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Private company

Bölkow

West German aircraft manufacturer

Bölkow was a West German aircraft manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany, and later Ottobrunn.2 It ceased to exist in 1968.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1955Founded1
  • HeadquartersStuttgart1
  • Founded inStuttgart1
  • Legal formGesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung1

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Bölkow was a West German aircraft manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany, and later Ottobrunn.2

Corporate structure

Bölkow sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Bölkow Stuttgart
    • Leichtflugtechnik-Union Subsidiary

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Bölkow reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

  • Leichtflugtechnik-Union

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.1

The story

The company was founded in 1948 by Ludwig Bölkow, who since 1955 with Emil Weiland had developed helicopters for Bölkow Entwicklungen KG.

In June 1968, Bölkow merged with Messerschmitt to form Messerschmitt-Bölkow, a combination that created West Germany's largest aircraft company, with sales approaching $150 million (1968 dollars). The move was encouraged by the West German government. In May 1969, the new company merged with Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB), becoming Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). MBB was bought by Daimler-Benz in the early 1990s, becoming part of DASA, which became part of EADS in 2000.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bölkow, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

Aircraft

Bölkow Bo 207

Bölkow Bo 208 Junior

Bölkow Bo 209 Monsun

Bölkow Phoebus, variants A, A1, B, B1, B3, C gliders

Read the full text

Helicopter

Bölkow Bo 46

Bölkow Heidelbergrotor experimental rotor system

Bölkow Bo 70 Project with experimental "Heidelberg Rotor"

Bölkow Bo 102

Bölkow Bo 103

MBB Bo 105

MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 Joint project with Kawasaki

Missiles

Cobra

HOT

MILAN

Roland

From Wikipedia’s article on Bölkow, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Owners

Also owns

  • Leichtflugtechnik-Union

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1968Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1955Founded Founded in Stuttgart1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3