Forties

The war years: The fight for survival

Europe was in the grips of war – one that was soon to escalate into a world war. The Reich’s government obligated Lufthansa by law to provide services, transport flights and technical operations. All Lufthansa documents, including the annual report, were stamped “Secret!” Despite all the difficulties, it was business as usual.
Connections to neutral countries were particularly of great importance. That’s were businessmen, diplomats and agents continued to fly: that’s were post and information were exchanged. During the war years, timetables were always subject to changes at short notice. At the beginning of the decade, even Tempelhof, the airline’s home airport, had to be evacuated for a time. And finally – in 1945 – came the “over and out” for Germany and for Lufthansa.