Event
Title of the new event
April 30, 1917
Excerpt of the new event
Event type
MvR correspondance
Browse the timeline by historical event classification.
Event
Letter from General von der Marwitz to the father
April 24, 1918
Dear Mr. von Richthofen, What had long filled us with anxious concern—the possibility of losing your heroic eldest son—has now become a reality. I personally made cont...
Event
The red color
May 7, 1917
"It had just become known that the English had put a bounty on my brother's head. Every pilot over there knew him because he was still flying a red-painted plane on his o...
Event
My eleventh Englishman is Major Hawker
November 25, 1916
"Dear Mum! I send you my warmest birthday wishes and hope that this will be your last birthday during the war. My eleventh Englishman is Major Hawker, twenty-six years...
Event
My fifth Englishman
October 18, 1916
"Dear Mum! We've had bad weather here constantly, but I still shot down my fifth Englishman yesterday."
Event
Fallen on the nose
July 6, 1916
"Dear Mum! A few days ago, I crashed my Fokker. The spectators were quite astonished when I crawled out of the wreckage completely unharmed after quite a while. My goo...
Event
I am assigned to a giant aircraft
November 2, 1915
"Dear Mum! The new flying gloves have just arrived. You can hardly imagine how happy I was to receive them. Thank you very much indeed. As you know that I am very fond...
Event
Flieger-Ersatzabteilung 7
June 6, 1915
"Dear Mum! I have finally arrived here. The 7th Air Force Replacement Unit has a huge apparatus for training us. There are thirty of us, all of whom are to be trained...
Event
Vacation
June 1, 1915
"Dear Mum! The days at home were very nice, but unfortunately too short. I was with Dad until eleven o'clock in the evening. He looks more youthful in his uniform than...
Event
Who would have ever believed that a war could last so long
April 6, 1915
"Dear Mum! Thank you very much for the lovely Easter eggs. We enjoyed them very much in the shelter amid the thunder of cannon fire. Things have been pretty lively her...
Event
Now I have been sitting in front of Verdun for three months
December 15, 1914
"Dear Mum! I've been sitting in front of Verdun for three months now. Nothing changes here. Last night we were playing cards when another shell landed on the roof of t...
Event
Disguised as a Frenchman
November 1, 1914
"Dear Mum! A car has just arrived here, loaded with the first parcels, including two from you to me. It's the fur coat and a small parcel containing my gloves. The fur...
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What I experienced here in the West
August 29, 1914
"Dear Mum! I want to briefly describe to you what I have experienced here in the West. – Before the army's deployment was complete, it was of course quite boring. We w...
Event
On the border with Belgium – France
August 16, 1914
Unfortunately, I rarely have time to write, and when I do, it is only briefly. Therefore, please do not be concerned if you do not hear from me for eight to fourteen days...
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Fighter pilot!
May 3, 1916
'As can be read in a letter dated 3 May 1916, he felt ‘very comfortable in his new occupation as a fighter pilot’ – ‘I believe that no other position in the war could app...
Event
Third night on patrol
August 5, 1914
"Dear Mum! How are you all doing in these turbulent times? You are certainly safest in Schweidnitz. I am now on my third night on patrol in Russia. There are no German...
Event
Lothar's craft
July 25, 1917
"Dear Mum! Thank you very much for your lovely letter, which I was really happy to receive. It's wonderful that Lothar is doing so well again, but he should make sure...
Event
Schäffer and Zeumer
June 18, 1917
"Dear Mum! Now that I'm back here, I'm continuing to work hard. I've just shot down No. 53. In Kreuznach, on the way back, I was invited to visit S. M. again, where I...
Event
Going home at the beginning of May
April 23, 1917
"Dear Mum! I plan to come home at the beginning of May, but first I want to go on a capercaillie expedition, to which I have already been invited and am very much look...
Event
Leader of Jagdstaffel 11
January 27, 1917
"Dear Mum! You are surely wondering why I haven't written. So much has happened in the meantime that I don't know what to write first. I have become commander of Fight...
Event
A Dorado for the fighter pilot
October 17, 1916
"In my entire life, I have never known a more beautiful hunting ground than during the days of the Battle of the Somme. In the morning, when you got up, the first English...
Event
I haven't flown once again
January 11, 1916
"Dear Mum! Since I was in Schwerin for New Year's, I haven't flown once. Here in Berlin, it rains constantly, which means we can't get anywhere. And I would love to be...
Event
Hunting history
March 15, 1915
"Dear Mum! Now I finally have enough physical activity. All the days I don't spend in the trenches, I spend hunting. I'm quite proud of my hunted prey, three wild boar...
Event
Thoughts in the dugout
August 26, 1917
"In my shelter, there is a lamp hanging from the ceiling that I had made from an aircraft engine. It comes from an aircraft that I shot down. I installed lamps in the cyl...