BÜCKER

Bücker Flugzeugbau GmbH was an aircraft manufacturer founded in Germany in 1932 by Carl Bücker [de]. The company was best known for producing high-quality sports planes which were later used as trainers by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Bücker’s most successful aircraft were the Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann (1934), the Bü 133 Jungmeister (1936), and the Bü 181 Bestmann (1939). Additionally, Bücker produced designs from other manufacturers under license including the Focke-Wulf Fw44, the DFS 230, and components for the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Junkers Ju 87, and Henschel Hs 293. During the war, forced labor was used at the Bücker works, with up to 500 prisoners from the Soviet Union and forced laborers from France, Italy, and other countries living under poor conditions in a nearby prison camp. At the end of World War II, Bücker’s premises were seized by the Soviet occupation zone and the company was broken up. The Bü 181 continued to be manufactured in Czechoslovakia and Egypt after the war. Today, Bücker’s legacy lives on in aviation history and is remembered for the quality of its aircraft.