Arado Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer, originally established as the

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow. is one of the world's busie ...

factory of the

Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH was a German aircraft manufacturing company. Overview The company was founded in 1912 in Friedrichshafen, Germany by Theodor Kober who had previously worked for the Zeppelin company. The town, which is located b ...

firm, that produced land-based military aircraft and seaplanes during the First and Second World Wars.

History

With its parent company, it ceased operations following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when restrictions on German aviation were created by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. In 1921, the factory was purchased by

Heinrich Lübbe Heinrich Lübbe (; 12 January 1884 in Nienburg, Province of Hanover – 14 March 1940 in Berlin) was a German engineer working for Dutch aircraft designer Anthony Fokker during the First World War. He devised the pioneering ''Stangensteuerun ...

, who is said to have assisted

Anthony Fokker Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer, aviation entrepreneur, aircraft designer, and aircraft manufacturer. He produced fighter aircraft in Germany during the First World War such ...

in the creation of the pioneering ''Stangensteuerung''

synchronization gear A synchronization gear (also known as a gun synchronizer or interrupter gear) was a device enabling a single-engine tractor configuration aircraft to fire its forward-firing armament through the arc of its spinning propeller without bullets strik ...

system during 1914-15, and re-commenced aircraft construction for export, opening a subsidiary, Ikarus, in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Walter Rethel, previously of Kondor and

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

, was appointed head designer. In 1925, the company joined the Arado Handelsgesellschaft ("Arado trading firm") that was founded by the industrialist Hugo Stinnes Jr.https://www.nytimes.com/1929/07/14/archives/asks-jail-sentence-for-hugo-stinnes-jr-prosecutor-urges-8-months.html for covering up illegal trade with military equipment. When the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

government came to power in Germany in 1933, Lübbe took control of the company. Just prior to that, Walter Blume, formerly of Albatros, replaced Rethel. Arado achieved early prominence as a supplier to the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

with the

Arado Ar 66 The Arado Ar 66 was a German single-engined, two-seat training biplane, developed in 1933. It was also used for night ground-attack missions on the Eastern Front. It was engineer Walter Rethel's last design in collaboration with Arado, before ...

, which became one of the standard Luftwaffe trainers right into World War II. The firm also produced some of the Luftwaffe's first

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

, the Ar 65 and Ar 68. In 1936, the RLM ('' Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' – "Reich Aviation Ministry") insisted that, as a show of loyalty, Lübbe should join the Nazi party. When he refused, he was arrested and forced to sell the company to the state. It was renamed to the more specific (and accurate) Arado Flugzeugwerke GmbH, and was placed under the direction of

Erich Serno The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

, and

Felix Wagenführ Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

, himself a former IdFlieg officer in World War I. When Germany invaded Poland, instigating World War II, two more Arado products rose to prominence, the Ar 96, which became the

's most used trainer, and the Ar 196 a

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

that became standard equipment on all larger German warships. Unfortunately for Arado, most of their other designs were passed over in favour of stronger products from their competitors, such as Germany's only

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...

fielded during the war, the

Heinkel He 177 The Heinkel He 177 ''Greif'' (Griffin) was a long-range heavy bomber flown by the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. The introduction of the He 177 to combat operations was significantly delayed, by both problems with the development of its ...

, for which Arado was the primary subcontractor. Perhaps Arado's most celebrated aircraft of the war was the Ar 234, the first jet-powered

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

. Too late to have any real effect on the outcome of the conflict, it was nevertheless a sign of things to come. Until their liberation in April 1945 by the Soviet army, 1,012 slave laborers from

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

, a sub-camp of the

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of F ...

, worked at the Arado factory, beginning with the first trainload of 249 prisoners arriving in August 1944. The prisoners were mostly Polish Jewish women and girls sent to Freiberg from

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. Arado also licence-built various versions of, and components for the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. In 1945, the company was liquidated and broken up. The Ar 96 continued to be produced in Czechoslovakia by Zlin for many years after the war as the C.2B.

Aircraft

Arado aircraft include: * Arado L 1, sportsplane * Arado L II, sportsplane *

Arado S I The Arado S I was a biplane trainer built in Germany in 1925. The first of three prototypes was powered by a Bristol Lucifer radial engine, while the other two Arado S.Ia aircraft were fitted with the Siemens-Halske Sh 12. The Siemens-Halske S ...

, civil trainer * Arado S III, civil trainer *

Arado SC I The Arado SC I was a biplane trainer developed in Germany in the 1920s. It was based on the S I, but powered by a far more powerful inline engine. Accordingly, the structure received considerable strengthening. The aircraft was intended for t ...

, civil trainer *

Arado SC II The Arado SC II was a biplane trainer, developed in Germany in the 1920s. It was based heavily on the SC I, with a more powerful BMW Va engine. Ten examples were built for the ''Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule The Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschu ...

, civil trainer * Arado SD I, prototype fighter * Arado SD II, prototype fighter * Arado SD III, prototype fighter *

Arado SSD I __NOTOC__ The Arado SSD I was a biplane fighter seaplane developed in Germany in 1930, intended to be launched from catapults on warships. This was an all-new design from Walter Rethel, sharing nothing with his other fighter designs for Arado ...

, prototype fighter seaplane * Arado V I – airliner *

Arado W 2 The Arado W 2 was a two-seat twin-engine seaplane trainer developed for the DVS in 1928. It was a cantilever monoplane with a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft' ...

– civil trainer seaplane * Arado Ar 64, fighter (biplane) *

Arado Ar 65 The Arado Ar 65 was the single-seat biplane fighter successor to the Ar 64. Both looked very similar. The only major difference was the use of a 12-cylinder inline engine versus the Ar 64's radial. The wingspan was also increased. The Ar 65 a ...

