The hill is 15 meters high and still stands as a memorial to Lilienthal.
Lilienthal started building and testing gliders in 1891.
Photo credit:Kaiser2102/Wikimedia
In 1892, Lilienthal moved to another hill formation in Steglitz, near Berlin.
Lilienthal conducted more than a thousand test flights from Fliegeberg, attracting a regular crowd of people.
His best recorded distance at Fliegeberg was 80 meters.
His gliders were carefully designed to distribute weight as evenly as possible to ensure a stable flight.
Lilienthal controlled them by changing the center of gravity by shifting his body, much like modern hang gliders.
This small design flaw proved fatal.
Lilienthal never got a chance to gain control of the glider.
He fell from a height of 15 meters, breaking his neck.
He died 36 hours later.
His last words to his brother Gustav were “Opfer mussen gebracht werden!”
(Sacrifices must be made!).
In 1932, the Fliegeberg was redesigned as a memorial to Lilienthal and his training ground became Lilienthalpark.
Otto Lilienthal performing a test flight in 1894.
Photo credit:www.dlr.de
Otto Lilienthal performing one of his gliding experiments, circa 1895.
Photo credit: Public domain
Otto Lilienthal with his small wing flapping apparatus near to the “Fliegeberg”.
