This silent German educational film shows a Lufthansa Junkers Ju-52 Trimotor, the “Hans Wende”, landing at Templehof Airport in Berlin, being serviced, and then loading passengers and taking off on a flight. The particular aircraft shown in the film, the “Hans Wende”, was lost in August of 1939 when it crashed in mountains near Tivissa, Spain, killing all seven on board. (This may very well have been on a bombing or other mission in the Spanish Civil War, the circumstances are a bit unclear.)
The Junkers Ju 52 (nicknamed Tante Ju (“Aunt Ju”) and Iron Annie) was a German trimotor transport aircraft manufactured from 1931 to 1952. It saw both civilian and military service during the 1930s and 1940s. In a civilian role, it flew with over twelve air carriers including Swissair and Deutsche Luft Hansa as an airliner and freight hauler. In a military role, it flew with the Luftwaffe as a troop and cargo transport and briefly as a medium bomber. The Ju 52 continued in postwar service with military and civilian air fleets well into the 1980s.
The Ju 52 first saw military service in the Spanish Civil War against the Spanish Republic. It was one of the first aircraft delivered to the fraction of the army in revolt in July 1936 as both a bomber and transport. In the former role, it participated in the bombing of Guernica. No more of the bomber variant were built after this war, though it was again used as a bomber during the bombing of Warsaw during the Invasion of Poland of September 1939. The Luftwaffe then relied on the Ju 52 for transport roles during World War II, including paratroop drops.
While in use by the Deutsche Lufthansa the Ju 52 had proved to be an extremely reliable passenger airplane and was, therefore, adopted by the Luftwaffe as a standard aircraft model. In 1938, the 7th Air Division had five air transport groups with 250 Ju 52s. The Luftwaffe had 552 Ju 52s at the start of World War II. Even though it was built in great numbers, the Ju.52 was technically obsolete. Between 1939 and 1944, 2.804 Ju 52s were delivered to the Luftwaffe (1939: 145; 1940: 388; 1941: 502; 1942:503; 1943:887; and 1944:379). The production of Ju 52s continued until approximately the summer of 1944; when the war came to an end, there were still 100 to 200 available.
Like many other planes, the Lufthansa airplanes were often named after notable people.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
