Ludwig Hanstein

Ludwig Hanstein
Vizefeldwebel Hanstein poses in front of a pristine Fokker D.II which has three "running legs" marked on the wheel hubs. The wheel marking is based on the coat of arms of the city of Füssen located in the eastern Allgau region in Bavaria.
Birth name	Georg Hermann Ludwig Hanstein
Birth date	20 January 1892(1892-01-20)
Place of birth	Sudwalde, Kreis Sulingen, Province of Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	⚔ 21 March 1918 (aged 26)
Place of death	Western Front near Morchies, France
Resting place	War cemetery in Cambrai (Block 6, Grave 470)
Allegiance	German Empire
Service/branch	Imperial German Army
Rank	Leutnant der Reserve
Unit	Feldflieger-Abteilung 9 b Jagdstaffel 16 b Jagdstaffel 35 b
Commands held	Jagdstaffel 35
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern Military Merit Cross (Bavaria)

Georg Hermann Ludwig Hanstein (20 January 1892 – 21 March 1918) was a German officer of the Imperial German Army. Between October 1916 and March 1918, the World War I flying ace of the Luftstreitkräfte and knight of the House Order of Hohenzollern shot down 16 enemy aircraft (Luftsiege), all of them at the Western Front.

Life

Epitaph (war cemetery in Cambrai)

Hanstein's Albatros D.II (left) and Albatros D.V

Growing um near Hanover in Prussia, his father died young in 1900. It can be assumed that his mother married again and moved to Munich, where Ludwig achieved his Abitur and possibly completed his mandatory military service with the Royal Bavarian Army as a one-year volunteer (Einjährig-Freiwilliger). He was a student of chemistry in Munich when the war started.

WWI

On 15 August 1914, Hanstein reported to the Königlich Bayerisches 1. Feldartillerie-Regiment „Prinzregent Luitpold“ as a war volunteer. On 26 September 1914, he was placed in the 4. Gebirgs-Batterie (4th Mountain Battery) of his regimnt. On 3 March 1915, he was transferred to the Sturm-Kanonen-Abteilung (Assault Cannon Battalion). On 15 April 1915, he was promoted to Gefreiter (Private E-2/Lance Corporal) and on 23 April 1915 to Unteroffizier (NCO/Corporal/Junior Sergeant).

On 10 October 1915, he was transferred to the 3rd Replacement Battery of his regiment awaiting his transfer to the Fliegertruppe. On 1 January 1916, he reorted to the Aviation Replacement Battalion 1 Schleichheim where he was trained for the next five months. On 13 May 1916, he was placed with the Army Air Park of the Gaede Army Detachment awaiting assignment.

On 19 May 1916, he was commanded to the Feldflieger-Abteilung 8 b flying a Fokker E.III, on 2 June 1916, he was transferred to the Royal Bavarian Feldflieger-Abteilung 9 b where the Vizefeldwebel (Sergeant First Class; promoted on 37 July 1916) would achieve his first victory with his Fokker D.II on 12 October 1916 shooting down a British Sopwith 1½ Strutter. This was during aerial combat, when the detachment was repelling a British strategic bombing raid. He used a Fokker D.II fighter plane to force down the Royal Naval Air Service plane onto Freiburg (Breisgau) Airfield by wounding its pilot through the neck. This deed earned him the Iron cross, 1st Class.

On 31 October 1916, Hanstein transferred to the Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 16 b, whose theater of operations was generally the French sector of the Western Front, first flying the Albatros D.II. On 14 November 1916, he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant of the Reserves (Leutnant der Reserve) without Patent. Hanstein scored again on 17 March 1917; by 25 September 1917, he had added nine more to his tally to become Jasta 16's first ace. On that same day, he was posted to command of the Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 35 b.

Hanstein scored his thirteenth victory on 12 November 1917 and scored twice more in January 1918. On 20 January 1918, he received the Knight's Cross with Swords of the House Order of Hohenzollern. He also temporarily relinquished command to Bruno Justinius on 20 January and went on leave. He succeeded again to the command of the Jasta on 4 March 1918, after Justinius was killed in action and his successor transferred.

Death

About ten minutes after scoring his final victory on 21 March 1918, Leutnant d. R. Hanstein was killed in action during aerial combat with the Royal Flying Corps between Vaulx and Noreuil, his plane crashing north of Morchies.

Family

Ludwig was the son of Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Hanstein (b. 23 September 1861) and his wife Anna Wilhelmine Lina Theodora, née Happe. His father was an assistant chaplain at the Henriettenstift in Hanover and the Protestant pastor of Sudwalde from 1888 to 1899. He had fallen severly ill and died in the Henriettenstift in Hanover on 4 March 1900 in Hanover from heart failure after an abdominal operation. Ludwig had four siblings:

• Ludwig Wilhelm (b. 13 February 1890)
• Marie Anna Elisabeth (b. 11 April 1894)
• Georg Gustav (b. 7 April 1896)
• Anna Hermine Helene (b. 28 March 1899)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 22 September 1916 with effect from 14 July 1916
  • 1st Class on 18 October 1916
• Honour Goblet for the Victor in Aerial Combat (Ehrenbecher für den Sieger im Luftkampf) on 17 December 1916
• Bavarian military pilot badge (Abzeichen für Flugzeugführer) on 19 December 1916
• Grand Ducal Baden Silver Medal of Merit on the Ribbon of the Military Karl Friedrich Medal of Merit on 24 January 1917
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with Swords on 12 September 1917
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords on 20 January 1918
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with the Crown and with Swords on 14 February 1918