Wolfgang Von Gronau is famous as a pioneer in long-range commercial flight. Using Dornier Wal seaplanes, Von Gronau was able to convince the German Weimar Republic to invest in commercial air service between 1930 and 1932.

Von Gronau began his aviation career in World War I as a German naval aviator. He was born on February 25, 1893, to a noble family that included an artilleryman and an initial posting as a petty officer on a German ship. Von Gronau’s World War I service would eventually include commanding a German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) flying boat squadron with missions of artillery spotting and shooting down airships.

According to the September 7, 1930, New York Times, Von Gronau would claim being shot down twice. But this service would conclude with, according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, serving as adjutant to the commander of German naval aviation, having introduced many an innovation to German naval aircraft also.

With the end of World War I came treaties – or international agreements – limiting the capability of Germany to build warfighting equipment. This included the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers like Great Britain, France, and the United States. Such limits kept Germany from building long-range aircraft like the Dornier Wal.

Enter the Dornier Wal

The Dornier Do J Wal – a logical development of World War I…