NDR - Pioneers Turned Millionaires (2010) Part 5 William E. Boeing Ace of Aircraft

The legendary Levi's jeans, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Boeing planes, precious Steinway pianos and the legendary Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York - they are all achievements from the land of opportunity. But they have another thing in common their creators emigrated from Germany to the New World. What do jeans, ketchup, planes, pianos, and furs have in common? Each is the product of an American dream come true. “Pioneers Turned Millionaires” is a five-part series that delves deep into the stories of five German entrepreneurs who redefined American economy and left a major imprint on American culture. Five visionary entrepreneurs from the old world redefined the economy of the new world and left a major imprint on American culture. Levi Strauss, Henry E. Steinway, William E. Boeing, John Jacob Astor and Henry J. Heinz changed the way the world eats, dresses, plays and travels - one can hardly ignore their names or products anywhere in the world today. Innovation, courage, persistency and hard work were the attributes that made them succeed in a strange new country. We visit the companies of Levi Strauss & Co., Steinway & Sons, Heinz and Boeing. We see how each of their founders had a novel and brilliant idea, used it to established a company and gained fame, honour and wealth. With the help of high-end reconstructions and exquisite archive material, this series presents one of the most fascinating and exciting eras of American economic history. How did these five men, who all started out as immigrants, become archetypical self-made millionaires that even now epitomize success? These biographies are the definitive portraits of these five entrepreneneurial giants businessmen who have their homeland in common and their place in history secured. They had left for economic, social, political or religious reasons but all to find a better life in the United States of America. Relive the tragedies and the triumphs that made them millions while leaving a major imprint on American culture.

Part 5 William E. Boeing Ace of Aircraft

In his day, aviation was a curiosity, but William Boeing had the vision and purpose to turn it into a soaring industry. His path was a continual journey into the unknown, but William Boeing's life story is one of amazing ascent, from a trouble-making child shipped off to a Swiss boarding school to a starry-eyed adult who reached for the skies when few others dared. Boeing's journey was marked by turbulence and triumphs on his long path to creating a global enterprise. Take your seat as we follow the seminal moments of a life driven by passion, not profits, and a career that influenced the events of World War I, the Prohibition-era, and the Great Depression. The name “Boeing” stands like no other for the dynamic world of aviation, for huge airplanes, for global air traffic as well as for success and economic power. But hardly anyone suspects that the powerful “global player” was once a family business, and few know that the family originally came from Germany. In 1868, 22-year-old Wilhelm Boeing decided to leave his hometown of Hohenlimburg, now part of the city of Hagen, forever. Like many before him, he is drawn to the still young USA a huge country full of unlimited opportunities on the other side of the Atlantic. The young Boeing went to Michigan, where a veritable timber boom broke out at the time. Boeing was soon able to establish himself as a lumber dealer and quickly became rich - a storybook career, from sawmill worker to lumber baron. In the winter of 1889/90, Wilhelm Boeing died unexpectedly as a result of a rampant flu epidemic. A bitter loss for his son Wilhelm jr. First the boy is sent to boarding school in Switzerland, then to the elite Yale University before following in his father's footsteps as a lumber dealer near Seattle. The big turning point came in 1910 Wilhelm Boeing, who now calls himself William Boeing, attended the first international air show in the USA and went to Los Angeles especially for it. There he was caught by the flying virus, which would not let go of him for the rest of his life. Only Black Friday, the stock market crash of 1929 that was to paralyze the world economy for years, ended the Boeing family's flight in the USA. The company founder bitterly turns away from the gigantic company empire and retires to his yacht.

Full Version Available Upon Request
Related Documentary