Lilienthal's Workshop / Aircraft Factory @museum.de

All his own work! The first flying machines were genuinely hand-crafted. Otto and Gustav Lilienthal's strength lay not only in development and design; they were also talented craftsmen and tinkerers. This replica workshop table shows how the individual elements of an aircraft were created.

Willow rods are not only light and robust. In clamping bars like the ones you see here, they can also be bent into almost any shape. Their tapered ends are bonded with animal glue and then wrapped. Densely woven cotton fabric is stretched across the resulting element – in this case, the surface of a tail unit. Then the surfaces are coated with a plasticised lacquer known as aircraft dope that has previously been dissolved in alcohol. The alcohol evaporates and leaves a smooth, airtight layer of parchment on the cotton. After being covered in this way, the component feels like the skin of a drum.

Later, when the first foldable flying machines were created, the brothers replaced the aircraft dope with wax. That way, the components remained flexible and remained undamaged during transport.

The Lilienthal brothers experimented with different shapes for their aircraft. In the first instance, they’d design and build a one-off, which was then tested and improved by Otto. From 1894, Otto also applied for patents on his flying machines, which were then built in small series and shipped to order – including instructions for use, and tips on how to fly them.

They were assisted by a handyman called Paul Beylich, who came from a family of cart-wrights. Beylich worked in Lilienthal's workshop and also accompanied his boss to the test flights. So he’s rightly regarded as history’s first aircraft mechanic.

The Lilienthal brothers sold probably about 20 flying machines built in small batches. Today, only three complete originals from Lilienthal's workshop survive.