipyard area signed. CargoLifter has raised capital for the next phase. In: Deutsche Verkehrszeitung , August 18, 1998.
20. ↑ Der Tagesspiegel, December 3, 1998, p. 25: Cargolifter on the upswing. 4,200 shareholders are already supporting the airship plans.
21. ^ Hans-Liudger Dienel : Die Linde AG: history of a technology group, 1879-2004. Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-51484-7 , p. 318.
22. ↑ Guarantee for the hovering crane. Cargolifter collects debt and equity - IPO. In: Börsen-Zeitung , January 23, 1999.
23. ↑ People and Markets. In: FAZ , March 4, 1999, p. 64.
24. ↑ Cargolifter wants to go public. Annual general meeting approves capital increase. In: FAZ , March 11, 1999, p. 22.
25. ↑ Design center for airships opened. On fire, the go-ahead was given for one of the largest self-supporting halls. In: Berliner Morgenpost , March 13, 1999.
26. ↑ The unbroken fascination of the "flying cigars". In: Berliner Morgenpost , March 14, 1999, p. 19.
27. ↑ Artur P. Schmidt : Innovative mammoth project or castle in the air? telepolis.de, June 2, 1999, accessed November 24, 2012 . 
28. ↑ Artur P. Schmidt: An airship is not an airplane. Interview with the CEO of CargoLifter AG, Dr. Carl von Gablenz. telepolis.de, June 2, 1999, accessed November 24, 2012 . 
29. ↑ Cargolifter becomes an Expo project. In: Der Tagesspiegel , May 7, 1999, p. 25.
30. ↑ Cargolifter. Last private placement before landing on the floor. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , May 15, 1999, p. 16.
31. ↑ Carl von Gablenz. Aviation pioneer. In: Berliner Morgenpost , May 20, 1999, p. 4.
32. ↑ Vice of the air. Not far from Berlin, a private company wants to build the largest airship of all time. The CargoLifter is intended to deliver cargo weighing tons to anywhere in the world. Public funding gives the project a boost, but the technical problems are enormous . In: Der Spiegel . No. 34 , 1999 ( online ).
33. ↑ ^{a b} Zehdenick entrepreneur named medium-sized company of the year. Award for Stefan A. Zender. In: Der Tagesspiegel , September 15, 1999, p. 21.
34. ↑ First arch segment of the giant hall for the cargo lifter. In: Die Welt , October 16, 1999.
35. ↑ Brand: Storm of visitors for the open day at CargoLifter. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , October 19, 1999.
36. ↑ The first arch of the airship hangar is up. Open-door day. “Cargolifter” is scheduled to take off in 2002. In: Der Tagesspiegel , October 16, 1999, p. 20.
37. ↑ An airship is already finished. Traffic approval is available for the CargoLifter model. Contracts with future users. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , October 16, 1999.
38. ↑ CargoLifter Experimental Airship Flies. In: PR Newswire , October 20, 1999.
39. ↑ Cargo Lifter floats its experimental airship . In: Flight International , October 27, 1999.
40. ↑ Experts gather all over the world. Chief Executive Officer: The team is now working very well. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , October 18, 1999.
41. ↑ High demand for new Cargolifter shares. In: Die Welt , December 30, 1999.
42. ↑ Firm Hopes to Bring Back Zeppelins as Flying Cranes. In: Seattle Post-Intelligencer , November 1, 1999.
43. ↑ Cargolifter asked about donors. Berlin airship company wants to go public in the second quarter - profits for 2003 in sight. In: Berliner Morgenpost , January 21, 2000.
44. ↑ Cargolifter wants a good DM 250 million. IPO in the second quarter - further tranche possible in 2001. In: Boersen-Zeitung , January 22, 2000.
45. ↑ CargoLifter AG cooperates with IBM, Cisco and e-plus. AFX-TD, February 7, 2000.
46. ↑ Airship meets Internet. Cargo Lifter works with IBM, Cisco Systems and E-Plus. In: Berliner Morgenpost , February 8, 2000.
47. ↑ Airship manufacturer CargoLifter asked about investors: 13,000 shareholders. AFX - TD, March 3, 2000.
48. ↑ AFX - TD, March 13, 2000: Airship manufacturer Cargolifter wants to go public in the 2nd quarter.
