Ernst Voigt (pilot)

Ernst Voigt (* 23. May 1911 in Spandau ; † 11. April 2000 in Berlin ) was a German non-commissioned officer , pilot and test pilots of the Air Force of the Armed Forces . He is considered to be the first pilot who succeeded in launching a jet fighter from an ice surface.

Early years

Ernst Voigt was born in the then still independent town of Spandau near Berlin. Also in Spandau he attended elementary school from 1917 and from 1922 the upper secondary school . In 1925 he graduated from primary school there .

From April 1926 to March 1929 Voigt completed an apprenticeship as a technical draftsman at the mechanical engineering company Wilhelm Sasse in Berlin . Between January 1930 and August 1931 he worked for the Orenstein & Koppel company . Finally, in September 1931, he moved to the Chesavon factory , a well-known pharmaceutical company at the time, as a laboratory assistant .

Voigt developed his passion for aviation early on . In 1924, at the age of 13, he joined the Spandau Aviation Technology Association , which was founded in the same year.

At the age of 18, he passed his first flight test on May 28, 1929, before the German Aviation Association, and obtained his glider license.

Military career

In 1933 Voigt volunteered for the Reichswehr , which, due to the restrictions of the Versailles Peace Treaty, had no air force.

After Voigt's flying talent became known, he was transferred to the Berlin-Staaken Aviation School , which was one of the facilities that was used under strict secrecy as a training facility for military pilots. Voigt was employed there as a student pilot from January to November 1934 .

Between November 15 and December 25, 1934 he completed his license as a pilot at the flight training center in Stettin .

On March 1, 1935, around two weeks before the Wehrmacht was founded, the Air Force was officially established. Voigt was part of their development team for a short time and at the same time, between February and June 1935, completed military and aviation training at the aviation training center in Hamburg .

On January 18, 1936, Voigt moved to the Schönwalde pilot school as a group flight instructor .

From November 1937 to February 1938 he completed his basic training at the Great Tutow Fighting School and finally the NCO course at an air weapons school.

On April 6, 1939 he was promoted to sergeant and on October 1, 1939 to sergeant .

On November 1, 1940 Voigt was deployed as a test pilot at the Rechlin test center and subsequently completed numerous special courses. During this time he also got to know the general aviation master Ernst Udet , who committed suicide in November 1941.

At the Sonderkommando Lechfeld he specialized as a test pilot and flight instructor for more than 30 so-called "samples", including the new jet fighter of the Messerschmitt Me 262 type .

In 1942 Ernst Voigt was formally drafted and assigned to combat operations. This circumstance confronted the aviator for the first time with the reality of soldiers and caused a rethink. From November 1942 until April 1944 he was a group flight instructor and aviation expert at the aircraft pilot's school in Schönwalde. Formally, he then moved to the Hildesheim pilot training squadron in the same role .

In 1945 in Parchim , surrounded by Soviet soldiers, he launched a Messerschmitt Me 262 from a frozen surface of a lake. This makes him the first person to have succeeded in such a start with a jet fighter.

On April 18, 1945, he started at 7:07 p.m., also with an Me 262, from Parchim to Berlin. At 7:32 p.m. he landed at the Berlin-Staaken airfield, which was under Soviet fire, and finally allowed a tank crew to drive him to Berlin-Spandau.

Ernst Voigt then took off his uniform and waited for the Second World War to end.

German service organization

After the Second World War, Voigt initially took over the drugstore of his father, who died in 1945, in Alt-Pichelsdorf , which he gave up again in September 1951 due to the effects of the currency reform .

On December 17, 1951, he joined the German Service Organization Berlin (Watchmen's Service) of the British Armed Forces in West Berlin .

The German service organization, which had existed for a year, had its on-site barracks, the Smuts Barracks, in Berlin-Wilhelmstadt and was primarily entrusted with security tasks. After his basic military training, Voigt took on the position of “Rifle Man” in the new unit.

Only a few years later he was promoted to group leader under the command of Johannes Gohl . In 1968 the unit was renamed the German Service Unit (Berlin) and at the same time converted into a security guard . In the meantime, Voigt assumed the position of head of the watch as a sergeant .

At the end of May 1974, Voigt finally retired .

Voigt was a member of the traditional Alte Adler community and, since October 1952, has also been a member of the German Association of Professional Pilots . As a pensioner, he devoted himself to aviation again. He was also friends with the later bodyguard and entrepreneur Horst Pomplun , whom he met during his service with the British armed forces. Through Voigt, Pomplun also developed his passion for aviation.

Private

Ernst Voigt came from a family influenced by Prussia. His father was already a soldier and served in the Hussar Regiment "von Zieten" (Brandenburgisches) No. 3 during the First World War .

Voigt was related to the poet Theodor Körner through his father's mother , and he also had a brother who, however, died in Soviet captivity . He joined the NSDAP as a soldier , but was not considered a staunch supporter, which ultimately prevented him from pursuing a career as an officer in the Air Force.

Voigt was married to his wife Gerda from 1938 until her death in October 1999. The son Wolf-Dieter (* 1940) emerged from the marriage. He remained a passionate aviator until the last years of his life.

Ernst Voigt died on April 11, 2000 at the age of 88 and rests in the In den Kisseln cemetery in Berlin-Spandau.

Awards

• War Merit Cross, Class II (1940)
• War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords (1942)
• Meritorious Service Certificate Award (1965)

literature

• Helmut Bukowski, Christel Trilus: Schönwalde Air Base / Berlin . Podzun-Pallas, 1999, ISBN 978-3-7909-0675-2 .
• Carsten Schanz: The desire for freedom . In: GUARD REPORT . Issue 71, Volume 7, August 2017, p. 1-8 .

Web links

• Website of the Kameradschaft 248 German Security Unit e. V.
• Website of the traditional association Alte Adler e. V.