An Extremely Scarce Factory Employee Tag of the Top Secret German Aeronautical Research Institute in Western Brunswick; Numbered; This is an extremely scarce factory employee tag of the top secret German Aeronautical Research Institute (“Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt”). The tag is numbered “670” and is constructed in stamped aluminum with a single drill hole. It measures 40 mm x 40 mm, and is in extremely fine condition, with a slight bend towards the top from use.
Footnote: The Luftforschungsanstalt (Aeronautical Research Institute) also known as the German Göring Research Institute was a top secret German research facility for airframe, aircraft engine, pulse jet, and aircraft weapons testing during the Second War. The 1,000 acre research facility was located outside of Völkenrode, in western Braunschweig (Brunswick). Construction of the factory grounds began in October 1935, while construction for the first wind tunnel began in November the following year. The research facility encompassed sixty buildings scattered around the site, with some hidden underground. All buildings did not exceed treetop height and were camouflaged to avoid detection by enemy aerial reconnaissance. There were no railway lines in, nor overhead power lines, nor chimneys. It also did not have any runways, taxiways, or areal control towers. All 1,500 factory employees and scientists were housed in four hundred houses in Völkenrode. The ARI had five wind tunnels, the slowest producing a maximum speed of 198 km/h, and the fastest being capable of producing a maximum wind speed of Mach 1.5. The facility aided in the development of the notorious Messerschmitt Bf 109, the BMW 801 fourteen cylinder radial engine, as well as the Argus As 014 pulsejet engine used in the V-1 rocket. The institute remained a secret until the end of the war and was never bombed.