Beate Uhse succeeded in pulling erotic-shops out of the dirt through her open and serious approach

Company spokeswoman

She left school aged 16 to become a pilot with the Luftwaffe.

In the final days of the war she flew the last plane out of Berlin, landing in the northern region of Schleswig Holstein where she set up her business.

Initially she sold "Script X" pamphlets with information on birth control which expanded into a mail order business.

In 1962 she set up the first sex shop in Flensburg.

Success

Her company was phenomenally successful, despite repeated attempts to crack down on its activities.

It became a public limited company in 1981 and was registered on the Frankfurt stock exchange in 1999.

It now has 1100 employees across Europe, 777 in Germany alone.

Ms Uhse remained chairwoman of her company right up to her death and was still working at her desk a month ago.

"Beate Uhse succeeded in pulling erotic-shops out of the dirt through her open and serious approach," a spokeswoman for the company said.