The Red Baron: An Extensive Look At The Life And Career Of Manfred Von Richthofen

7 Pages 1740 Words

Manfred von Richthofen, The Red Baron, was born on May 2, 1892 in Breslau, Germany. He was the son of Major Albrecht von Richthofen, a Prussian nobleman, and his wife Kunigunde. Manfred was the oldest of three sons, only second to his older sister.

At the young age of 11 Richthofen was enrolled as a cadet at the military school at Wahlstatt. Richthofen did not want to be a cadet, however, his father enrolled him regardless. He wasn’t particularly interested in the instruction he was receiving so he only did as much work as needed to pass. On the other hand, he was a very athletic boy especially in the fields of football, gymnastics, and many other outdoor sports.

When Richthofen attended the academy at Lichterfelde he was a little happier as he felt that he was living more like a human being. Some of his favorite sports were the ones where his opponent was Prince Frederick Charles. The prince won many competitions against Richthofen in football and track, as his body wasn’t as well trained as the Prince’s.

Putting his horseback riding skills to use, Richthofen trained to become a cavalry officer at Lichterfelde. In April of 1911 he was commissioned into the first cavalry regiment of Uhlans Kaiser Alexander III, and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1912. Unfortunately there was not much use for a cavalry regiment in the twentieth century. Due to the invention of the machine gun trench warfare broke out rendering a cavalry useless.


Manfred did not come from a very militarized family; his father was practically the first member of his branch of the family to join the military. The Richthofen family was one that lived in the country and had estates, but as a rule the members of the family who did not have a landed estate would join the state service.

When war broke out in August of 1914 Richthofen looked into the air service for a new challenge. He initially joined the Fliegertruppe as an observer becaus...