Germany and to practice their professions once more. During 1952, new aeronautical facilities were established in East Germany; initially, these were operated with a focus upon military aircraft, however, following a popular uprising in the following year, military ambitions were renounced in favour of civil aircraft. The revival of the East German aerospace industry had occurred at a faster rate than that of neighbouring West Germany. Development of what would become known as the Baade 152 can be traced back as early as 1953 to a team of German aeronautical engineers headed by Brunolf Baade, for whom the type is named after, working in Sawjelowo, Russia. However, when members of the team were allowed to return to East Germany, all documentation relating to the 152 had to be left behind; the Soviets retained this cache and eventually released it to East Germany after a protracted period. Based in East Germany, a new aerospace company, VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden, was able to recruit Baade and several other returning engineers, and decided to commit itself to completing development of the envisaged 152. VEB planned to develop the 152 as a four-engined commercial transport aircraft; an assembly line capable of producing up to 18 aircraft per year was to be established in Dresden to manufacture the type. As intended, the 152 would have been developed initially as a 57-seater airliner, plans were made to accommodate alternative seating layouts, such as a high-capacity 72-passenger configuration or a more spacious 42-passenger arrangement. During 1955, VEB formally commenced work on the 152, having to effectively redesign the aircraft in the process. During the previous year, work had also commenced at Berlin-based Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde (IWL) on the development of the Pirna 014 turbojet engine; it was this powerplant that would be selected for the 152. According to Baade, work was hindered by a lack of optimal facilities present in East Germany. According to aviation periodical Flight International, East Germany was keen to involve Western industry in the project as well, particularly in the provision of components and materials; it was also hoped the sales of the 152 could be garnered from the west as well. Reportedly, East German officials regarded the 152 as filling a relatively unique niche upon the global airliner market, and that its nearest competitor was the French-built Sud Aviation Caravelle. Testing and termination A total of three airworthy prototypes were constructed; two of them