tion of the firm, he headed the commercial division of Junkers Flugzeugwerke in Dessau. He was also a member of the Supervisory Board of

Oberschlesische Luftverkehr AG.

After Charles Lindberg accomplished the first solo flight across the Atlantic, the Germans began to focus on similar flights between Europe and the

United States. Junkers in Dessau was working on two W.33 aircraft. They

carried the names of ‘Bremen’ and ‘Europn’. As part of the initial crew for

this flight, preparations were being made by Gotthard Sachsenberg Jr.,

Hermann Köhl (former bomber aviator, Pour le Mérite), Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld and Fritz Loose. The flight was planned from

Dessau to the United States but had to be cancelled due to poor weather.

The second attempt was more successful, and ‘Bremen’ took off on

April 12th, 1928 from Baldonnel in Ireland. After thirty-six hours, it landed

at Greenly Island in Newfoundland. The crew was made up of Köhl, von

Hünefeld and Irish navigator Major James Fitzmaurice. For this feat, the

team was awarded the US DFC by President Coolidge.

During the twenties, Gotthard Sachsenberg entered politics and joined

Economic Party of the German Middle Classes (Wirtschaftspartei des

deutschen Mittelstandes). In the 1928 and 1932, he was elected as a member of the Reichstag for regions Breslau (today Wroclaw) and Liegnitz

(today Legnica).

He began to publish works that dealt with air transport and the industry,

and put forth notions that were anti-war in character. He initiated investigations into certain state purchases. After the rise of the Nazi party, he

was interned in a concentration camp at Lichtenburg in July, 1934. The

Nazis had even attempted to abduct and murder him earlier than that,

but during the associated car ride he was able to convince his captors to

free him. His military career and possession of the Pour le Mérite carried

some weight.

The Family Business, Brother and Nephews

Share of Gebrüder Sachsenberg company from 1934. During that year, Gotthrard

managed to avert the bankruptcy of the family business.

allowed him to continue to conduct business. During the world financial

crisis, his family business had almost ended in liquidation. Gotthard Jr.

purchased all the company shares in 1934, and named his brother Hans

(1889 – 1937) to the Board of Directors. Up to now, there was no mention

of this man, but we will now see why this was a logical move.

Hans received his pilot wings in January, 1916 and with the rank of Leutnant, he served with the Inspektion der Fliegertruppen as supervising

inspector with the firm Junkers. That sheds a bit of light on Gotthard’s

interest in acquiring Junkers airplanes for his unit in 1918, and also on his

use of them over the Baltics in 1919.

After the First World War, Hans came to Junkers’ Board of Directors and

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Finally, under promise that he refrain from public activities, the Nazis

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

HISTORY

The courtyard of the Renaissance castle Lichtenburg, which the Nazis turned into a concentration camp in 1933. Sachsenberg was imprisoned there in 1934. From 1937 to 1939

castle served as a women's concentration camp, after which the female prisoners were transferred to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. During World War II, the castle was

used by various SS units, which held in cells more than sixty prisoners for forced labor.

INFO Eduard - April 2021

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