Beate Uhse-Rotermund (; born Beate Köstlin , 25 October 1919 – 16 July 2001) was a German pilot, entrepreneur and sex pioneer. She was one of the very few female stunt pilots in Germany in the 1930s. During World War II she ferried planes for the German Luftwaffe and after World War II she started a sex shop. The company she started, Beate Uhse AG, is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Early life Uhse was born in Wargenau, a neighborhood of Cranz, East Prussia (now Zelenogradsk, Russia). She was the youngest of three children of the farmer Otto Köstlin and the doctor Magarete Köstlin (one of the first five female doctors in Germany). When she was eight years old, her older brother told her the myth of Icarus. Beate was fascinated by the story, and by the idea of flying—so much so that she gathered chicken feathers and glued together some wings and jumped from her parents' veranda. Beate was a wild child. Her parents did not try to control her; instead they encouraged their daughter in her interests and desires. They assisted her in getting a good education at progressive boarding schools "Schule am Meer" and "Odenwaldschule" where she graduated. They informed their children on sexual matters early, and spoke with them openly about sexuality and contraception. At 15, Beate became the Hessian javelin champion. Career Civil aviation At 16, Beate Köstlin went to England for a year to learn English as an au pair. Afterwards, she returned to her parents' home where, to satisfy her parents, she obtained a "proper" education (in Home Economics). During a trip to Berlin, her father met a Mr. Sachsenberg, a lecturer on motor sports from the German Aero-Club (a nonprofit organization dedicated to flying), and complained to him of his "flying-crazy" daughter and the "nonsensical" concept of a female pilot. Sachsenberg was, instead, excited by the idea, and sent the seventeen-year-old Beate information about obtaining a pilot's license. Finally her parents gave in to her demands, and in 1937 she joined the Rangsdorf pilot school near Berlin. In October of that year, on her 18th birthday, she received her pilot's license. In 1938, she passed the stunt pilot exam, and shortly thereafter competed in a race in Belgium. She won in her category, and also won 2nd place overall in target landing and 3rd in "punctual flight." She then worked for