Günter Leonhardt

Günter Leonhardt (born November 6, 1927 in Münster ; † October 11, 2011 ) was a German logistics entrepreneur and founder of the Aviation Museum Laatzen-Hanover .

Life

Entrance to the Aviation Museum

Günter Leonhardt was already interested in gliding as a teenager and volunteered for the Air Force. He was assigned to an Air Force field division and took part in the Battle of the Bulge . He was wounded by a bullet through his lower leg and was taken prisoner of war . After the Second World War, Günter Leonhardt and the Jewish businessman Karl Nelke set up the Nelke forwarding company based in Laatzen , which he later became the owner of. In 1994 he sold them. In addition to his entrepreneurial activity, he held numerous honorary positions, among other things he was Vice President of the Federal Association for Forwarding and Storage. In the 1960s he founded a development association for Hannover 96 . His passion was aviation, and he built up a large collection, some of which he transferred to the Aviation Museum Laatzen-Hannover in 1992. In 1986 he had several Ju 52s recovered from a Norwegian lake in the Arctic Circle for his collection , which had sunk there around 1940.

Günter Leonhardt leaves behind his wife Ursula and a son.

Awards

2003: Lower Saxony Order of Merit, 1st class

Cross of Merit on ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Cross of Honor of the Bundeswehr in gold

Individual evidence

^ Obituaries , in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, October 14, 2011.
↑ Simon Benne: Günter Leonhardt: "I always stayed on the ground" , in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, November 28, 2009.
↑ Simon Benne: Founder of the Aviation Museum is dead , in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, October 13, 2011, p. 16.
↑ Lower Saxony volunteer server , accessed on October 14, 2011.
↑ Lower Saxony Ministerial Gazette (PDF; 126 kB), Hanover, No. 17/26. May 2004, p. 339.

personal data
SURNAME	Leonhardt, Günter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH	November 6, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH	Muenster
DATE OF DEATH	October 11, 2011

[1] Obituaries , in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, October 14, 2011.

[2] Simon Benne: Günter Leonhardt: "I always stayed on the ground" , in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, November 28, 2009.

[3] Simon Benne: Founder of the Aviation Museum is dead , in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, October 13, 2011, p. 16.

[4] Lower Saxony volunteer server , accessed on October 14, 2011.

[5] Lower Saxony Ministerial Gazette (PDF; 126 kB), Hanover, No. 17/26. May 2004, p. 339.