Private company
Deruluft
Logo: Dreluft, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3
Joint German-Soviet airline (1921–1937)
Deruluft (Deutsch-Russische Luftverkehrs A.G., or Deruluft) was a joint German-Soviet airline, established on 11 November 1921. Deruluft opened its first permanent airlink between Moscow and Königsberg (via Kaunas and Smolensk) on 1 May 1922. It started a new route between Berlin and Leningrad (via Tallinn) on 6 June 1928, and maintained both routes until 31 March 1936.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0
Last updated Oct 21, 2026.
Overview
- Industryair transport, freight air transport, passenger air transport1
- Founded inBerlin1
- Legal formjoint-stock company1
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Deruluft (Deutsch-Russische Luftverkehrs A.G., or Deruluft) was a joint German-Soviet airline, established on 11 November 1921. Deruluft opened its first permanent airlink between Moscow and Königsberg (via Kaunas and Smolensk) on 1 May 1922. It started a new route between Berlin and Leningrad (via Tallinn) on 6 June 1928, and maintained both routes until 31 March 1936. Deruluft was a successful business, but terminated on 31 March 1937 due to the changed political situation.2
Products and brands
Business
Deruluft handled mainly post and freight. An overview of transported persons, mail and freight from 1922 to 1931:
Fleet
Most of the aircraft used were German, and so was its organization until the 1930s. Its first aircraft were Dutch-built Fokker F.III's. Later German Junkers F13's were added to the fleet. At first, Deruluft carried only mail and officials, but on 27 August 1922 the service was opened to the public.
From 1929 onwards the early Fokker F.III's were replaced by Dornier Merkurs. Early 1931 the Tupolev ANT-9 was added.
Albatros L 58
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Dornier Merkur
Fokker F.II
Fokker F.III
Junkers F.13
Junkers Ju 52
Rohrbach Roland
Tupolev ANT-9
From Wikipedia’s article on Deruluft, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4
Controversies and legal
Accidents and incidents
In October 1924, LVG C.VI RR-14 crashed in Russia.
In December 1926, Grulich V.1 D-902 crashed in Russia.
In June 1927, Fokker F.III RR-7 crashed in Russia.
On May 16, 1928, Fokker F.III D-200 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tempelhof Airport due to engine failure; the pilot survived. THe aircraft was operating a cargo flight to Cologne.
On 15 October 1929, Junkers F.13 URSS-308 Koenigsadler crashed in Estonia and broke in two; no casualties.
In 1933, Dornier Merkur CCCP-D306 crashed in Russia.
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On 22 October 1934, Tupolev ANT-9 D-2831 struck trees and crashed while on approach to Moscow Airport in poor weather; all three on board survived.
On 31 January 1935, Junkers Ju 52/3mge D-AREN struck a hillside in poor weather near Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland) due to icing, killing all 11 on board.
On 7 March 1935, Rohrbach Ro VIII Roland II D-AJYP Schönberg crashed at Schievelbein, Germany (now Świdwin, Poland) due to structural failure; all three on board survived.
On 16 May 1936, Junkers J.13FLE D-OKES crashed in Russia.
On 6 November 1936, Tupolev ANT-9 URSS-D311 Yastreb struck trees and crashed upside-down near Nemirovo, Volokolamsky District (27 km (17 mi) southwest of Volokolamsk) after several navaids failed, killing all nine on board. The aircraft was operating the Velikiye Luki–Moscow leg of a Königsberg (now Kaliningrad)–Moscow passenger service.
From Wikipedia’s article on Deruluft, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4
Timeline
Links
- WikipediaDeruluft
- More imagesWikimedia Commons
- WikidataQ379298
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataDeruluft on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaDeruluft on Wikipedia
- 3Wikimedia CommonsDeruluft logo by Dreluft, Public domain
- 4
- 5Wikimedia CommonsDeruluft photo by Theod. Müller, Public domain