Motorized Airship Study Society

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At the beginning of the 20th century, airships were regarded as trend-setting in the military and civilian sectors. To research this technology, the Motorluftschiff-Studiengesellschaft mbH (MStG), based in Berlin W 30, Nollendorfplatz, was founded on August 31, 1906 . Their share capital was 1 million marks . The chairman of the company was the former State Secretary in the Reichsmarineamt Admiral Friedrich von Hollmann , the managing director was Captain Richard von Kehler . The company's Supervisory Board included Emil and Walther Rathenau , among others . The MStG acquired an airship from Major August von Parseval and all of his patents. In November 1906 von Parseval became the second managing director of the MStG. The company built an airship hall on the Tegel shooting range right next to the two halls of the Prussian airship battalion .

At the end of 1907, the MStG decided to build an airship hangar in Bitterfeld , to which it relocated its technical operations in December 1908. The location was chosen with care, because in Bitterfeld the hydrogen, which is so important for airship travel, was obtained in large quantities as a by-product of chlorine electrolysis . The hall had a height of 25 m and a floor area of ​​25 m × 75 m. It was there that the airship that Parseval had acquired was converted. Successful flight demonstrations brought the MStG the contract to build another airship, which was taken over by the Prussian Army Administration under the name PI .

On April 30, 1908, the Luftfahrzeug-Gesellschaft mbH (LFG) was founded in Berlin W 30, Nollendorfplatz 3 . At the share capital of the company, the MStG that were AEG , Friedrich Krupp and electrochemical plants Bitterfeld involved. The object of the company was "manufacture, sale and use of aircraft." The entire Bitterfeld operating facilities of the MStG passed into the possession of the LFG. The MStG was dissolved in 1911 after the working capital was used up.

literature

  • Jürgen Seifert: The airship yard and the seaplane construction department of the Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft in Bitterfeld (1908–1920). Bitterfeld traditions as airship and free balloon city, part 1, self-published, Bitterfeld 1988.