49. ↑ Commerzbank floats Cargolifter on the stock exchange. In: FAZ , March 15, 2000.
50. ↑ The mammoth flying crane goes public. CargoLifter wants to build the world's largest airship and needs capital for it. In: Financial Times Deutschland , May 8, 2000.
51. ↑ Soaring plans. Airy newcomers to the stock exchange: Cargolifter builds zeppelins, Energiekontor builds wind farms. In: Berliner Morgenpost , May 14, 2000.
52. ↑ Correction: CargoLifter bookbuilding range 14 to 18 euros. AFX-TD, May 15, 2000.
53. ↑ Logistician fires the imagination. Cargolifter boss von Gablenz wants to move loads with an airship - and from today also the investors. In: Financial Times Deutschland , May 16, 2000.
54. ↑ Cargolifter is not for easy money. Investors should deal with the risks - price can be increased by ten percent. In: Financial Times Deutschland , May 16, 2000.
55. ↑ The Zeppelin - 2000: Airships from fire. Cargolifter puts one billion marks in the "CL 160". In: Berliner Morgenpost , May 18, 2000.
56. ↑ No vertical take-off for airship builders. In: FAZ , May 31, 2000, p. 70.
57. ↑ AFX –TD, May 30, 2000: Massive stock market launch by airship builder CargoLifter.
58. ^ Cargolifter boss Carl von Gablenz - the modern aviation pioneer. He fights obsessively for his vision. In: Handelsblatt , June 6, 2000.
59. ^ Berlin Firm Sells Stock to Raise Cash for Airships. In: The Virginian-Pilot , June 8, 2000.
60. ↑ ^{a b} Windy plans: Cargolifter AG starts on the stock exchange with great visions and even bigger promises. But many technical problems are still unresolved . In: Der Spiegel . No. 22 , 2000 ( online ).
61. ↑ CargoLifter is now an Expo location. AFX-TD, June 4, 2000
62. ↑ amazement with pain in the neck. Visitor center gives an insight into the technology of the new airships. In: Der Tagesspiegel , June 14, 2000.
63. ↑ Airbus is considering CargoLifter for the transport of A3XX components. AFX-TD, June 23, 2000.
64. ↑ Last day of the Chancellor's trip: On the construction site for the airship yard - With the miners - shots at the “energy” gate. Gerhard Schröder wanted to go up high again in fire. In: Berliner Morgenpost , September 2, 2000, p. 30.
65. ↑ The largest self-supporting hall in the world is as good as finished - cargo lifter now also for aid transport. Open day on fire. In: Berliner Morgenpost , September 15, 2000, p. 39.
66. ↑ ^{a b} Airship yard Cargolifter on fire celebrated peat festival. "Charly, the white whale of the air". In: Berliner Morgenpost , September 18, 2000, p. 4.
67. ↑ ^{a b c} CargoLifter puts energy center into operation. AFX - TD, October 12, 2000.
68. ↑ Cargolifter moves up as the first real risk value in the MDax. In: Börsen-Zeitung , November 16, 2000.
69. ↑ Stock markets recover strongly. Nasdaq gains 5.78 percent. Four new stocks in the Nemax 50 index. In: FAZ , November 15, 2000.
70. ^ The FAZ dates of the week. In: FAZ , November 20, 2000.
71. ↑ Soaring plans. CargoLifter AG celebrates the completion of its shipyard / open day: 150 marks entry per person. In: Der Tagesspiegel , November 24, 2000.
72. ↑ Thousands were enthusiastic about the program for the inauguration of the hall. The international company CargoLifter organized a multicultural festival. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , November 27, 2000.
73. ↑ Costs of building the Cargolifter explode. The transport airship could swallow up 1 billion DM - a capital increase to finance series production is likely. In: Financial Times Deutschland , November 21, 2000.
74. ↑ ^{a b} Cargolif-ffffff-ter. Half a year after the airship manufacturer Cargolifter went public, the prospects for the project are still unclear - and the management is puzzling. In: Financial Times Deutschland , November 23, 2000.
75. ↑ Up above the kingpin. Construction of the airship hangar completed. In: FAZ , November 24, 2000.
76. ↑ Existing shareholders cash in at Cargolifter. Company sees development on schedule. In: Financial Times Deutschland , December 1, 2000.
77. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg Germany: Aviation: CargoLifter is looking for donors - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Economy. Retrieved January 30, 2017 . 
78. ↑ Bo Adam: At the airship manufacturer Cargolifter, time and money are running out. Nonetheless, company boss Carl von Gablenz sticks to the prestige project undeterred: empty cash register, empty hall . In: Berliner Zeitung . ( berliner-zeitung.de [accessed January 30, 2017]).
79. ↑ Magazine expresses doubts about the Cargolifter. Company feels slandered and complains. In: Berliner Zeitung , December 15, 2000.
80. ↑ Cargolifter rejects doubts about the technology of the cargo airship. The company and a flight journalist reported each other. In: Berliner Zeitung , December 19, 2000.
81. ^ "FTD": Airship prototype from Cargolifter is smaller than planned. AFX - TD, December 28, 2000.
82. ↑ Cargolifter prototype has only limited performance. Start of construction at the company headquarters planned for September - expert dispute over the realization of the crane of the air. In: Financial Times Deutschland , December 28, 2000.
83. ↑ The dispute about the range and capacity of the Cargolifters intensifies. Aviation journalist Teegen renews criticism of the cargo airship. Ministry of Economic Affairs sees “good reasons” for funding. In: Berliner Zeitung , December 29, 2000.
84. ↑ The company strikes back: CargoLifter makes drafts public For the first time, operational engineers are to explain the technology of the cargo airships. In: Berliner Zeitung , January 11, 2001.
85. ↑ Investigations against Cargolifter have ended. In: Berliner Zeitung , January 13, 2001.
86. ↑ White giant on a blue background. Plastic balloon inflated in the Cargolifter shipyard - long dispute over airships continues. In: Berliner Morgenpost , January 15, 2001.
87. ↑ Airship in suspension. In: Handelsblatt , January 18, 2001.
88. ↑ Setback for Cargolifter. In: FAZ , January 18, 2001.
89. ↑ CargoLifter shows doubts. In: Börsen-Zeitung , January 19, 2001.
90. ↑ Cargolifter is on the lookout for partners. Another technical change for the planned world's largest crane in the air. In: Financial Times Deutschland , January 19, 2001.
91. ↑ Cargolifter shrinks airship plans. In: Berliner Morgenpost , January 19, 2001.
92. ↑ Inquiry: Carl von Gablenz: "Our liquidity will last for another year". In: Handelsblatt , January 24, 2001.
93. ↑ Loan planned. Cargolifter wants to raise new capital. In: Handelsblatt , January 26, 2001.
94. ↑ Negotiations with suppliers about risk partnerships are advanced - 380 jobs created. Leasing companies are supposed to buy the first airships. In: Handelsblatt , January 24, 2001.
95. ↑ Crane manufacturer Liebherr is withdrawing from Cargolifter. No Castoren-Transport-Motor-Decision for the AGM. In: Financial Times Deutschland , March 8, 2001.
96. ↑ Cargolifter cooperates with General Electric. US conglomerate participates in airship development. In: Handelsblatt , March 16, 2001.
97. ↑ CargoLifter poised to opt for RR / Turbomeca powerplant. In: Flight International , February 27, 2001.
98. ^ GE is Surprise Choice for Airship. In: Flight International , March 27, 2001.
99. ↑ Greater capital requirement at CargoLifter - income from transport balloon. DPA - AFX, March 18, 2001.
100. ↑ Construction of the Cargolifters is delayed. The world's largest transport airship costs 150 million marks more than planned. In: Financial Times Deutschland , March 19, 2001.
101. ↑ Crash before starting? The Cargolifter is set to become the largest airship in the world. Now the financing threatens to fail. Tens of thousands of investors fear for their money. In: Stern , April 11, 2001.
102. ^ Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - Rise and Fall of a Celebrity Firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 , p. 238; P. 362 ff.
103. ^ Criminal charges against the head of Cargolifter. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , April 27, 2001.
104. ↑ CargoLifter: Trial end not before 2011. In: Pilot und Flugzeug , May 2001, pp. 24–27.
105. ↑ The Battle of CargoLifter ./. Teegen is over. In: Pilot und Flugzeug , July 2001, pp. 16-20.
