Deutsche Lufthansa (abbreviated DLH) was East Germany's flag carrier airline from 1955 to 1963. Because of the usage of the Lufthansa branding (the trademark rights were owned by West German Lufthansa) the East German air company was under constant legal pressure, and was subsequently obliged to give up the name and was replaced by Interflug.
History On 27 April 1955, East Germany and the Soviet Union signed an agreement by which Berlin Schönefeld Airport was transferred to civilian use; since 1945, it had been operated by the Soviet Army, with scheduled passenger flights having been operated by Aeroflot. As a consequence, the Council of Ministers of the GDR decided to set up a national East German airline, a move which was finalized on 1 July with the appointment of the company's initial management committee. "Deutsche Lufthansa" was chosen as the name for the airline (previously, it had been used by Deutsche Luft Hansa, the German flag carrier from 1926 to 1945), even though the brand rights had been purchased by West German Luftag in 1954, which renamed itself accordingly (Luftag's flight operations only began on 1 April 1955, after it has been renamed Lufthansa). The East German Deutsche Lufthansa was formally established in July.
Deutsche Lufthansa acquired a fleet of Ilyushin Il-14 aircraft, which were initially operated by Soviet crews. The first flight of the airline took place on 15 September 1955, by which East German prime minister Otto Grotewohl travelled to Moscow for a state visit. Scheduled passenger flights were launched on 4 February 1956 with the inauguration of the East Berlin-Warsaw service. In the same year, the route network was expanded to include Moscow and Sofia as its most remote points. On 28 March 1960, the Ilyushin Il-18 (a four-engine turboprop airliner) was put into service.
Because of the usage of the Lufthansa branding, the company was sued by West German Lufthansa. As a side effect, the East German airline was prevented from being admitted into the International Air Transport Association (it could not become a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization either, because at that time neither East nor West Germany had been accepted into the United Nations). As a consequence, Deutsche Lufthansa was halted on 1 September 1963. Its staff, fleet, and route network were transferred to Interflug, which had been founded as a state-owned charter airline in 1958 and served as the East German flag carrier thenceforth.
Route network
Deutsche Lufthansa served the following destinations on a scheduled basis. As airline code for its flight numbers, DH was used.Deutsche Lufthansa 1957 timetable, at timetableimages.com1958 Deutsche Lufthansa timetable at timetableimages.com1962 Deutsche Lufthansa timetable, at timetableimages.com1963 Deutsche Lufthansa timetable, at timetableimages.com
+CountryCityAirportCommencedCeasedAlbaniaTiranaTirana AirportBulgariaSofiaSofia Airport1956CzechoslovakiaPragueRuzyně Airport1956East GermanyBarthBarth Airport1958East BerlinSchönefeld Airport(hub)1956DresdenKlotzsche Airport1958ErfurtErfurt Airport1958Karl-Marx-StadtJahnsdorf Airfield1958LeipzigLeipzig/Halle Airport1956HungaryBudapestFerihegy Airport1956PolandWarsawOkęcie Airport1956RomaniaBucharestBăneasa Airport1956Soviet UnionMoscowVnukovo Airport1956VilniusVilnius Airport1956YugoslaviaBelgradeBelgrade Airport
References Citations
Bibliography Klaus Breiler: Das große Buch der Interflug. Das Neue, Berlin 2007, . Helmut Erfurth: Das große Buch der DDR-Luftfahrt. GeraMond, München 2004, .