What does make German WWI aviation so facinating?

[rammjaeger]

I am many years now troubled by this question or better by the question:
Why are so many people abroad (outside Germany) so fascinated by the German Air Force, its men and airplanes?

O.K., they had gaily painted airplanes and their "heroes" were made famous but is that enough to explain the fascination or even idolization in some cases?

They were the losers at the end and often pictured as evil in many movies - so the fascinations seems to be a morbid one for some enthusiasts of Allied aviation.

I have already seen the strangest tries to explain the fascination - also on this forum. Some blamed the strong "German minority" in the U.S.A., others the teaching schedules of U.S. military academies. However, the fascination seems not to be limited to people in the U.S.A. It is obviously a world-wide phenomenon.

I would like to see the reasons for this massive interest! Just curious.
Who would like to share his reasons for his interest in German WWI aviation with me?

[lamarzocco]

It would help to define "so many people abroad". For the question to avoid navel gazing, I'm guessing you mean the general public. In which case, I'm not sure it's that many people in actuality. (where "so many" is proportionally less than say Germans enthralled with the American wild-west, for example )

For instance, You could look back at US newspaper coverage and find when you think this phenomenon occurred. In my limited researches (nytimes, washington post, chicago tribune) during the war period I found a lot more coverage of French and then US aviators, so this is something that might have appeared more after the war? Or perhaps in pulp books later on?

Where this exists in popular culture in the US, I'd be willing to be the colorful aircraft, terms ("flying circus") and the legends around Richthofen were the cause. Even still, I'd guess it's mostly about adventure, not historical interest. For example, in the US it's hard to find other German aviators outside of Manfred mentioned much at all (search for Werner Voss in newspaper archives and see what you get in other countries - it's paltry over here).

Is it very different in the UK or France?

[rammjaeger]

O.K. - I should probably make my question more precise.

1. I am speaking about here and now and not the war time reports 1914-1918.

2. Todays group of WWI aviation enthusiasts measured in total numbers is a rather little group compared to other groups with historical interests. I was refering to this group and not to reports in WWI papers.

3. If you look at this Forum - most-likely the most-important of all Internet forums dealing with this kind of topic - you will find tons of posts if it comes discussions about Richthofen/Voss or even Göring. These men seem to be of neverending interest and also the number of threads dedicated is far higher than one could expect from an English-speaking forum with a little number of German contributors.

At least this is my impression. If forumites here share your impression that German topics are not too often present then I wonder about remarks in the past here which were a bit frustrated about too many German topics etc.

[crankcase]

Hannes,
You raise an interesting question: I think the fascination with German aviation is influenced crucially by the following contextual factors:
(1) Germany is a major European country with a central influence on the course of the continent's political, economic, cultural, social, technological and intellectual history -- which is also true of Britain and France.
(2) But unlike Britain and France, Germany went through a series of cataclysmic changes systemically, politically and ideologically in the past century. The drama of German history, the drive to extremism and ultimately self-destruction (1918 and then 1945) is like Greek tragedy -- it evokes shock and amazement and revulsion.
(3) Add to this a strong streak of fatalism and self-sacrifice suggested by officers and soldiers doing their duty despite the looming disaster, and the melancholy associated with decline, displacement and transition of the old world order, accompanied by territorial loss, and one cannot help but to be drawn to the whole story with deep and lasting curiosity.
Now, if you also happen to like WW1 aircraft, then how could you ignore the compelling story of Richthofen, a product of tradition and at the same time a proponent of technical progress?
marc

[VtwinVince]

I would add the esprit-de-corps of the men of the Luftstreitkraefte, the major contributions of German engineering to aircraft advancement and the German national characteristic of never giving up

[Barry Hickson]

Hannes, one possability in addition to those already given could be similar to the interest World Wide in the American Southern Confederancy from the American Civil War.!
You know "Lost Cause" the Glamarous Uniforms & heroic Officers etc.

[El Pyro]

I enjoy looking at the tech development of the German airforce, it is astonishing to see how quickly advances were made and how each one affected the war. I know the Allies had some advances of their own but everyone was scared of the DVII and the Allies bought them back for testing including the US.

In my opinion since everyone sees things a little different the German aircraft have a kind of predator look about them. I really enjoy studying the angles of each aircraft, almost all the fighter aircraft have a look of intimidation about them.

Now its no contest on the paint schemes of WW1 on which side had the most outlandish or colorful. Personally I enjoy thinking and trying my hand on models or PC games at how I would paint my aircraft if I was a German ace.

Now all that said I do not sympathis with WW1 germany. I believe we can enjoy the aircraft of the country and its contribution to the advancement of aviation without alining ourselves with it politics.

I do have linage to Germany but also to Poland. Someone that was alive during that time lived through it and saw it so that i could be here and look back and enjoy what was accomplished. I cannot wait till my WW1 replica is completed (which is a ron sands dr-1) so i can feel the wind in my hair look in front of the cowl and get a glimpse of what it was like when all you have was a stick some rudder pedals and you.

[otto]

On German planes rigging is easier...

[crankcase]

Originally Posted by otto

On German planes rigging is easier...

Otto, I admire your refreshing simplicity!
It reminds me of the time I had to split up the department I headed, locating the two halves in geographic distinct locations. I struggled with the line-ups: experience, skill levels, personality, initiative... finally i gave up and sent my colleagues into a room to discuss and come back with a proposal...
...which they did, after an amazingly short meeting; the proposal they produced looked OK to me and when I asked them how they decided the split, they said: "very simple: smokers and non-smokers!" (this was in the days before general smoking bans).
sometimes the simplest explanations are the most compelling!
marc

[lamarzocco]

Originally Posted by rammjaeger

O.K. - I should probably make my question more precise.

1. I am speaking about here and now and not the war time reports 1914-1918.

2. Todays group of WWI aviation enthusiasts measured in total numbers is a rather little group compared to other groups with historical interests. I was refering to this group and not to reports in WWI papers.

3. If you look at this Forum - most-likely the most-important of all Internet forums dealing with this kind of topic - you will find tons of posts if it comes discussions about Richthofen/Voss or even Göring. These men seem to be of neverending interest and also the number of threads dedicated is far higher than one could expect from an English-speaking forum with a little number of German contributors.

At least this is my impression. If forumites here share your impression that German topics are not too often present then I wonder about remarks in the past here which were a bit frustrated about too many German topics etc.

Outside Richtofen and Voss I still don't see any huge fascination, except perhaps a preference from modelers. Which is I think pretty obvious why that would be....the german aircraft offer VASTLY more varied, brightly colored and attractive schemes. British aeroplanes are positively boring in comparison (and I love them!).

BTW - Looking at the replica building side of this site it seems a maybe bit brit-focused! Worth checking out.

Also reading C&C, great war forums and other non-modeling influenced sites I think you actually find the interest is either more uniformly varied or perhaps a but influenced more by the nationality of the poster.