106. ↑ CargoLifter signs a contract with development partner BAE Systems. DPA-AFX, July 17, 2001
107. ↑ “Charly” has space for nine passengers. Cargolifter test airship expects approval for sightseeing flights in August. In: Berliner Zeitung , July 20, 2001.
108. ↑ Share in focus: Cargolifters rise after successful lightning protection tests. DPA-AFX, July 24, 2001.
109. ↑ Schröder calls on universities to be more international. Federal Chancellor praises the activities of TU Cottbus against xenophobic violence and agitation. In: Der Tagesspiegel , July 8, 2001.
110. ↑ Milestone: CargoLifter receives approval as an airship. In: Die Welt , August 15, 2001.
111. ↑ Aviation. In: FAZ , August 14, 2001.
112. ↑ Cargolifter lets the largest balloon of all time rise. Filled with 110,000 cubic meters of helium. CL 75 is said to be the pioneer of the giant CL 160 airship. In: FAZ , July 10, 2001.
113. ↑ Production begins at Cargo Lifter. Federal President Rau and Brandenburg's Economics Minister want to be there. In: Die Welt , September 25, 2001.
114. ↑ Clear the way for the largest airship in the world. Production of the plastic casing has started on a cutting table over 250 meters long. In: Der Tagesspiegel , September 28, 2001.
115. ^ Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - Rise and Fall of a Celebrity Firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 , p. 238; P. 126 ff.
116. ↑ Cargolifter passed outdoor flight test. In: Der Tagesspiegel , October 13, 2001-
117. ↑ CargoLifter successfully tests load balloon AirCrane lifted a 24-ton crane into the air. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , October 10, 2001-
118. ↑ GE contract. In: Flight International , November 6, 2001.
119. ↑ CargoLifter takes over 10% of US consortium Maglev - cooperation. dpaAFX, November 16, 2001.
120. ↑ Cargo Lifter lands maglev deal with CL160 airship . In: Flight International , November 27, 2001
121. ↑ Cargolifter needs an additional 100 million euros. Technical coordination with suppliers takes place in March. In: Financial Times Deutschland , November 14, 2001.
122. ↑ Cargolifter wants to secure liquidity until summer 2002. In: Handelsblatt , November 8, 2001.
123. ↑ CargoLifter receives 34 million euros through a capital increase. DPA - AFX, November 30, 2001.
124. ↑ Capital increase brings around 34 million euros to the cash register. Airship manufacturer Cargolifter remains in the balance. In: Handelsblatt , November 30, 2001.
125. ↑ Cargolifter has to raise more money by March. Airship builder is looking for a larger investor. In: Financial Times Deutschland , December 3, 2001.
126. ↑ Cargolifter hopes to get government help required for bank loan guarantees. 92 percent of the new shares placed. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , December 1, 2001.
127. ↑ Cargolifter without EADS help. In: Financial Times Deutschland , December 13, 2001.
128. ↑ Flying inflatable boat: German engineers develop the largest airship in the world. The "Cargolifter" is supposed to carry loads weighing tons through the air. There are still enormous technical hurdles to overcome before the start: How can the air truck survive a storm when loading and unloading? In: Der Spiegel . No. 1 , 2002 ( online ).
129. ^ "FTD": Cargolifter boss calls for state aid. In: DPA - AFX, January 16, 2002.
130. ↑ Cargolifter runs out of air without government aid. The head of the airship developer is hoping for subsidies. Share price collapses at times by 60 percent. In: Financial Times Deutschland , January 17, 2002.
131. ↑ Cargolifter without government support endangers the share at a low - price collapses by 50 percent. In: Berliner Zeitung , January 17, 2002.
132. ↑ Newspaper report causes the CargoLifter share price to collapse. Company calls report a hoax. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , January 17, 2002.
133. ↑ Background: "We will not let the airship project persuade us." CEO Carl von Gablenz defends the business model. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , January 18, 2002.
134. ↑ Roland Berger is supposed to support the Cargolifter. Airship manufacturer wants to find a financing solution by March 16. "Lighter-than-Air Pope" changes from the supervisory board to the executive board. In: FAZ , January 26, 2002.
135. ↑ Cargolifter promises a rescue plan by mid-March. Airship manufacturer appoints technical director for the first time. In: Financial Times Deutschland , January 28, 2002.
136. ↑ Other partners are helping to build the airship. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , January 24, 2002.
