Junkers in Persia: ‘Ladder to heaven’

Lecture and reading by Prof. Dr Dr Stefan Piasecki, North Rhine-Westphalia University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration, Duisburg

Thursday, 24 April 2025,
7.30 pm, City Archive Dessau-Roßlau,
Heidestraße 21 (Old Water Tower)

The Dessau Junkers factories are the birthplace of Iranian aviation. The connection between Dessau and Tehran through the Junkers company and its metal birds dates back to the mid-1920s. Junkerswerke’s involvement in Persia is the focus of the event Junkers in Persia: ‘Himmelsleiter’, in which Prof. Dr. Dr. Stefan Piasecki from the North Rhine-Westphalia University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration in Duisburg will read some passages from his novel ‘Himmelsleiter’ and explain the historical background on 24 April 2025 at 7.30 pm in the Old Water Tower in Heidestraße in Dessau-Roßlau.

On 14 April 1923, a Junkers F 13 from Tbilisi landed in Tehran for the first time. Regular flight operations were established on 20 December 1924, and in 1927 the country’s first airline was established as Junkers Air Transport Persia. This airline operated intermittently until March 1932. The first Persian apprentices for aircraft construction and maintenance were trained in Dessau, and personnel were also recruited in Persia itself. In his novel ‘Himmelsleiter’, Stefan Piasecki creates an authentic picture of Persia at the beginning of Reza Shah’s reign and of a society that was rapidly transported from the Middle Ages into the modern era. The Junkerswerke’s commitment to the development of air transport in Persia played a major role in this.

The Dessau-Roßlau municipal archive and the Verein für Anhaltische Landeskunde invite you to this event. Admission is free.

Thursday, 24 April 2025, 7.30 pm
Archive Association Dessau (Old Water Tower), Heidestraße 21
Junkers in Persia: ‘Ladder to Heaven’
Lecture and reading by Prof Dr Dr Stefan Piasecki, North Rhine-Westphalia University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration, Duisburg

Contact:

Municipal Archive Dessau-Roßlau
Heidestrasse 21
06842 Dessau-Roßlau
Phone: 0340/204-1024
E-mail: stadtarchiv@dessau-rosslau.de