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21. April 1918 - 100 Years


Fritz

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Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen fell on 21.April 1918 in aerial combat.

He was buried with full military honours by his adversaries in Bertangles/Somme

article-2631807-1DF6A61600000578-328_634

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  • 11 months later...

The site of the former grave at the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin.  His grave was in no-mans land during the DDR Regime, and the cemetery was closed. In 1975 after measures were taken by the Regime, in which graves and trees were removed and further walls and fences errected, his family managed to arrange for the transferral of his remains, which  were re-interred in the family grave at Wiesbaden. Further graves at the Invalidenfriedhof have been restored in recent years, such as

Ernst Udet
Marga Wolff von Etzdorf (a woman pilot)
Werner Mölders
Generalfeldmarschall Graf v. Schlieffen
Helmuth von Moltke
Generaloberst v. Seeckt
Generaloberst Frhr. v. Fritsche

Also the grave of Fritz Todt had been restored, but after protests, again removed. The DDR Regime did considerable damage to this unique historic cemetery, where some of the most notable persons in German history were buried. Quite a few graves have been (selectively) restored.  Reinhardt Heydrich was also buried here, the grave was destroyed shortly after the Russians took over.

Richthofen.grabplatte.jpg

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The first photo shows the original grave at Bertangles. The French authorities transferred him to Fricourt in 1920. In 1925 he was brought to the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin, next photo ca. 1931, and the new gravestone after 1936. A further photo shows the present day gravesite in Wiesbaden.

The grave at the Invalidenfriedhof before WW2. This new gravestone had been errected on orders of Göring. After 1975 the stone was transferred to the West, and it remained for many years at the entry of the Luftwaffen-Kaserne in Wittmund. Richthofen now lies in the present family grave in Wiesbaden.

 

 

Bertangles.jpg

Bertangles

Invaliden.jpg
 

Invalidenfriedhof Berlin, after November 1925

Richthofen.Grab.jpg

The new gravestone, errected ca. 1936

Richthofen.grab1.jpg

The present resting place, Hauptfriedhof Wiesbaden

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On the 24th June 2017 the original gravestone was transferred from Wittmund back to the Invalidenfriedhof. This was done on an agreement between Traditionsgeschwader Richthofen and the Familienverband Richthofen, latter sharing the costs with the Förderverein Invalidenfriedhof. The bullet marks from the last days of WW2 can still be seen.

 

Originalstein-Richthofen.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

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The ceremony in Wittmund last Saturday, 21. April 2018

 

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  • 1 year later...

image.png.1d7863f5f0bd8af12e7f52b5a27c6440.png

Dorfkirche, Vaux-sur-Somme, 21. April 2018

 

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Site of the original grave, Bertangles Cemetery, 21. April 2018

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Bertangles, 21. April 2018

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The site of the second grave at Fricourt, ca. 1922-1925, now the resting place of Sebastian Paustian

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  • 4 months later...

Wow, the plane looks fantastic, would have loved to see that. 

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Quite a few airworthy copies have been built worldwide, most are probably in USA or Australia. In central Europe this sort of thing is frowned on.

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