137. ↑ The dream of the airship hangs on 290 million euros. In: Hamburger Abendblatt , February 7, 2002.
138. ↑ CargoLifter aims to double capital. DPA - AFX, February 7, 2002.
139. ^ Association: CargoLifter has good opportunities on the market. DPA - AFX, February 13, 2002.
140. ^ Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - Rise and Fall of a Celebrity Firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 , p. 130.
141. ↑ "Spiegel": Growing doubts about the feasibility of the Cargolifters - airship builders facing technical and financial problems. Agence France Presse - German, March 2, 2002.
142. ↑ Background: CargoLifter in new turbulence - CEO threatens to take legal action. DPA - AFX, March 4, 2002.
143. ↑ Aircraft: wobbly air number . In: Der Spiegel . No. 10 , 2002 ( online ).
144. ↑ Technical feasibility confirmed by development study and expert judgments. CargoLifter PR release, March 3, 2002 (quoted from Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - Rise and Fall of a Celebrity Firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 , p. 130 ).
145. ↑ Airship company announces lawsuit. CargoLifter rejects rumors of bankruptcy. In: Handelsblatt , March 4, 2002.
146. ↑ Cargolifter defends itself against bankruptcy allegations Report on technical and financial problems denied. In: Berliner Zeitung , March 4, 2002.
147. ↑ Cargolifter denies technical problems. Company reports to the supervisory office. In: Der Tagesspiegel , March 4, 2002.
148. ^ Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - Rise and Fall of a Celebrity Firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 , p. 197; 367 ff.
149. ↑ Cargolifter applies for federal loan. In: Handelsblatt , March 5, 2002.
150. ↑ Cargolifter Up and Down. In: Handelsblatt , March 7, 2002.
151. ↑ There are no basic requirements for a guarantee. In: Spiegel Online , March 7, 2002.
152. ↑ The financing from the summer is still unclear. Cargolifter needs more money and time than previously planned. In: Handelsblatt , March 18, 2002.
153. ↑ Cargolifter: Optimism in the luggage. "... we want to generate our first sales in 2003". In: VDI nachrichten , March 1, 2002 (interview with Carl-Heinrich von Gablenz ).
154. ↑ Ad hoc: CargoLifter AG German. DPA - AFX, March 16, 2002.
155. ↑ CargoLifter general meeting: castles in the air to airships. In: Spiegel Online. March 17, 2002, accessed January 1, 2013 . 
156. ↑ Cargolifter's Adventures in Canada. Airship builder is so far the only investor in its first customer. In: Der Tagesspiegel , March 28, 2002.
157. ↑ CargoLifter: Lots of hot air. In: Focus-Money , April 4, 2002.
158. ↑ Difficult weather for airship builders. Speculation about Cargolifter customers. The group denies the accusation that Heavy Lift is just a mailbox company. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , March 27, 2002.
159. ↑ CargoLifter bosses keep their shares. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , March 28, 2002.
160. ↑ Cargolifter saved from payment crisis. Airship builder receives money from shareholders through bonds. In: Financial Times Deutschland , April 12, 2002.
161. ↑ Airship manufacturer CargoLifter finds what it is looking for: Boeing as a partner. DPA - AFX, May 2, 2002
162. ↑ Boeing examines alliance with Cargolifter for airship construction. Letter of intent signed. Course rises. In: Financial Times Deutschland , May 3, 2002.
163. ↑ State financial aid for Cargolifters still open. In: Die Welt , May 7, 2002.
164. ↑ CargoLifter: Solvency only secured for a few days. DPA - AFX, May 12, 2002.
165. ↑ CargoLifter is counting its last money. the Berlin company is threatened with bankruptcy. In: Financial Times Deutschland , May 13, 2002.
166. ↑ Roundup 2: CargoLifter is still in the air with funding. DPA - AFX, May 13, 2002.
167. ↑ State government: Currently no financial aid for CargoLifter. DPA - AFX, May 14, 2002.
168. ↑ Negative report by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. According to press reports, the Federal Ministry of Economics issued a damning testimony to the airship manufacturer CargoLifter. The company's strategy is simply wrong. In: Spiegel Online , May 15, 2002.
169. ↑ Cargolifter is putting airship plans on hold for the time being. An acute lack of money forces a radical change in strategy. In: Financial Times Deutschland , May 21, 2002.
