Deutsche Luft-Reederei

Deutsche Luft-Reederei (D.L.R.), was a German airline established in December 1917 which started operating in 1919. The name means "German (Deutsche) Air (Luft) Shipping Company (Reederei)". D.L.R. was reorganized as Aero Lloyd AG in 1923. In 1926 the German government forced the airline to merge with Junkers Luftverkehr to form Deutsche Luft Hansa, the flag carrier of the Weimar Republic.

The airline's logo was a stylised crane, designed by Professor Otto Firle. This was adopted by Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1926, and again by Lufthansa in 1953.

The AEG company, a large producer of electrical equipment, started building airplanes for the military during World War I. To create continued demand for this new product after the end of the war, the company started a commercial airline, the D.L.R. Walther Rathenau, chairman of the board of AEG, was the driving force behind the airline. In spite of receiving government subsidies the airline was not profitable, so in 1923 AEG reorganized the D.L.R. and transferred its assets and operations to a new airline: Deutscher Aero-Lloyd. This was a joint venture of AEG, the HAPAG, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, the Deutsche Bank and Dornier Metallbauten.

D.L.R. was the first German airline to use heavier than air aircraft. DELAG was the first German airline and the first airline in the world, but operated lighter than air airships made by the Zeppelin company. Like many other early European airlines, the D.L.R. operated former World War I military machines, e.g. the AEG J.II, LVG C.VI. At first all passengers rode in open cockpits, then some airplanes were modified to seat two or three passengers in an enclosed cabin.

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