EARLY YEARS
The son of a carpenter, Otto Könnecke was born in Straßberg (located in Saxony-Anhalt) on September 20, 1892. He attended the Building Trade School in Frankfurt am Main and became an apprentice carpenter.
But by his late teens, Könnecke became bored with the trade. In 1911, he enlisted in Railroad Regiment Number 3 at Hanau. Two years later, Könnecke applied for pilot training. As an NCO, he trained with Fliegerersatz-Abteilung (Replacement Detachment) Number 4 in Metz and received his pilot’s wings. Könnecke then served in various units, eventually joining Jagdstaffel (Fighter Squadron) Number 25.
THE AIR ACE
At the outbreak of the Great War, Könnecke was serving as an instructor. He did not witness any action until December 1916… when he was sent as Macedonia as part of Jagdstaffel 25. Könnecke was given the rank of Vizefeldwebel.
When 1917 dawned, Könnecke was an air warrior. He had an unconfirmed victory on January 9th, but made his first official score on February 5th. The second came the very next day!
At the end of April, Könnecke was transferred to Jagdstaffel 5 on the Western Front. He did not score another victory until May 28th. Soon, Könnecke accumulated single victories over enemy aircraft… and by the end of 1917, his score stood at eleven.
Könnecke often flew in conjunction with two other non-commissioned officers: Fritz Rumey and Josef Mai. The three aces were dubbed the “Golden Triumvirate”, because all three men had won the Golden Military Merit Cross. The elite trio would score 108 victories, more than forty percent of the entire Jasta!
Könnecke’s Albatros D.V had one of the more fanciful paint schemes of the war. Its base color was green (on the fuselage, tail, and elevators) with a red propeller spinner. His black and white checkerboard insignia edged in red adorned the fuselage just ahead of the Maltese crosses… with a thin red line ringing the fuselage just before the tail.
The first five months of 1918 saw Könnecke continue the same pattern of single victories. But on May 30th, he scored a double triumph! Then on August 8th, Könnecke tallied three victories in three separate combats: at 9:05 A.M., 11:45 A.M., and 6:45 P.M. The following day, he scored three more! On August 14th, Könnecke downed two British aces in a Bristol F.2 Fighter (Eugene Coler and Cyril Gladman) for victory number thirty-one.
As Vizefeldwebel, Könnecke was awarded the Golden Military Merit Cross, the highest decoration for valor an enlisted man could receive. On June 15, 1918, he was a commissioned Leutnant. A month later, Könnecke was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern.
Then on September 26th (the day before Fritz Rumey was killed in action), Könnecke was awarded Imperial Germany’s highest military decoration, the Pour le Mérite. He was one of the few former NCOs to receive the “Blue Max”… and one of only five pilots to earn both the Golden Military Merit Cross and the Pour le Mérite. Exactly one week before the armistice was signed at Compiegne, Könnecke scored his 35th and final victory.
CIVIL AND MILITARY AVIATION
Otto Könnecke was a pioneer of civilian air passenger transport. He joined Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1926 as one of its original pilots.
A year later, Könnecke attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to North America. His aim was to establish a commercial passenger route, and the plane of choice was a Caspar C32 (dubbed “Germania”). This cropdusting biplane was extensively modified to give it a flight endurance of fifty hours.
The project intended to launch from Cologne, then cross the Atlantic via the British Isles over Greenland, and into Newfoundland. However, a storm system over the North Atlantic forced Könnecke to reach America via a longer route. So on September 20, 1927, he left with a planned route over Hungary, Romania, Turkey, and Persia to India. From there, he would fly over Korea, Japan, and the Kamchatka Peninsula to the American West Coast. Once in America, Könnecke would press on to New York… and then home to Germany. But problems with both the plane and crew doomed the effort, which got no further than Calcutta!
Könnecke was an influential figure in post-war German aviation. In 1935, he was asked to help develop what became the Luftwaffe (which was banned by the Treaty of Versailles). Könnecke rejoined the military and headed the flying school at Scrau. He continued to serve during the Second World War before ending his career with the rank of lieutenant general.
Otto Könnecke died in Bad Aibling on January 25, 1956 at the age of sixty-three.