Paul Bäumer and Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp, were successful fighter pilots in the first World War, and founded Bäumer Aero GmbH in Hamburg on the 7th of November 1922 for the purpose of the sale of aircraft, accessories for airports and airships.
In 1925 the company became generally known for their Bäumer Sausewind sports aircraft which was successful in the 1925 Round Germany Flight.
[citation needed] On the 15th of July 1927, Paul Bäumer was instantly killed when the Rohrbach Ro IX he was demonstrating to a Turkish army commission crashed.
After climbing to 5,000 meters, the plane entered a spin and he was unable to recover and hit the water of the Öresund, near Copenhagen.
As he was prime driving force of the company, all development and planning work came to a standstill.