170. ^ Only air: The plans for the Cargolifter, probably the most ambitious German aviation project, have failed. Until the very end, the management cultivated the visions - and couldn't get the realities under control. In: Financial Times Deutschland , May 21, 2002.
171. ↑ Big Blimp That Apparently Couldn't. In: The New York Times , May 22, 2002.
172. ↑ Ad hoc: CargoLifter AG. DPA - AFX, May 31, 2002.
173. ↑ ^{a b} Airship subsidiary of Cargolifter files for bankruptcy. First summary. Most important subsidiary with 283 employees; Talks with the state of Brandenburg about rescue continue. Associated Press Worldstream - German, May 31, 2002.
174. ↑ Cargolifter files for insolvency proceedings. In: Die Welt , June 8, 2002.
175. ^ ^{A b c} Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - Rise and Fall of a Celebrity Firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 , p. 132; 322.
176. ↑ Rolf D. Riedel: The CargoLifter should be ready for use for heavy loads up to 160 tons as early as 2001: CargoLifter: matured from the vision to the concept to technical reality in three years. In: Transportmarkt , 11/12 1997.
177. ↑ The airship becomes expensive and flies later. CargoLifter starts this year's Annual General Meeting with good news: The first CL-75 AirCrane transport balloon has been sold. In: VerkehrsRundschau , March 18, 2002.
178. ↑ Severe weather: seven dead in thunderstorm. In: Spiegel Online. July 10, 2002, accessed January 15, 2013 . 
179. ↑ We're going to save Cargolifters. Solidarity campaign by shareholders after the airship builder's petition for insolvency. In: Associated Press Worldstream - German, June 9, 2002.
180. ↑ Commercial register announcements of August 9, 2002 (HRB85500): Zukunft in Brand GmbH.
181. ↑ Roundup: CargoLifter receives loan of 4.15 million euros. DPA - AFX, June 18, 2002.
182. ↑ Company telegram. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , June 28, 2002.
183. ↑ Commercial register announcements of July 31, 2002 (HRB73799): CargoLifter Aktiengesellschaft.
184. ↑ Storm destroys the shell of the CL 75 Aircrane. CargoLifter press release, July 11, 2002.
185. ↑ CargoLifter - Experts consider products to be feasible. DPA - AFX, July 12, 2002.
186. ↑ Expert hearing: Basis for the development of the continuation concept for CargoLifter created . CargoLifter press release, July 12, 2002.
187. ↑ End, end, end: CargoLifter is shut down. In: Spiegel Online , August 12, 2002.
188. ↑ Job cuts at Cargolifter. Works council fears the loss of 300 jobs. In: Der Tagesspiegel , July 24, 2002.
189. ↑ Brief messages. In: Allgemeine Zeitung , September 25, 2002.
190. ^ Public prosecutor investigates at Cargolifter. In: Berliner Morgenpost , January 31, 2003, p. 7.
191. ↑ Public prosecutor's office is not bringing charges against former Cargolifter managers. netzeitung.de, June 17, 2004.
192. ↑ Commercial register announcements of September 18, 2003 (HRB73799): CargoLifter Aktiengesellschaft.
193. ↑ Handelsblatt (October 7, 2003): Auction.
194. ↑ Michael Kröger: CargoLifter: Sale in Wolkenkuckucksheim. In: Spiegel Online. Retrieved January 18, 2013 . 
195. ↑ 3000 interested parties for CargoLifter leftovers. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , October 13, 2003.
196. ↑ Cargolifter administrator did not receive any commission // Court rejected complaint. In: Der Tagesspiegel , March 10, 2004.
197. ↑ ^{a b} Commercial register announcements of March 25, 2004 (HRB51550): CargoLifter Finance GmbH.
198. ↑ Cargolifter technology doesn't do it. Friedrichshafener Luftschiffbau Zeppelin is returning patents and property rights. In: Südkurier , July 11, 2007.
199. ↑ Cargolifter shareholders attack insolvency administrators Application for removal from office. Dispute over the destruction of the CL 75 transport balloon in the storm of the century of 2002. In: Märkische Allgemeine , January 6, 2007.
200. ↑ Email attacks drive prices up. Share spam is now also spreading in Germany: the financial supervisory authorities are powerless. In: Aachener Nachrichten , April 6, 2007.
