The BFW M.23,[1] (the M standing for its designer Willy Messerschmitt), was developed in response to a specification issued in 1929 by the German Aero Club for the Ostpreussenflug (East Prussian Circuit) competition.

The M.23b had curved upper fuselage decking and a more rounded tail and was produced with a large range of engines, both inline and radial.

The final version, the M.23c had an enclosed cockpit, the most powerful engines and was slightly larger (200 mm/8 in in span, around 500 mm/20 in in length) than the earlier variants.

The M.23c was developed for, and won, the Circuit of Europe the following year with seven of them entered.Production numbers are not certain, but 74 appear on the reconstructed German civil aircraft register;[2] 53 of these are M.23bs and 11 M.23cs.

Other went to individual owners, with some familiar names amongst them like Ernst Udet (who made well publicised flights to Africa and to Greenland, the latter with Leni Riefenstahl as a passenger) and Rudolf Hess.