Lothar von Richthofen

Lothar von Richthofen
Lothar von Richthofen wearing the Pour le Mérite.
Born	27 September 1894 Breslau, Silesia, German Empire
Died	4 July 1922(1922-07-04) (aged 27) Fuhlsbüttel
Buried at	Südfriedhof in Wiesbaden
Allegiance	German Empire
Service/branch	Luftstreitkräfte
Years of service	1914–18
Rank	Oberleutnant
Unit	KG 4, Jasta 11
Awards	Pour le Mérite, Iron Cross First and Second Class
Relations	Manfred von Richthofen (brother), Wolfram von Richthofen (cousin)

Lothar-Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen (27 September 1894 – 4 July 1922) was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories. He was a younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) and a distant cousin of Luftwaffe Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen.

Following the war he worked for a while on a farm before taking an industrial position. He married in June 1919 and had two children. Yearning for aviation he accepted a position as a pilot, conveying passengers and postal mail between Berlin and Hamburg.

He died on 4 July 1922 in a flying accident at Fuhlsbuettel; he was aged 27.

Lothar von Richthofen was born on 27 September 1894. He and his brothers, Manfred and Bolko, hunted wild boar, elk, birds, and deer.

Like his brother Manfred, Lothar began the war as a cavalry officer with the 4th Dragoon Regiment. He had remained in the public Gymnasium (high school), he was enrolled in compulsory military training at the Kriegsschule in Danzig (Gdansk, Poland) when war began. On his own initiative Lothar returned to his unit. Lothar was nearly cut down by sniper fire while on patrol. In mid-October 1914, while stationed at Attigny, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class for valour. It was the only consolation that Lothar received during his cavalry service. The following month, his regiment was transferred to the Eastern Front.

In February 1916 Manfred "rescued" his brother Lothar from the boredom of training new troops in Luben and encouraged him to also transfer to the Fliegertruppe.

Richthofen joined the German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) in late 1915. He served from January 1916 as an observer with Jasta 23, sometimes observing for Otto Creutzmann and saw action during the Battle of Verdun. He won the Iron Cross 1st Class in December and then began training as a pilot.