201. ↑ Commercial register announcements of October 6, 2008 (HRB73799B): CargoLifter Aktiengesellschaft.
202. ↑ Commercial register announcements of February 10, 2011 (63IN32502): CargoLifter Development GmbH.
203. ↑ EANS-Adhoc: CargoLifter AG iI / Revocation of admission to the regulated market (General Standard) effective from October 19, 2012. In: ots news switzerland , October 15, 2012.
204. ↑ The Cargolifter has vanished into thin air. In: Märkische Allgemeine , October 19, 2012.
205. ↑ Employer ranking. In: Wirtschaftswoche , August 15, 2002.
206. ↑ Mirko Titze: Investment subsidies only when jobs are created? Conclusions from the funding of an investment project on the joint task in the state of Brandenburg. In: Journal for Economic Policy , Vol. 58 (2), Lucius & Lucius, Stuttgart 2009, p. 178 f.
207. ↑ CargoLifter Alert gGmbH (in preparation): advertising brochure (undated).
208. ↑ Insolvency proceedings - CargoLifter company. insolshop.de, accessed on November 24, 2012 . 
209. ↑ ^{a b} Ingolf Schäfer: A method for the design optimization of airships. University of Stuttgart (including dissertation) 1997, ISBN 3-930683-19-9 , p. [Foreword].
210. ↑ Commercial register announcements, August 14, 1998 (HRB10544): CargoLifter Development GmbH.
211. ↑ Commercial register announcements, August 27, 1998 (HRB10544): CargoLifter Development GmbH.
212. ↑ Commercial register announcements, April 28, 1999 (HRB5560): CargoLifter Development GmbH.
213. ↑ Commercial register announcements, June 16, 2000 (HRB5560): CargoLifter Development GmbH.
214. ↑ Federal Gazette - Annual Accounts, November 24, 2000: CargoLifter Aktiengesellschaft.
215. ↑ Commercial register announcements, July 20, 2002 (HRB5560): CargoLifter Development GmbH.
216. ↑ Commercial register announcements, August 13, 2002, 63 IN 325/02 (63IN32502): CargoLifter Development GmbH.
217. ↑ ^{a b c} Annual Report 2000/2001 , CargoLifter AG, p. 13, getthereport.com  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.8 MB).  
218. ^ Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - Rise and Fall of a Celebrity Firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 , p. 180.
219. ↑ Titanic-sice plans set by dirigibles' lofty fans. In: Triangle Business Journal , June 12, 1998.
220. ^ CargoLifter Announces Pasquotank County as Preferred Site For First Airship Base in North America. In: PR Newswire , December 21, 1999.
221. ^ German firm CargoLifter plans to assemble airships in USA. In: Air Transport Intelligence , October 12, 2000.
222. ↑ CargoLifter to build airship assembly facility near New Bern. In: The Associated Press State & Local Wire , October 12, 2000.
223. ↑ ^{a b} Airship Order Boosts Cargolifter Preparation. In: Flight International , April 4, 2000.
224. ↑ ^{a b} The first school for zeppelin pilots is set up in fire. 2000 airship captains wanted. In: Berliner Morgenpost , July 10, 2000.
225. ↑ Annual report 2000/2001. CargoLifter AG, p. 12, getthereport.com  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.8 MB).  
226. ↑ ^{a b} Annual Report 2000/2001. CargoLifter AG, p. 13, getthereport.com  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.8 MB).  
227. ↑ Annual report 2000/2001. CargoLifter AG, p. 79, getthereport.com  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.8 MB).  
228. ↑ Commercial register announcements of November 4, 2000 (HRB50449): CargoLifter MAP GmbH.
229. ↑ Commercial register announcements of September 11, 2002 (HRB50449): CargoLifter MAP GmbH.
230. ↑ In the footsteps of Icarus: An engineer from Giessen builds the first solar-powered airship - and launched it in Australia. In: taz , May 24, 1997, p. 21: “German research is top-notch, marketing is catastrophic”.
231. ^ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, December 20, 1996: Headwind for Lotte: Solarzeppelin did not reach the destination in Adelaide.
232. ↑ ^{a b} Lotte caught on the run again: Stuttgart solar airship in Leipzig on the wrong track. In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten , October 23, 1999.
