Focke-Wulf Fw 190 - did it have a name?

[Sabrejet]

Back in my youth (1970s), the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was only ever referred to as “Fw 190” (or so it seemed). Later, (1980s?) I noticed people using the term ‘butcher bird’, though I’m not sure when or where that came from. The term ‘butcher bird’ is English for the German “metzgervogel”, a common nickname for birds in the shrike family.

 

However, for maybe the last ten years I’ve seen people refer to the Fw 190 as “wurger” (correctly, it should be “würger” or “wuerger”), which is a literal translation of the word "shrike". 

So it would appear that “würger” might be a recent mis-translation, or even a recent mis-translated translation.

 

Is there any evidence that any of these terms were used in period and if not, why the modern manipulations?
 

Trivial yes, but these things keep me awake at night!

[Isar 30/07]

Interesting question. 

 

Reg. the "butcher", this is obvious to me as the F- versions were "Schlachtflugzeuge" which is translated butcher birds.

In German "Schlachtflugzeug" stands for a ground attack aircraft which translated correctly might be "battle bird".

"Schlacht" has 2 meanings in German: "butcher" and "battle".

So, the "butcher bird" might be a not correct translation of "Schlachtflugzeug" even if it might suggest that an attack of an FW 190 F-xxx is a very bloody thing.

 

When reading German books on Luftwaffe written in the 60´s (i. e. "Angriffshöhe 4000"), I´ve never read anything of "butcher bird" or "Würger".

So I guess it´s something the/some pilots then might use as a nickname.

 

I recall a talk to a former German fighter pilot (on Bf. 109´s) who told me, that they often did not use the official designation of a Bf 109 but called them "Spezial" or i. e. "Kanonenboot" - the R6 mounting the 20mm cannons beneath the wings.

 

So, my conclusion:

"Butcher Bird" is a not correct translation of "Schlachtflugzeug", "Würger" is maybe a nickname (not an official name) or it´s just something a kit producer came up to make his kit look more interesting.

 

 

Reimund

[BiggTim]

I've also heard the cannon armed A-8/R8 versions called "sturmböcke", which I think meant "battering ram'?

[dutik]

26 minutes ago, BiggTim said:

I've also heard the cannon armed A-8/R8 versions called "sturmböcke", which I think meant "battering ram'?

That's quite right, and they were called so by the Luftwaffe, at least inoffically. Remember, that a lot of the large german equipment had an official designations, but also often were referred by other names by the soldiers. F. e. the official designation for the Kingtiger was plain "Tiger II", but the soldiers referrered to it as the "Koenigstiger" aka Kingtiger, which later became also the common name in official use.

 

Regards

- dutik

[LSP_Ron]

I believe the official name of it was the Würger  "Shrike" in English" who's nickname is "Butcher Bird"

 

[LSP_Ron]

https://disciplesofflight.com/focke-wulf-fw-190/

 

 

[Sabrejet]

5 hours ago, Isar 30/07 said:

When reading German books on Luftwaffe written in the 60´s (i. e. "Angriffshöhe 4000"), I´ve never read anything of "butcher bird" or "Würger".

So I guess it´s something the/some pilots then might use as a nickname.

 

This is my recollection: from what you've explained, it would appear to be a modern phenomenon. Wiki (never reliable) gives a 2016 reference; I think it goes back further than that but I'd love to see period references to show any names (if there ever were name/s).

[daHeld]

Focke Wulf always named their airplanes after birds, e. g. Fw 58 "Weihe" (harrier) or Fw 189 "Uhu" (eagle owl), and the official Focke Wulf denomination for the Fw 190 was indeed "Würger" (shrike). 

The british called it "butcher bird" not only because of it's German name but also because when it first appeared in the skies over the English Channel, it was what it did. It was so much more advanced than the Spit Mk. V then in use that it literally butchered them. The RAF had to wait for almost a year for the Mk IX to close the gap.

[BiggTim]

1 hour ago, daHeld said:

......Fw 189 "Uhu" (eagle owl)....

WTF is an "eagle owl"? 

 

Edit: Never mind. I googled it. The Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo). I had no idea.

Edited May 17, 2023 by BiggTim

[Sabrejet]

2 hours ago, BiggTim said:

WTF is an "eagle owl"? 

 

Edit: Never mind. I googled it. The Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo). I had no idea.

 

I held an eagle owl once: it was extremely handsome and nowhere near as heavy as I thought it would be.

[Jean-Michel]

Fw190 A was known as "Anton", D was "Dora".

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Jean-Michel