Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin
Aviation Displays in the Collection of the Berlin Technical Museum
Text: Petr Uzsák
I recently managed to visit the Berlin Technical Museum, which has managed to amass a remarkable collection of exhibits over several decades of its existence. The museum is located in the Kreuzberg district, near the Möckernbrücke and Gleichsdreieck metro stations, and it is interesting to note that some of its displays are located in the buildings of the former train station. Opening days are Tuesday to Sunday, closed on Mondays. The museum's exhibits are extensive and cover a wide range of fields of technical history. For example, the transportation section is very impressive, including many types of locomotives and rail cars, including a mining railway; other departments cover textile manufacturing, automobiles, telecommunications, luggage production, shipbuilding and transportation. In the area in front of the museum, a giant propeller blade of a wind turbine can be admired, as German industry is a pioneer in alternative energy sources.
However, the primary subject of this article are collections focused on mapping the development of aviation. They are arranged chronologically, from amateur beginnings to the present. Among the persons who shaped the introduction of German aviation, the names of Otto Lilienthal and Hans Grade are well represented. The first ever Czech (and Austro-Hungarian) female pilot Bozena Laglerova is connected to the latter. This lady went through her training at Grade's pilot school in Bork near Berlin in 1911 and then flew several times in Germany. It is through her example that we can realize the interconnectedness of Czech and German aviation, as will be reminded several times. The museum has a unique Jeannin Stahltaube Type 11 airplane from that era, which was interesting for that time due to its advanced metal construction. This is exhibited as it appeared serving with the Imperial Air Force during the Great War.
German aviation experienced rapid development during World War I, and this period is also included in the exhibition. One of the unique items is the tail section of a 1918 LVG C VI aircraft, with its original Lozenge camouflage pattern covering. And by the way, the museum staff also installed a display of a tailor's workshop, where the lozenge covers of the planes were sewn. Another First World War aircraft is the Halberstadt Cl IV ground attack aircraft, which is suspended from the ceiling of the hall.
Even the German footprint in the construction and operation of airships is not neglected and is primarily associated with the name of Ferdinand von Zeppelin. His impact on this facet of aviation needs no reinforcement; he was already a legend during his lifetime. Here, there is another connection to Czech aviation, because one of the air mechanics for the Count was Kamil Eduard Laburda, a native of Sobeslav in southern Bohemia. The collections are devoted to both the war and post-war use of these air assets. One of the three-dimensional exhibits consists of several pieces of the structure and other items from the transport airship Graf Zeppelin.
Part of LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, dishes and menus from German airships.
Jeannin Stahltaube Type 11, front view.
Jeannine Stahltaube Type 11 from the rear.
LVG C VI with Serial Number 4418 visible.
The dominant feature of the exhibition is a Junkers Ju 52 transport in a pre-war livery of the domestic carrier Lufthansa. An interesting collection of sports aircraft, such as the Bücker 131 or the Klemm 35, also originates from this period. One of the more remarkable exhibits is the Ho II L monoplane of the Horten brothers from 1937, with which the designers tested the flight characteristics of an unusually configured single pusher engined aircraft. An era that saw the use of catapult ships as a stopover for mail planes heading across the Atlantic is depicted in model form. Germany had a total of three such vessels and deployed the Dornier Do 18 and Blohm-Voss Ha 139 types with them.
Cutaway of a Jumo 205 diesel engine with counter-rotating pistons.
The development of aviation during the Third Reich also has its place within the walls of the museum, however controversial it may be, having served the expansion of the Hitler regime as effectively as it did. The backbone of the fighter air force at that time were types from the Messerschmitt design bureau, notably the Bf 109E and Bf 110F, which are also in the museum’s collection. A rarely seen piece in museums is one of the first jets to see service, the Heinkel He 162A, and it is only when you are close to it that you realize how small a machine it really was. The desperation of the last months of the war is conveyed by the Bü 181, originally a training and liaison aircraft, with improvised placement of panzerfaust on the wing spars that were intended to turn it into an anti-tank platform. The destructive power of war is indicated by the wreckage of a Junkers Ju 87R dive bomber, which was used in northern Norway. After its loss and later recovery, it was preserved and placed on display at the museum.
The leg of the main landing gear of the Junkers Ju 290 aircraft, which is on long-term loan from the collections of the National Technical Museum in Prague.
Arado Ar 96B-1 from Protectorate production.
The Ar 96B-1 is partially stripped of its skin, revealing the details of its internal construction.
Junkers Ju 52/3m with civil registration D-AZAW.
Air launched missiles, such as the Henschel Hs 293, Hs 117 Schmetterling and the X-4 air-to-air weapon, as well as the Rheintochter and Enzian ground-based anti-aircraft missiles are on display as well. This section even boasts the Fiesler Fi 103 early cruise missile, better known as the V1 retaliatory weapon. The V2 ballistic missile is on exhibit, though not complete, with only the engine section on display. The collection also includes a separate section where the slave labor of prisoners at the Dora concentration camp in Nordhausen, who were forced to produce these rockets under difficult conditions in the underground complex, is paid tribute to.
Another unique item among the museum objects is the training and liason type, the Arado Ar 96B-1, production of which was originally in Germany, but later, was switched to the then Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia at Letov and Avia. The currently exhibited aircraft with production number 425462 was produced by Avia and was abandoned in 1944. In Czechoslovakia, its production continued after the war and for a long time, this type, designated the C-2, was used for the training of military pilots and was also exported. Similarly rare is the museum’s Junkers Ju 88G night fighter, which was the main German night defender through the terminal phase of the war. This particular piece underwent restoration after being pulled from Hungary's Lake Balaton, where it came to rest after being shot down by Red Army fighters in 1944.
