The Luftwaffe ("air weapon") is the German air force.
World War I
The forerunner of the Luftwaffe, the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkrafte), was founded in 1910. During WWI it utilized fighters (Albatros, Fokker), reconnaissance aircraft, and heavy bombers (Gotha, Zeppelin-Staaken). Famous aces included Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), Ernst Udet, Hermann Goring, and Oswald Boelcke. After the war, the service was dissolved under the Treaty of Versailles.
Inter-War Period
Germany secretly trained pilots at Lipetsk in the USSR (1924-1933). On February 26, 1935, Hitler ordered Hermann Goring to reinstate the Luftwaffe. The Condor Legion tested pilots and tactics in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), including the Ju 87 Stuka and Bf 109. The bombing of Guernica in 1937 became a grim foretaste of strategic bombing.
World War II
By 1939, the Luftwaffe was the most powerful air force in the world. It played a major role in Blitzkrieg through Poland, Norway, Denmark, and France. However, the Battle of Britain proved a key turning point when the tactical mistake of shifting from airfields to city bombing cost Germany air superiority.
Notable developments included the Fallschirmjager (paratroopers), the night-fighter force (Nachtjagd) with the Kammhuber Line, and pioneering jet aircraft — the Me 262 became the world's first operational jet fighter. Hans-Ulrich Rudel became the most decorated German pilot. Erich Hartmann achieved 352 aerial victories, the highest score in history.
Cold War
The Luftwaffe was disbanded in August 1946. When West Germany joined NATO in 1955, it was re-established with US-designed aircraft. Former aces including Hartmann, Barkhorn, Rall, and Steinhoff joined the new force. The "Starfighter crisis" of the 1960s saw many F-104 crashes, earning it the nickname "widow-maker."
Reunification
After German reunification in 1990, the East German Luftstreitkrafte's Soviet-built aircraft (MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-29) were absorbed into the Bundesluftwaffe, creating the anomaly of Soviet aircraft in a NATO air force. These were eventually phased out and sold to new Eastern European NATO allies.