Ludwig Bölkow was one of the aeronautical pioneers of Germany.

Background

Born in Schwerin

Schwerin

Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...

, in north-eastern Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, in 1912, Bölkow was the son of a foreman employed by Fokker

Fokker

Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names, starting out in 1912 in Schwerin, Germany, moving to the Netherlands in 1919....

, one of the leading aircraft constructors of that time.

Early career

Bölkow’s first job was with Heinkel

Heinkel

Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...

, the aircraft company, before studying aero-engineering at the Technical University in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. On graduation, in 1939, he joined the project office of Messerschmitt AG in Augsburg

Augsburg

Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

, where he served initially as a clerk, later as a group leader for high-speed aerodynamics, especially for the Messerschmitt Me 262

Messerschmitt Me 262

The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems prevented the aircraft from attaining operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944...

 and its successors. In January 1943, he was appointed head of the Messerschmitt Me109 development office in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. A year later, Bölkow returned to the Messerschmitt project office, which had meanwhile moved to Oberammergau

Oberammergau

Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The town is famous for its production of a Passion Play, its woodcarvers, and the NATO School.-Passion Play:...

. There he set up a program for the development of the Messerschmitt MeP1101 jet fighter.

Later career

After the war he created the Bölkow

Bölkow

Bölkow was a German aircraft manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany, and later Ottobrunn.-History:The company was founded in 1948 by Ludwig Bölkow, who since 1955 with Emil Weiland had developed helicopters for Bölkow Entwicklungen KG....

 GmbH in Ottobrunn

Ottobrunn

Ottobrunn is a municipality southeast of Munich, Bavaria, Germany, founded in 1955. Ottobrunn consists of mainly semi-detached and detached houses, and lots of gardens...

, which with time grew to the biggest aeronautics and spaceflight company, MBB (Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm). In the early 1990s it was bought by DASA

DASA

DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG, or DASA, was the former aerospace subsidiary of Daimler-Benz AG from 1989...

.
He was awarded a Gold Medal by the British Royal Aeronautical Society

Royal Aeronautical Society

The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...

in 1978.