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WORLD WAR I

Johannes “Hans” Baur was born on June 19, 1897 in Ampfing in the Kingdom of Bavaria.

With the Great War raging across Europe, Baur was called up by the Bavarian Army in 1915 and trained in field artillery. Later, he joined the Luftstreitkräfte (air force) as an artillery spotter.

In the final year of the war, Baur served in FA 295 as an Unteroffizier (non-commissioned officer) of two-seater Hannover CL.III ground attack planes. His observer was Leutnant Georg Ritter von Hengl.

An air ace, Baur was credited with six confirmed and three unconfirmed victories against French aircraft. His first confirmed kill was on July 17, 1918 at the height of the Friedensturm (peace offensive), also known as the Second Battle of the Marne. Vizefeldwebel (deputy sergeant) Baur was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class… as well as the Bavarian Silver Bravery Medal for attacking a French formation of seven SPADs (downing two of them). He would score the last of his victories on October 29, 1918, less than two weeks before the German surrender.

THE EARLY INTERWAR YEARS

After the war, Baur joined the Freikorps under Franz von Epp. He went on to become a courier flier for the Bavarian airmail service. Then in 1922, he was a pilot for Bayrische Luftlloyd, and then Junkers Luftverkehr.

In 1926, Baur became a pilot of Deutsche Luft Hansa. In the same year, he joined the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). In doing so, he was party member number 48,113.

On the first of April 1931, Baur flew the opening flight of the Berlin-Munich-Rome route, also known as the Alpine flight. His passengers included Nuntius Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII), Arturo Toscanini, and Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria.

THE FUHRER’S PERSONAL PILOT

Adolf Hitler was the first politician to campaign via air travel. He decided that traveling by plane was more efficient than traveling by train. During the 1932 general election, Hans Baur first served as Hitler’s personal pilot.

After he came to power on January 30, 1933, Hitler obtained his first private aeroplane, a Junkers Ju 52/3m with registration number D-2600 (Werk #4021). The Ju 52 was named “Immelmann II” (in honor of the late Great War ace Max Immelmann). Baur was personally selected by Hitler to be his official pilot… and was consequently released by Luft Hansa.

FLIEGERSTAFFEL DES FUHRERS

Hans Baur was appointed head of Hitler’s personal squadron (initially based at Oberwiesenfeld in Munich). As the Luftwaffe was not yet established, Hitler wanted Baur to be able to command sufficient power and respect to assure his security. Hence in October 1933, Baur was commissioned a Standartenführer in the Schutzstaffel (SS #171,865) by Heinrich Himmler.

Baur was given the task of expanding and organizing Hitler’s personal squadron and the government “flying group”. In 1934, he was promoted to the rank of SS-Oberführer. Hitler allowed Baur to fill his squadron with experienced Luft Hansa pilots. One of the men was Georg Betz, who became co-pilot for Hitler’s aircraft and Baur’s substitute.

By 1937, Hitler had three Ju 52 airplanes for flight use. That same year, he obtained a new aircraft, the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, the “Immelmann III”. The Condor had a much greater range and was faster than the Ju 52. An improved model of the Condor was put into service five years later.

In June, Hitler (a noted vegetarian) invited Baur to the Reich Chancellery for his favorite meal of pork and dumplings for his 40th birthday. He also gave Baur a Mercedes-Benz automobile to replace his American-made Ford.

With the Second World War turning against Nazi Germany, A Ju 290 was assigned to Hitler’s aerial squadron, Fliegerstaffel des Führers (FdF), in late 1944. Modifications were completed by February 1945 at the FdF base at Pocking, Bavaria. Baur tested the aircraft, but Hitler never flew in it.

DEFEAT AND DETENTION

On January 31, 1944, Hans Baur was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer (brigade leader). One month later, he became an SS-Gruppenführer (section commander). Baur also held high ranks in the police force.

During the last days of the war, Baur was with Hitler in the Führerbunker. He had devised a plan to allow Hitler to escape before the battle for Berlin. A Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was held on standby which could take off from an improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate.

However, Hitler refused to leave Berlin. On April 26, 1945, the improvised landing strip was used by Hanna Reitsch to fly in Colonel-General Robert Ritter von Greim, Hitler’s appointment as commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe after the dismissal of Hermann Göring. On the evening of April 28th, Reitsch flew von Greim out on the same road-strip to Plön.

The next day, the Soviet Red Army launched an all-out attack on the center of the capital. The Soviet artillery (including the infamous “Stalin Organs”) opened up with intense fire in and around the Reich Chancellery. That evening, Hitler said his farewell to both his personal pilots, Baur and Betz.

Baur pleaded with Hitler to leave Berlin, and the two pilots volunteered to fly the Führer out of Germany in a Ju 390 to safety. It was in vain… as Hitler turned down Baur’s offer… stating that he had to stay in Berlin.

Likewise, Baur stayed in the bunker up until Hitler committed suicide on the afternoon of April 30th. But when Baur tried to flee Berlin, he found the improvised road-strip pot-holed and overrun by the Soviet Third Shock Army.

An alternate plan was devised to escape either out of Berlin to the Allies on the western side of the Elbe River… or to the depleted German forces in the north. SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke split up the Reich Chancellery and Führerbunker soldiers and personnel into ten main groups… with Baur, Betz and Martin Bormann as part of one of the groups.

During the escape attempt, Baur was shot in the right lower leg and captured by the Soviets. The wound was so serious that his right lower leg was later amputated in a Soviet POW camp in Posen on June 10, 1945.

Baur was of great interest to his captors. They believed he might have flown Hitler to safety before the fall of Berlin. They also believed he had information on stolen art, specifically the plundering of the Amber Room (Bernsteinzimmer) in Leningrad. As such, the former Great War ace and personal pilot of the Führer was imprisoned in the Soviet Union. Baur was eventually released on October 10, 1955… then, the French imprisoned him for another two years.

As Hitler’s personal pilot, Hans Baur commanded a total of forty different aircraft… including the Ju 52, the Condor, the Ju 290 and the little Fieseler Fi 156 Storch.

LATER YEARS

Baur returned to a divided Germany in 1957. That same year, he wrote his autobiography entitled Ich flog die Mächtigen der Erde (literally “I flew the mighty of the Earth”). A lengthened version was later published as Mit Mächtigen zwischen Himmel und Erde (“Between Heaven and Earth with the Mighty”). The French translation is titled J’étais pilote de Hitler: Le sort du monde était entre mes mains (“I was Hitler’s pilot: The fate of the world was in my hands.”).

The book is a collection of Baur’s eyewitness accounts of Hitler’s daily activities and conversations. It is unique because Hans Baur (as his private pilot and personal friend) was in Hitler’s presence practically every day from 1933 to 1945. He was one of the few people who was truly close to Hitler. Bait was also one of the last people to see him alive in the Führerbunker.

The book has since been translated into English under the title “I was Hitler’s Pilot”. It is an insider’s account of Hitler’s life and doings as leader of the Third Reich.

Hans Baur survived to see his country reunited in the final months of the Cold War. He died in the Bavarian town of Herrsching on February 17, 1993 at the age of ninety-five.