Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft

Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft formed on April 30, 1908, from the assets of an experimental airship engine company located in Bitterfeld, Motorluftschiff Studiengesellscaft (MStG).

Additional funding for the new enterprise was provided primarily by Krupp, AEG, and a local chemical company.

Manufacture was transferred to Charlottenburg following a fire on 6 September 1916, allegedly caused by the British Secret Service.

In 1913 LFG started producing new designs under the trade name Roland to avoid confusion with the Luftverkehrsgesellschaft (L.V.G.)

In 1916 the company developed a floatplane version of the Albatros C.Ia as the LFG W. Some parts were built in Bitterfeld, but final assembly and checkout was carried out in new factories in Stralsund.

A newer version with a more conventional layout, the Roland D.II, followed, whose fuselage was reduced in height to leave a gap with the upper wing but was otherwise similar overall.

A new method of construction was introduced that used spruce planking running the length of the aircraft in place of the formed plywood, and the D.III was adapted using this technique to produce D.IV triplane and D.V biplane, both powered by the D.III's 160 hp Mercedes.

After the war all aircraft production in Germany was banned, and the company was forced to close the Bitterfeld plant and reopen in Seddin, producing airplanes, balloons and life boats.