, fighter/trainer (biplane – re-engined Ar 64) *

, trainer + night fighter * Arado Ar 67, fighter (biplane) (prototype) *

Arado Ar 68 The Arado Ar 68 was a German single-seat biplane fighter developed in the mid-1930s. It was among the first fighters produced when Germany abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming. Design and development Designe ...

, fighter (biplane) * Arado Ar 69, trainer (biplane) (prototypes), 1933 * Arado Ar 76, fighter (biplane) + trainer * Arado Ar 77, trainer + light fighter * Arado Ar 79, trainer + civilian aircraft *

Arado Ar 80 The Arado Ar 80 was a pre-World War II fighter aircraft, designed by Arado Flugzeugwerke to compete for the ''Luftwaffe''s first major fighter contract. The Ar 80 was uninspiring in terms of performance and also suffered a number of failures. Th ...

, fighter (prototype) * Arado Ar 81, two-seat biplane (prototype)(1936) * Arado Ar 95, coastal patrol + attack (biplane seaplane) *

Arado Ar 96 The Arado Ar 96 was a German single-engine, low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction, produced by Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was the '' Luftwaffe''s standard advanced trainer during World War II. Design and development Designed by Walter B ...

, trainer * Arado Ar 195, carrier based torpedo bomber *

Arado Ar 196 The Arado Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance low-wing monoplane aircraft built by the German firm of Arado starting in 1936. The next year it was selected as the winner of a design contest and became the standard aircraft of the ''Kriegsmarin ...

, ship-borne reconnaissance + coastal patrol (seaplane) *

Arado Ar 197 The Arado Ar 197 was a German World War II-era biplane, designed for naval operations for the never-completed German aircraft carrier . Only a few prototypes were built; the project was abandoned in favour of the Messerschmitt Bf 109T and Me 15 ...

, naval fighter (biplane - derived from Ar 68) *

Arado Ar 198 The Arado Ar 198 was a prototype reconnaissance aircraft, developed by Arado Flugzeugwerke, with backing from the Luftwaffe, who initially preferred it over the Blohm & Voss BV 141 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 189. However, when flight tests were carrie ...

, reconnaissance * Arado Ar 199, seaplane trainer *

Arado Ar 231 The Arado Ar 231 was a lightweight floatplane, developed during World War II in Germany as a scout plane for submarines by Arado. The need to be stored inside the submarine necessitated compromises in design that made this single-seat seaplane ...

, fold-wing U-boat reconnaissance aircraft (prototype) *

Arado Ar 232 The Arado Ar 232 ''Tausendfüßler'' (German: "Millipede"), sometimes also called ''Tatzelwurm'', was a cargo aircraft, designed and built in small numbers by the German firm Arado Flugzeugwerke during World War II. The design introduced, or br ...

, transport * Arado Ar 233, seaplane(concept), 1940 *

Arado Ar 234 The Arado Ar 234 ''Blitz'' (English: lightning) is a jet-powered bomber designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Arado. It was the world's first operational turbojet-powered bomber, seeing service during the latter half of the ...

''Blitz'' ('Lightning'), bomber (jet-engined) *

Arado Ar 240 The Arado Ar 240 was a German twin-engine, multi-role heavy fighter aircraft, developed for the '' Luftwaffe'' during World War II by Arado Flugzeugwerke. Its first flight was in 1940, but problems with the design hampered development, and it r ...

, heavy fighter + attack * Arado Ar 296, trainer, similar to Ar 96 but all wood construction * Arado Ar 340, medium bomber * Arado Ar 396, trainer * Arado Ar 432, transport, similar to Ar 232 but mixed wood and metal construction *

Arado Ar 440 The Arado Ar 240 was a German twin-engine, multi-role heavy fighter aircraft, developed for the '' Luftwaffe'' during World War II by Arado Flugzeugwerke. Its first flight was in 1940, but problems with the design hampered development, and it r ...

, heavy fighter + attack * Arado Ar 532, cancelled transport Major internal World War II projects under the RLM: * Arado E.240 * Arado E.300 * Arado E.310 * Arado E.340 * Arado E.370 * Arado E.371 * Arado E.375 * Arado E.377 * Arado E.377ª * Arado E.380 * Arado E.381/I * Arado E.381/II * Arado E.381/III * Arado E.385 * Arado E.390 * Arado E.395 * Arado E.396 * Arado E.401 * Arado E.430 * Arado E.432 * Arado E.433 * Arado E.440 * Arado E.441 * Arado E.470 * Arado E.480 * Arado E.490 * Arado E.500 * Arado E.530 * Arado E.532 * Arado E.555 *

Arado E.560 The Arado E.560 was a series of multi-engined Arado Flugzeugwerke, Arado medium-range tactical bombers projected during the Second World War.Dieter Herwig & Heinz Rode, ''The Luftwaffe Secret Projects: Strategic Bombers 1935–1945''. Midland Count ...

* Arado E.561 * Arado E.580 * Arado E.581.4 * Arado E.581.5 * Arado E.583 * Arado E.625 * Arado E.632 *

Arado E.651 Arado may refer to: * Arado Flugzeugwerke Arado Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer, originally established as the Warnemünde factory of the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm, that produced land-based military aircraft and seaplanes d ...

* Arado E.654 * Arado Ar Projekt II jet fighter

References

External links

* . * {{Authority control Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany Companies involved in the Holocaust

History

Aircraft

See also

References

External links