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1898-1978 |
Professor Willy Messerschmitt was born at 1898 in Frankfurt on Main. At 1910 his family moved to Bamberg in Bayern. At 1923 he graduated as an engineer in TU-Munich. From his youth he proved to be an exceptional talent in airplane construction. At 1923 he founded his own company "Messerschmitt Flugzeugbau", later transformed to "Bayerischen Flugzeugwerke" AG. He reached his most outstanding achievements in his later years when he constructed the first commercially manufactured jet fighter in the world. Airplane Messerschmitt Bf 108, constructed at 1933, became the most popular jet in the aircraft history. At 1938 recognizing his international prestige and respect after constructing Bf 109 the board of directors named the company "MESSERSCHMITT" AG. Prof. Messerschmitt was famous for his numerous industrial successes and scientific publications. After the World War II, he had to start a lot of projects from the beginning. His creative talent helped him on his way. Among the products worth mentioning is a small car of the fifties and sewing machine. But the greatest love of his life remained aircraft construction. With a time he founded the biggest German aircraft company-Messerschmitt-Boelkow- Blohm AG (MBB) in Ottobrunn by Munich. In 1990 it was included in Deimler Benz daughter's company and is the nucleus of German aircraft industry (EADS) nowadays. Professor Messerschmitt was also greatly interested in art and music. As a genius engineer and constructor he was constantly guided and inspired by art, which is reflected in the airplanes built by him. His love of art motivated him in his later years to build up the "MESSERSCHMITT FOUNDATION" and to leave it with a substantial amount of money for maintaining and preserving cultural monuments of German origin both in Germany and beyond its boundaries. |
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