Wulf-Diether Graf zu Castell-Rüdenhausen

Wulf-Diether Graf zu Castell-Rüdenhausen (born November 20, 1905 in Berlin ; † July 1, 1980 ) was a German aviation pioneer at the beginning of the 20th century and later director of Munich-Riem Airport .

Life

Wulf-Diether Graf zu Castell-Rüdenhausen grew up in Seeläsgen Castle on the Großer Nieschlitzsee (today: Przełazy , Poland) in the Mark Brandenburg region. In 1926 he acquired his pilot's license and, in addition to studying law at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich , taught at the German Aviation School in Schleissheim . At the age of 25 he became a pilot at Deutsche Lufthansa and from 1933 to 1936 was commissioned to build a continuous air traffic network in China with the Lufthansa subsidiary Eurasia . He flew with a single-engine Junkers machine, the W 33 , and later with the three-engine Ju 52 . During his flights he photographed many areas of China from the air with his Leica that had hardly been seen before by Europeans. Castell published a selection of his photographs in 1938 in the illustrated book Chinaflug . As an aviation pioneer, he was also traveling in South America from 1939 to 1941. From 1949 to 1972 he was director of Munich Airport in Riem and played a key role in its development. He died in 1980 when he fell from a ladder.

In 1942 he married the actress Luise Ullrich (1910–1985). His daughter Michaela Rosemeyer Countess zu Castell (October 4, 1945 to August 19, 2011) was married to sports medicine specialist Bernd Rosemeyer .

Honors

1973: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

literature

Wulf-Diether Graf zu Castell-Rüdenhausen: China flight - As a pioneer of Lufthansa in the Middle Kingdom 1933-1936 , Herbig Verlag, Munich, 1999, ISBN 978-3-7766-2116-7 (reprint of the original edition)
Michaela Rosemeyer: A peaceful knight of the air, aviation pioneer, planner and prophet: my father Wulf-Diether Graf zu Castell-Rüdenhausen. In: Tempora mutantur et nos? Festschrift for Walter M. Brod on his 95th birthday. With contributions from friends, companions and contemporaries. Edited by Andreas Mettenleiter , Akamedon, Pfaffenhofen 2007 (= From Würzburg's City and University History , 2), ISBN 3-940072-01-X , pp. 265–267 (= web link).

Web links

Michaela Rosemeyer: Company history: A peaceful knight of the sky, aviation pioneer, planner and prophet - My father: Wulf-Diether Graf zu Castell-Rüdenhausen. In: delicastell.de.

Leica Photography International - China from the air. In: leica-camera.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016 .

Stephan Finsterbusch: Photo exhibition: With the Leica through the air. In: FAZ.net . 5th June 2015 .

Rolf Brockschmidt: Exhibition in the Chinese Cultural Center: Change of Perspective. In: Tagesspiegel.de . June 16, 2015 .

Online museum. (No longer available online.) Munich Riem Airport, formerly the original ; accessed on June 8, 2020 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2

Individual evidence

↑ W.-D. to Castell-R .: Chinaflug, p. 7.
↑ W.-D. to Castell-R .: Chinaflug, p. 10.
↑ W.-D. to Castell-R .: Chinaflug, foreword by Jürgen Weber (engineer)
↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 25, No. 111, June 16, 1973.

personal data
SURNAME	Castell-Rüdenhausen, Wulf-Diether Graf too
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German aviation pioneer and airport director
DATE OF BIRTH	November 20, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH	Berlin
DATE OF DEATH	July 1, 1980

[1] W.-D. to Castell-R .: Chinaflug, p. 7.

[2] W.-D. to Castell-R .: Chinaflug, p. 10.

[3] W.-D. to Castell-R .: Chinaflug, foreword by Jürgen Weber (engineer)

[4] Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 25, No. 111, June 16, 1973.