233. ^ ^{A b} Airship Operations, Inc. Announces Sale of Skyship to CargoLifter. Company Will Also be Providing Training. In: Business Wire , March 21, 2000.
234. ↑ Pictures from the airship parade on July 2, 2000. Airship pages, accessed on August 30, 2012.
235. ↑ Qantas Airways has flown in higher profits. In: Deutsche Verkehrszeitung , September 2, 1997.
236. ↑ Florian Bolk, Cornelia Dörries: CargoLifter Brand (The new architecture guide No. 25). Stadtwandel Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-933743-46-6 , p. 15.
237. ↑ Cargolifter. Groundbreaking for the assembly hall on Saturday. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , April 28, 1998, p. 14.
238. ^ Start of construction for the Zeppelin shipyard in May. In: Der Tagesspiegel , April 18, 1998, p. 14.
239. ^ ^{A b} Florian Bolk, Cornelia Dörries: CargoLifter Brand (The new architecture guide No. 25). Stadtwandel Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-933743-46-6 , p. 22.
240. ↑ Florian Bolk, Cornelia Dörries: CargoLifter Brand (The new architecture guide No. 25). Stadtwandel Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-933743-46-6 , p. 18 f.
241. ↑ CL21 - The CargoLifter shipyard. SIAT Architektur und Technik, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-00-007178-4 , p. 23.
242. ↑ ^{a b} CL21 - The CargoLifter shipyard. SIAT Architektur und Technik, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-00-007178-4 , p. 27.
243. ↑ The first arch of the airship hangar is up. Open-door day. “Cargolifter” is scheduled to take off in 2002. In: Der Tagesspiegel , October 16, 1999, p. 20.
244. ↑ CL21 - The CargoLifter shipyard. SIAT Architektur und Technik, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-00-007178-4 , p. 38.
245. ↑ Huge gates close a 200 meter wide “gap”. Airship yard in Brand now almost completely completed. In: Der Tagesspiegel , September 17, 2000.
246. ↑ Up above the kingpin. Construction of the airship hangar completed . In: FAZ , November 24, 2000.
247. ↑ For weeks the Cargolifter shipyard hall has been heated for the opening ceremony .
248. ^ Ten thousand at a party in the airship hall. CargoLifters production took over the baton. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , November 27, 2000.
249. ↑ CL21 - The CargoLifter shipyard. SIAT Architektur und Technik, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-00-007178-4 , p. 69 f.
250. ↑ Consortium builds airship hangar. Series production will start in 2004. In: Der Tagesspiegel , December 16, 1998, p. 19.
251. ↑ Huge order for the construction of the airship yard on fire. In: Der Tagesspiegel , December 20, 1998, p. 16.
252. ↑ Florian Bolk, Cornelia Dörries: CargoLifter Brand (The new architecture guide No. 25). Stadtwandel Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-933743-46-6 , p. 30.
253. ↑ ^{a b} Mirko Titze: Investment subsidies only when jobs are created? Conclusions from the funding of an investment project on the joint task in the state of Brandenburg. In: Journal for Economic Policy , Vol. 58 (2), Lucius & Lucius, Stuttgart 2009, p. 179.
254. ↑ There was no money for the technology, only for the construction of the hall and for the creation of jobs. (No longer available online.) In: www.cargolifter.de. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016 ; accessed on May 26, 2019 . 
255. ^ Airship Manufacturing and Maintenance Facilities. Airship Association, accessed February 9, 2013 . 
256. ↑ Florian Bolk, Cornelia Dörries: CargoLifter Brand (The new architecture guide No. 25). Stadtwandel Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-933743-46-6 , p. 26.
257. ↑ CargoLifter Hangar awarded. In: Handelsblatt , October 11, 2000.
258. ↑ CL21 - The CargoLifter shipyard. SIAT Architektur und Technik, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-00-007178-4 , p. 104; 124.
259. ↑ Where MIGs used to be serviced. From summer, the “Shelter 34” will be converted into the CargoLifter visitor center. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , May 13, 1999.
260. ↑ CL21 - The CargoLifter shipyard. SIAT Architektur und Technik, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-00-007178-4 , p. 26.
261. ↑ Zukunft-in-brand.de

Coordinates: 52 ° 2 ′ 18 ″  N , 13 ° 44 ′ 53 ″  E