Here in the Sportfiegerstraße in Berlin Johannisthal we establish our new location … and decide for the obvious name Druckhaus Sportflieger. So it is worth taking a closer look at the history of this place.

Sport aviation has a rich history in Berlin Johannisthal: Only about 500 metres away from our printing house, the first German motor airfield was opened in 1908. Three years later, 600,000 enthusiastic citizens made a pilgrimage to Johannisthal on the occasion oft he international flight week to marvel at the daredevil pilots in their novel aircraft.

Pearl of European airports
By 1912, the airfield had become the “pearl of European airfields“ among aviation experts. Every modernization was carried out consistently. The responsible persons of the settled companies kept all facilities and technical equipment up to date with the advancing requirements of powered flight.

From the beginning of 1913, the local flight schools and aircraft factories were increasingly confronted with military requirements. In 1918, 2,000 aircraft were completed each month.

After World War I, Johannisthal Airport developed into the first German scheduled airport for passenger and freight traffic. The first scheduled service for passengers operated between Johannisthal and Weimar to ensure flight connections between Berlin and the venue of the National Assembly convened in Weimar.

In October 1923 the Tempelhof airfield received its concession and from then on developed into Berlin’s central air station.

Landscape park and new business
Today, a 65-hectare landscape park is located on the former Johannisthal airfield. But a lot is being built all around. The Berlin district of Johannisthal is developing into a new and sought-after location for innovation and business. As a printing company, we benefit from the synergies of the local companies and the good transport connections. Even the new airport oft he capital BER is only a stone’s throw away.

But as printers and entrepeneurs, we also feel the excitement and passion of this historic place. Because we see certain parallels between printing and powered flights.

Printing is like flying: We always want more
Here in Sportfliegerstraße we work with state-of-the-art engineering technology. We know our machines from the inside and outside and know that we often have to control them with feeling and intuition in order to reach our goal precisely.

We know that our customers always demand experiments and tricks from us and indeed we love to fly loops! But it is at least as important to deliver a high quality and reliable result, on time and on budget. We make every effort to achieve this.

Like the daredevil people in their flying boxes, we also trust in our experience. Because flying and printing are not for beginners. Our physical challenges are not wind and weather, but the skilful handling of a wide variety of papers and inks and their technical behavior during finishing.

Already after a few months we feel well arrived in Berlin Johannisthal. Through the windows of our hall roof we can see the sky. So we never forget that it is still higher to fly, to continue dreaming … and more to print. Visit us in the Sportfliegerstraße!

Picture credits/source: “When the powered flight began in Johannisthal…“ Treptow Historical Booklets, August 1979