Hans Kirschstein winner of the Pour le Merite

Pour le Mérite

The Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....

, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, and the Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

 was a German lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 and World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 fighter ace credited with 27 aerial victories.

Early life

Hans Kirschstein was born 5 August 1896 in Koblenz, in the Prussian kingdom of Germany. His father headed the provincial government. Hans joined the army as a combat engineer in the 3rd Pioneer Battalion in 1914. 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.

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 FA 19. Some of these raids were among the earliest examples of air attacks upon tanks. He won an Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

 Second Class for his service. In 1917, he continued his service as a two seater pilot, moving on to FA 256, and from there to FA 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 squadron, Jagdstaffel 6 on 13 March 1918. He would become this squadron's leading ace.

He scored his first victory on 18 March, flying a Fokker Dr.I

Fokker Dr.I

The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...

 in one of the great aerial battles of the war, in which the entirety of Manfred von Richthofen

Manfred von Richthofen

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen , also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I...

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

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

. He scored twice more in March, on the 27th. He continued to score regularly; on 15 May, he shot down a Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

 and two Bristol F.2bs for his ninth, tenth, and eleventh triumphs, becoming an Überkanone. By the end of May, he was a triple ace, with 15 victories.

In early June, Jasta 6 upgraded from Fokker Dr.I

Fokker Dr.I

The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...

s to Fokker D.VII

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 summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...

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 Fokker Dr.I

Fokker Dr.I

The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...

 was handed on to Ernst Udet

Ernst Udet

Colonel General Ernst Udet was the second-highest scoring German flying ace of World War I. He was one of the youngest aces and was the highest scoring German ace to survive the war . His 62 victories were second only to Manfred von Richthofen, his commander in the Flying Circus...

, 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 Jasta on 10 June. He was awarded the Pour le Merite

Pour le Mérite

The Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....

, 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. 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.