Adlershof

Adlershof ("Eagle's Court") is a locality (Ortsteil) in the borough (Bezirk) Treptow-Köpenick of Berlin, Germany.

On the southwestern side of Adlershof now is built the new City of Science, Technology and Media (WISTA). The local management seeks to establish the word "Adlershof" as a synonym for WISTA, ignoring the traditional center of Adlershof.

History

A part of the area known today as the "City of Science, Technology and Media", was once known as the Johannisthal Air Field. Germany's first motorized aircraft took off from here at the beginning of the 20th century. Albatros, Fokker, Rumpler and Wright made Adlershof-Johannisthal famous. In 1912 the German Experimental Institute for Aviation (Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt – DVL) made Adlershof its headquarters. Laboratories, motor test beds, wind tunnels and hangars were erected in the 20s and 30s and are historical landmarks today.

World War I

Adlershof is particularly well known for a series of competitions between various aviation firms' fighter aircraft designs that were held there starting in 1918. This was the first time the pilots themselves were asked for their input into the selection process; they resoundingly asked for higher speed as opposed to maneuverability, which the Idflieg had always assumed was most important.