Linke-Hofmann

Slagorde · Vliegtuigfabrikanten · Duitsland

Linke-Hofmann

Linke-Hofmann-Werke AG · Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) · Alstom Transport Deutschland

A Breslau railway-wagon giant that dabbled in giant bombers during the First World War and built an aircraft turning the largest single propeller ever fitted to any plane.

1912Opgericht
MergedStatus
4Vliegtuigen geregistreerd
Photo: K.u.k. Kriegspressequartier, Lichtbildstelle – Wien / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
LandDuitslandOpgericht1912OprichtersGottfried Linke (wagon works, 1839)HoofdkwartierBreslau (now Wrocław, Poland); after 1945 SalzgitterEigenaarAlstomStatusMerged
Het verhaal

Linke-Hofmann: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Railway wagons, then giants

Linke-Hofmann was a railway company first, last and almost always. Its roots go back to the wheelwright shop that Gottfried Linke took over in Breslau in 1834 and turned into a wagon works in 1839. In 1912 it merged with its local rival Gebr. Hofmann & Co. to form the Linke-Hofmann-Werke. When the First World War came, the firm was one of many German industrial houses drawn into aviation with no aeronautical experience, repairing and licence-building Roland and Albatros two-seaters before winning a 1916 contract for a four-engined Riesenflugzeug, or giant aircraft.

A bomber you could see through

Designer Paul Stumpf’s first answer, the R.I, was startlingly odd. Its tall fuselage filled the whole gap between the wings, housing four Mercedes engines that mechanics could tend in flight, and the first prototype was skinned in transparent Cellon to make it harder to see. The idea backfired: the film reflected sunlight, yellowed and sagged. One pilot remembered the R.I as not an aircraft but a sickness. One prototype’s wings collapsed at low altitude; another nosed over and was never repaired.

The biggest propeller in history

The R.II went the other way: essentially a single-engined biplane scaled up about three times, with all four engines driving one Garuda propeller 6.90 metres across, the largest single propeller ever used to propel an aircraft. Flown after the Armistice in 1919, it handled well, even on two engines. Plans for a 12-passenger airliner died under the Versailles restrictions, and Linke-Hofmann went back to trains. As Linke-Hofmann-Busch it later built metro and S-Bahn stock, and today it is part of Alstom.

A Breslau railway-wagon giant that dabbled in giant bombers during the First World War and built an aircraft turning the largest single propeller ever fitted to any plane.Linke-Hofmann · verified 2026-10-03
In één oogopslag

Linke-Hofmann in numbers

Het bedrijf

Kortom
Founded 1912 (roots 1839)

  • Railway wagon and locomotive builder in Breslau
  • Formed by the 1912 merger of the Linke works with Gebr. Hofmann & Co.
  • Aircraft work only during and just after the First World War

Productie

Het meest bekend om
R.I and R.II giants

  • Licence-built Roland and Albatros two-seaters
  • Four R.I and two R.II heavy bombers completed
  • None entered squadron service

Vandaag

Nu
Part of Alstom

  • Became Linke-Hofmann-Busch after the war, re-established in Salzgitter
  • GEC Alsthom took a 51 percent stake in 1994

No aircraft activity since 1919.

De cijfers

Linke-Hofmann R.I built
4
Linke-Hofmann R.II built
2
R.II propeller diameter
6.90 m
Het vliegtuig

Every notable Linke-Hofmann aircraft

Vliegtuig Rol Eerste vlucht Gebouwd Status Opmerking
Roland C.IIa (licence) Reconnaissance two-seater Gepensioneerd Licence production and repair work
Albatros B.IIa, C.III and C.X (licence) Two-seat trainers and reconnaissance Gepensioneerd Licence production
Linke-Hofmann R.I Zware bommenwerper 1917 4 Gepensioneerd Fuselage filled the wing gap; first prototype covered in transparent Cellon
Linke-Hofmann R.II Zware bommenwerper 1919 2 Gepensioneerd Four engines driving one 6.90 m propeller
Plaatsen, mensen, archieven

Where Linke-Hofmann built, who led it, what it achieved

Fabrieken

  • Mochbern works · Breslau (Wrocław) — Main wagon and locomotive works from 1906–1912; nationalised in 1945 as Pafawag

Mensen

  • Paul Stumpf · designer — Designed both Riesenflugzeug types
  • Gottfried Linke · founder of the original wagon works — Took over his father’s wheelwright shop in 1834

Records en primeurs

  • R.II turned the largest single propeller ever used to propel an aircraft, 6.90 m in diameter
Tijdlijn

Linke-Hofmann, year by year

1834

Gottfried Linke takes over the family wheelwright shop in Breslau

1839

Wagon works Gottfried Linke founded

1912

Merger with Gebr. Hofmann & Co. creates the Linke-Hofmann-Werke

1916

Contract to design and build a four-engined Riesenflugzeug

1917

R.I flight testing begins; both early prototypes are lost

1919

R.II flies after the Armistice; airliner plans blocked by the Allies

1945

Breslau works nationalised by Poland as Pafawag; company re-established in Salzgitter

1994

GEC Alsthom acquires a 51 percent shareholding

Vragen en antwoorden

Everything people ask about Linke-Hofmann

What aircraft did Linke-Hofmann build?
Licence-built Roland and Albatros two-seaters, plus two giant bombers of its own, the R.I and the R.II.
Why is the Linke-Hofmann R.II famous?
Its four engines drove a single propeller 6.90 metres across, the largest single propeller ever used to propel an aircraft.
Why was the R.I covered in transparent material?
Cellon film was meant to make it harder to see, but it reflected sunlight, yellowed and distorted in flight.
Does Linke-Hofmann still exist?
As a rail builder, yes: Linke-Hofmann-Busch became Alstom Transport Deutschland in Salzgitter.

Vervolg de rondleiding

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Geverifieerd op 3 oktober 2026.