Dornier Museum
Claude-Dornier-Platz 1,
88046 Friedrichshafen 
Tue. - Sat. 10:00 bis 17:00 Uhr
Admission: 14.-€ (2026)
www.dorniermuseum.de
Tel. +49 7541 48 736 11 

The Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen is one of the few museums dedicated solely to a single aircraft manufacturer. However, this is not a drawback; rather, it highlights the various fields in which the Dornier company was active. In particular, its licensed production and partial production activities are quite interesting. Wings-Aviation visited the museum in 2017 and 2026. The museum opened on 24 July 2009. It was founded by Silvius Dornier, the third son of Claude Dornier (1884–1969). The museum is run by the Dornier Foundation for Aviation and Space.

In fact, no machines from Dornier’s early days survive today. The company’s history is therefore presented through photographs, models and films. It is striking, however, that the Second World War is virtually omitted here and is treated merely as a side issue.

Two pre-war aircraft are on display in the large hall: a Dornier Merkur and a Dornier Wal. Both are replicas that are accurate down to the smallest detail but are not airworthy.
The Dornier Merkur made its maiden flight on 10. February 1925 and was a passenger aircraft designed to carry 6–8 passengers. On 24. and 29. June 1926, an aircraft piloted by Walter Mittelholzer and Georg Zinsmaier set seven world records, for example by covering the approximately 7,000 km route from Friedrichshafen to Berlin, Königsberg, Moscow, Tbilisi, Baku and Kharkiv without incident. A total of 50 Merkur aircraft were built, many of which were also flown in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Japan, Colombia (operated with floats by SCADTA), Switzerland and the USSR. Licensed production took place in Japan.

The Dornier Wal is one of Dornier’s most successful flying boat series. The Wal was a strut-braced high-wing aircraft whose two engines were mounted in a tandem nacelle above the wings. The wings were of a fabric-covered metal construction.

The replica in the museum bears the registration number of the legendary “Amundsen” whale, N25. On 21. May 1925, polar explorer Roald Amundsen set off from Spitsbergen – having travelled there by ship – in two Wal aircraft to embark on the Amundsen-Ellsworth flight expedition to the North Pole. The two Wal flying boats, bearing the Norwegian registration numbers N24 and N25, were powered by 360-horsepower Rolls-Royce Eagle IX engines and had been specially prepared by Amundsen for the Arctic flight. 250 km from the North Pole, the N25 was forced to make an emergency landing due to an engine problem. The N24 subsequently landed nearby and was so badly damaged that it had to be abandoned. It took the crew three weeks to prepare a runway for the other aircraft on the ice field. Captain Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen managed to get the N25, overloaded with both crews (six men, including the sponsor Lincoln Ellsworth), off the short runway and land on the north coast of Nordostland (Spitsbergen). A seal hunter passing by by chance towed the aircraft to Ny-Ålesund, where the airmen arrived again on 18. June 1925.

Die grosse Halle (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Merkur D-1108 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Merkur D-1108 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Merkur D-1108 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Merkur D-1108 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Merkur D-1108 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Merkur D-1108 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Merkur D-1108 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Merkur D-1108 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Wal N-25 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Wal N-25 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Wal N-25 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Wal N-25 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Wal N-25 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Donier Wal N-25 (Photo courtesy Michael E. Fader)

Aircraft in Detail

The French Breguet BR Atlantic is not typically associated with Dornier. However, Dornier was involved in the development and production of this aircraft as a subcontractor. The museum displays a former German Navy aircraft, which visitors can also view from the inside. Also on display are a Fiat G-91R and an Alpha Jet. It was well known that Dassault and Dornier collaborated on the latter.

In the post-war period, Dornier focused primarily on light transport aircraft such as the Dornier Do-27 and the Do-28. The Do-28-3 Skyservant, in particular, established a family of aircraft that formed the backbone of the company. The Do-28 was developed into the Do-128 and then the Do-228. The series culminated in the Do-328, which was available in both turboprop and jet configurations.

Prototypes

In the late 1950s, prototypes of vertical take-off aircraft were developed, but none of them ever made it to production. On display at the museum are the Do-29 and, serving as a gate guard, the Do-31. It is striking that the aircraft are in such good condition.

Published 10. May 2026

Written: 14. November 2025

Report No. 365