Heinz Gunermann’s Time Flying

Heinz Gunermann, ca. 1918 (photo # ms274_1_04_03)

Heinz Gunermann, ca. 1918 (photo # ms274_1_04_03)

In August 1918, towards the very end of World War I, Heinrich “Heinz” Gunermann took pilot training at Flugwerft Schleißheim and Flugwerft Milbertshofen, not far from Munich. (Flugwerft Schleißheim was reopened to exhibit aircraft as part of the Deutsches Museum in 1992.)

Following the war, Gunermann was employed as a parachute demonstrator, Fallschrimunternehmer, and he owned a parachute company with his partner Peter Bäumler.  Gunermann and his associates performed at numerous air shows across Germany, Switzerland, and Holland throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s.  No information concerning Gunermann after 1936 has been discovered thus far.


The Heinrich Gunermann Collection (MS-274) consists of a single photograph album entitled “Aus meiner Fliegerzeit” (My Time Flying), containing numerous black and white photographs dating from 1918 to 1936.

Gunermann's "My Time Flying" Album, cover

Gunermann’s “My Time Flying” Album, cover

View of Gunermann's album lying open, showing a page of images from 1927.

View of Gunermann’s album lying open, showing a page of images from 1927.

For the most part, the photos depict aircraft and parachute exhibitions performed at air shows throughout Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s. Some of the photos detail Gunermann’s World War I flight training.  There are also newspaper clippings covering the various air shows, as well.

Überlandflug über dem Lech (Cross country flight over the Lech River), 1918 (photo # ms274_1_05_02)

Überlandflug über dem Lech (Cross country flight over the Lech River), 1918 (photo # ms274_1_05_02)

„Bae/Gu” - Fallschrim (Parachute) 1 - Baümler-Gunermann (photo # ms274_1_06_02)

„Bae/Gu” – Fallschrim (Parachute) 1 – Baümler-Gunermann (photo # ms274_1_06_02)

The majority of the photos are framed by descriptive captions. In the album, Gunermann identifies himself in photos with an “X” (as seen above).  Sometimes, he abbreviates his name as simply “G.”  The † symbol indicated someone who is deceased.

Heinz Gunermann, ca. 1918 (photo # ms274_1_03_02)

Heinz Gunermann, ca. 1918 (photo # ms274_1_03_02)

The above text was taken, with few changes, from the collection finding aid (view PDF finding aid), originally written by Aaron Buczkowski, July 2008. (The finding aid was revised, including an updated biographical sketch, by Lisa Rickey, in March 2016.) The finding aid includes a full transcription of the album’s photograph captions in the original German, with English translations.

Note and correction, March 2016: Originally, including when this blog was first posted, this collection was erroneously titled the “Georg Gunermann Collection,” after a misidentification of Gunermann’s first name (probably due to unfamiliarity with the German script). The name correction was provided by Heinrich Gunermann’s distant relative Thomas R. Gunerman, as well as members of The Aerodrome forum including Marian Sperberg-McQueen.

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