German Line Rose From The Ashes Of War To Build Enviable Reputation

On June 8, 1955, Lufthansa resumed flights from Germany to the United States. In those days before jets, the plane of choice was the Lockheed Super Constellation model L1049G, which the German carrier used on its long-haul routes.

Until 1957, when the 1049s were replaced by faster- and higher-flying L1649Gs, the trip to the United States from Hamburg was a twenty-hour adventure (or ordeal) with stops at Dusseldorf and Shannon.

Lufthansa now offers seven round trips daily between Germany and New York, and modern jets reduce travel time to 8 hours. While it's true that the elegance and exclusivity of 1950s air travel is gone, so is the Jay Gatsby price tag. In 1955, flying to New York would cost three months' salary for the average worker. Today, coach fare is about 500 Euros (about $615).

The original Deutsche Luft Hansa pioneered long-range flight in the twenties and thirties, and before the outbreak of war operated to the New World with Focke-Wulf 200 Condor and Junkers Ju90 airliners. After the war, the company was broken up by occupation authorities, with a successor only forming after Germans were permitted to resume aviation activities in the fifties. The new company took the name Deutsche Lufthansa in 1954.

None of the Deutsche Luft Hansa airliners of the prewar years still exist; all were destroyed in or after the war. But at least three ex-Lufthansa Constellations, model 1649s, are still in existence, and owner Maurice Roundy is working on returning them to airworthiness. Another ex-DLH Connie is proudly displayed at Munchen-Riem airport in Munich.

FMI: www.lufthansa.de