The Douglas C-47 transport is displayed in its post-war US Air Force scheme as a reminder of the Berlin Airlift during the Soviet blockade and is located on the museum terrace with a beautiful view of the city.
Post war aviation is represented by fighters such as the F-86K and the MiG-15bis. French aviation is present in the form of the transport aircraft Nord NC-702 Martinet, which is a derivative of the German Siebel 204. It was produced in the protectorate during the war and also in France, and in both countries, production continued after the war. From the field of modern transport aviation, the Rolls-Royce BR710 engine is on exhibit.
An important part of the air exhibition is a reminder of the Berlin Airlift from 1948 and 1949, when the Soviet dictator Stalin arrogantly thought that he would isolate and starve the western sectors of the city. However, a large-scale allied humanitarian operation to support the civilian population convincingly demonstrated the superiority of Western economic and technical capabilities, so he had no choice but to end the blockade. A Douglas C-47 transport aircraft in the colors of the US Air Force is dedicated to this chapter of German history, which is located above the viewing terrace and serves as an advertising banner for the museum as well as a three-dimensional reminder of Western aid to the residents of Berlin.
The fuselage of the Ju 88G fighter was renovated after being extracted from Lake Balaton.
Ju 88G nose with FuG 220 radar antenna dipoles.
The objects on display also include aircraft engines, propellers, landing gear, instruments and radars, anti-aircraft weapons, as well as examples of passenger aircraft equipment and crew uniforms from different periods. Another interesting feature is the exposed leg of the main landing gear of a Junkers Ju 290A transport aircraft, which is on loan from the National Technical Museum in Prague. The museum also offers the possibility of making available its library and archives to researchers and interested parties. The museum is definitely worth a visit, the exhibits are nice, well maintained and inside there is also entertainment for smaller children, so that it is possible to organize a family trip to the museum.
The Heinkel He 162A fighter is missing its pitot tube removed from the nose. In the background is the skeleton of the Gotha Go 242B cargo glider.
Originally a training Bücker Bu 181, it was transformed into an anti-tank aircraft by installing ardpoints for panzerfaust rounds.
Rocket technology of the Third Reich. A Rheintochter anti-aircraft missile on the left, a V1 early cruise missile on the right, a smaller X-4 air-air missile next to it and an Hs 293 on the far right. A Smetterling missile hangs in the background and a yellow-painted Enzian missile sits on the floor.
POST SCRIPTUM 1: Ju 87 D Stuka
The museum houses the wreckage of a Ju 87D, imported from Russia, as evidenced by a cyrillic inscription on the left side of the rear fuselage. In January 2023, we (Eduard's technical team) scanned parts of the airframe of this exhibit for the purpose of accumulating technical documentation and obtaining additional data for the planned reconstruction of another example of the Ju 87 D. It is owned by The American Heritage Museum in Massachusetts, but restoration work on it is ongoing in the Czech Republic and Hungary. The American Stuka is planned to be brought up to an airworthy condition.
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The condition of the airframe allows access to the internal parts of the structure, which is very useful in view of the assignment to create technical documentation as a basis for the restoration of the aircraft to an airworthy condition. The wing of the reconstructed aircraft has essentially a complete covering, so the combination of scans of the wings of both aircraft, supplemented with scans from another example, the well-preserved and maintained Ju 87D at Hendon, will allow the accumulation of technical documentation to a very usable standard.
The airframe in the museum is more or less in the condition in which it was brought in from Russia. For the purposes of scanning, it was necessary to carefully clean the relevant surfaces, especially the internal structures, because deposits of dust and other debris can significantly distort the scans.
Small areas of the original paint remained on the surface of the fuselage, along with an inscription in cyrillic documenting the origin of the example - Muzej Severnogo Flota.
When scanning, dozens of registration marks must be applied to the scanned surface. These are either magnetic or electrostatic, and do not disturb the surface of the exhibit in any way.
POST SCRIPTUM 2: Bf 110 F
Many of the high-quality and carefully restored aircraft displayed in the exhibition bear Hungarian footprints, being restored by Ali Storiche 57. One of the exhibits, also restored in Hungary, is the Messerschmitt Bf 110F, which in turn left its mark on the creation of the Eduard kit in 1:48th scale in 2007.
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POST SCRIPTUM 3: PLAQUE HONORING GERMAN FIRST WORLD WAR PILOTS
One of the more fascinating exhibits, but somewhat hidden from visitors' eyes, is a panel with a collection of decorations of German WWI airmen. This panel was donated to the museum by the American historian and collector Neil O'Connor.
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A plaque with the awards of Leutnant zur See Theo Osterkamp and photographs dedicated to the pilots of the Marine Jagdgeschwader Flanders.
Plaque with decorations and photos of Sea Captain Friedrich Christiansen.
A panel dedicated to the Prussian princes, Fririedrich-Karl and Friedrich-Zikmund, and Lieutenant General Walther von Eberhardt, the first inspector of the German Imperial Air Force.
POST SCRIPTUM 4: BIBER AND THE GERMAN FLOTILLA SINKING AT SCAPA FLOW
The naval section includes, among other things, the German midget sub Biber. In front of it, in glass cases, there are models of all the ships of the Imperial German fleet, which were handed over to the British after the defeat of Germany in World War I and subsequently sunk in Scapa Flow Bay.