In 1891, the civil engineer Otto Lilienthal (Germany) succeeded in achieving the first safe, multiple gliding flights in history.
Lilienthal's experiments and his scientific approach were adopted by the Wright Brothers (USA) in their quest to develop a controllable, self-propelled flying machine.

On the 100th anniversary of Lilienthal's first flights, the Otto Lilienthal Museum opened its doors in Anklam, the city of his birth.

The online-documentation of the museum contains:

An overview of the exhibition, the collection, and the museum's shop;

The Lilienthal Archives contains a short biography of Otto Lilienthal, a detailed bibliography, a complete summary of his known correspondence, a complete photo archive of his flights, and the documentation for his flying machines. One of the gliders was the world's first production aircraft;

Some essays about pre-history of aviation and the history of hang gliding, a point of focus of the museum;

A chronicle of aviation put together by the museum. The chronicle is one among many others on the web. Other relevant sites should be pointed out: for example, G. Bradshaw's extensive archives "to fly is everything."

Some original sources of aviation history such as essays and correspondence, as well as the museum's patent archives. These unique elements from our archives contribute to the online worldwide knowledge of aviation history.