Hans Baur

Hans Baur
Hans Baur in the 1950s
Born	19 June 1897 Ampfing, German Empire
Died	17 February 1993(1993-02-17) (aged 95) Herrsching, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Rank	Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Police
Unit	Die Fliegerstaffel des Führers
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War

Hans Baur (19 June 1897 – 17 February 1993) was Adolf Hitler's pilot during Hitler's political campaigns of the early 1930s. He later became Hitler's personal pilot and leader of the Reichsregierung squadron. Apprehended by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II in Europe, he was imprisoned in the USSR for ten years before being extradited to France on 10 October 1955, where he was imprisoned until 1957. He died in Herrsching, Bavaria, in 1993.

Baur was born in Ampfing, Bavaria. He was called up to the Bavarian Army in 1915, and trained in field artillery. He then joined the Luftstreitkräfte (air force) as an artillery spotter. After the war, Baur joined the Freikorps under Franz von Epp. He went on to became a courier flier for the Bavarian airmail service. Beginning in 1922, Baur was a pilot for Bayrische Luftlloyd, and then Junkers Luftverkehr.

In 1926, Baur became a pilot of Deutsche Luft Hansa. In the same year, Baur also became a member of the NSDAP (Nazi Party No. 48,113). On 1 April 1931 Baur flew the opening flight of the Berlin-Munich-Rome route, known as the Alpine flight, whose passengers included Nuntius Eugenio Pacelli, Arturo Toscanini and Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria.

Hitler was the first politician to campaign by air travel, deciding that travel by plane was more efficient than travel by railway. Baur first piloted him during the 1932 General Election.

Hitler obtained his first private aeroplane, a Junkers Ju 52/3m with registration number D-2600 (Werk Nr. 4021), in 1933, after becoming German Chancellor. The same registration number continued to be used for all aircraft used by Hitler, even during the war years. The Ju 52 was named Immelmann II after the First World War pilot Max Immelmann. Baur was personally selected by Hitler to be his official pilot in 1933 and thereby released from service by Luft Hansa.