Hans Kirschstein (5 August 1896 – 16 July 1918), winner of the

Pour le Merite Pour may refer to these people: * Kour Pour (born 1987), British artist of part-Iranian descent * Mehdi Niyayesh Pour (born 1992), Iranian footballer * Mojtaba Mobini Pour (born 1991), Iranian footballer * Pouya Jalili Pour (born 1976), Irania ...

Royal House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern (german: Hausorden von Hohenzollern or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various ...

, and the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

, 1st and 2nd class, was a German

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

and World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with 27 aerial victories.

Early life

Hans Kirschstein was born 5 August 1896 in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

, in the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...

of Germany. His father headed the provincial government. Hans first attended school in

Gummersbach Gummersbach (; ksh, Jummersbach) is a town in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located east of Cologne. History In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in offic ...

, from 1907 in Gross-Lichterfelde near

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In August 1914 he joined the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

as a combat engineer in the

3rd Pioneer Battalion von Rauch (1st Brandeburgian) in

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

. He served in France and Galicia; in the latter assignment, he contracted malaria in 1915. He was invalided home to recuperate, returning to duty in December 1915.''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918'', p. 142.

Aerial service as bomber pilot

In February 1916, he applied for transfer to aviation duty. His transfer was granted and he took pilot's training at Schliessheim in May 1916. Upon graduation, he flew bombing raids for ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 19. Some of these raids were among the earliest examples of air attacks upon tanks. One was on

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, England. Kirschstein won an

Second Class for his service. In 1917, he continued his service as a two-seater pilot, moving on to ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 256, and from there to ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 3.

Duty as fighter pilot

He applied for transfer to fighter duty in early 1918. He received fighter training and was assigned to a Prussian fighter squadron, ''

Jagdstaffel 6 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 6 was one of the original units of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. History The ''Jasta'' was founded on 25 August 1916 from Fokkerstaffel Sivry, itself an early at ...

'' on 13 March 1918. He would become this squadron's leading ace.The Aerodrome website page on ''Jagdstaffel 6'

Retrieved 25 October 2020 He scored his first victory on 18 March, flying a

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

in one of the great aerial battles of the war, in which the entirety of

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...

's fighter wing was committed to battle en masse. Kirschstein began by shooting down a

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

. He scored twice more in March, on the 27th. First of them was Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8, piloted by Alan McLeod and his observer Arthur Hammond, McLeod was during action wounded six times and received

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, Hammond was three times, lost his leg and received

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to his

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. He continued to score regularly; on 15 May, he shot down a

and two

Bristol F.2b The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane Fighter aircraft, fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit ...

s for his ninth, tenth, and eleventh triumphs. By the end of May, he was a triple ace, with 15 victories. In early June, ''Jagdstaffel 6'' upgraded from

s to

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qui ...

s. Kirschstein would fly two of the new airplanes, both entirely painted with black and white stripes as an optical illusion to confuse enemy aim. His

was handed on to

Ernst Udet Ernst Udet (26 April 1896 – 17 November 1941) was a German pilot during World War I and a ''Luftwaffe'' Colonel-General (''Generaloberst'') during World War II. Udet joined the Imperial German Air Service at the age of 19, and eventually ...

, who would be Germany's highest scoring ace to survive the war. He would fly them to 12 more victories in June, with his final win being his 27th on 24 June 1918. He would also ascend to command of the squadron on 10 June. He was awarded the

, Germany's highest award for valor in battle, on 24 June 1918.

Death by flying accident

On 16 July, Kirschstein flew one of his planes in for maintenance at the repair depot at Fismes. He was accompanied by a new pilot in his Jasta, Leutnant Johannes Markgraf, flying formation in a two-seater

Hannover CL Hannoversche Waggonfabrik AG was a German aircraft manufacturer of the World War I era. It was known as a railway rolling stock constructor until required by the German government in 1916 to start the construction of aeroplanes. The aircraft branc ...

. After leaving the Fokker, Kirschstein climbed into the rear seat of the Hannover for the return trip. Markgraf, who was unfamiliar with the Hannover, stalled it out at about 50 meters altitude on takeoff. The crash killed both men.

Inline citations

References

* ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918''. Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. . * ''Sopwith Camel Vs Fokker Dr I: Western Front 1917-18''. Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2008. . * ''Fokker Dr I Aces of World War I''. Norman Franks, Greg VanWyngarden. Osprey Publishing, 2001. . * Richthofen's Circus': Jagdgeschwader Nr 1''. Greg VanWyngarden, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2004. . * ''Sopwith Camel Vs Fokker Dr I: Western Front 1917-18''. Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2008. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirschstein, Hans 1896 births 1918 deaths Military personnel from Koblenz German World War I flying aces Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in France German military personnel killed in World War I People from the Rhine Province Prussian Army personnel Luftstreitkräfte personnel