...to Aldingen (part of Remseck am Neckar),…
August 1888 CE
Wölfert had studied theology and philosophy at Leipzig from 1870, and he had founded his own publishing company in 1873.
He published over fifty books and newspapers, some of which he had written himself.
In the same year he had married Christiane Trautmann, with whom he had two daughters.
After meeting the forester Georg Baumgarten in 1879, he had become fascinated with airship flight and offered not only financial support but helped him further develop airships.
Baumgarten had patented and experimented with his own airship designs, but his royal employer had soon forbidden him from airship work.
Therefore, they both continued work using Wölfert's name.
Their first cooperative work, the Dreigondelluftschiff (three gondola airship) flew on January 31, 1880, and crashed.
In 1881 further models were built, all of them, non-rigid designs.
Due to their activities the Verein zur Förderung der Luftschifffahrt was founded on September 8, 1881.
Wölfert neglected his publishing business, which was sold in 1881.
After Baumgarten's death in 1884 he continued the work and built a series of seven airships, including the human-powered Deutschland, which flies in Berlin.
After flying another airship in Dresden in 1887, a Leipzig illustrated newspaper had printed a detailed account, describing it as a muscle-powered airship and hinting at a military project.
Gottlieb Daimler had noticed this article and, after patenting his new petrol engine for airflight, had invited Wölfert to Cannstatt.
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