Willy Rosenstein
Willy Rosenstein (born January 28, 1892 in Wiesbaden ; † May 1949 in Rustenburg , South Africa ) was a German pilot , fighter pilot and automobile racing driver .
Career as a pilot and car racing driver
Rosenstein grew up in Stuttgart as the son of a wealthy family. In 1912 he acquired the German license number 170 at the flight school in Berlin-Johannisthal and became a flight instructor for Rumpler Flugzeugwerke GmbH . In 1913 he moved to the Gothaer Waggonfabrik and worked as a developer and test pilot. On January 28, 1914, he completed his 3000th flight on a Gotha pigeon ; the year before he had won the "Mecklenburg Tour".
In 1915 Rosenstein volunteered as a soldier and took part in World War I as a reconnaissance officer. In April 1916 he was seriously injured by being shot down near Verdun , but was able to recover and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class. He then resumed his service in Fluggeschwader 27, which was later commanded by Hermann Göring . When Goering made an anti-Semitic statement in his presence , Rosenstein, who was Jewish , demanded an apology. When Goering refused, Rosenstein had himself transferred to another squadron ; He ended the war decorated with the Order of the Zähringer Lion and the Silver Württemberg Military Merit Medal .
After the end of the war, Rosenstein founded a company for the manufacture of compressors in Stuttgart . a. for Daimler-Benz . In the 1920s, he began to drive a Mercedes SSK as a private driver to compete in car races with his wife Paula as a passenger. In 1929 he was sixth in the German Grand Prix with Adolf Rosenberger at the Nürburgring . Willy Rosenstein drove his most successful race at the Nürburgring on July 14, 1929 at the “Grand Prix of Nations” when he came second. In the wake of the global economic crisis , however, he had to give up car racing for financial reasons.
Emigration and death
After the seizure of power , the Jewish Rosenstein was barred from flying any further. With the help of Göring, he emigrated to South Africa in 1936, with his wife and two sons. His fellow aviator Carl Degelow is said to have intervened for him with Göring, so that he was allowed to take three aircraft and spare parts with him. With these aircraft, he and Kurt Katzenstein opened the "Union Aviation" flight school in South Africa , which also sold aircraft from the Bücker aircraft factory in Africa. During the Second World War he was interned as an "enemy alien" .
Rosenstein died in 1949 when his plane collided with that of a student pilot.
family
In 1921 Willy Rosenstein married his first wife Hedwig Rothstein, who came from the “ Salamander dynasty ” and died at the age of 33. From this marriage comes the son Ernst , who fought as a pilot in the Royal Air Force in World War II and was shot down over the Mediterranean in 1945 . After his second wife Paula left him, Rosenstein married a third time.
Fonts
- The flying school. A textbook for the student pilot. with Albert Rupp . Volckmann. Berlin 1913.
literature
- Willi Hackenberger : The old eagles. Pioneers in German aviation. Munich 1960.
- Peter Supf : The book of German flight history. Volume II. Berlin 1935.
Web links
References and comments
- ↑ Aviation , February 4, 1914
- ↑ feldbergrennen.de
- ↑ media.daimler.com
- ↑ Willy Rosenstein's Mercedes is now owned by a German classic car collector. s. “Full throttle through the 'Green Hell'” on lampertheimer-zeitung.de
- ↑ He flew under the Fulda Bridge. in: Hessian General Kassel City Edition , February 27, 1960, No. 49
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rosenstein, Willy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German pilot and fighter pilot |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 28, 1892 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wiesbaden |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 1949 |
| Place of death | Rustenburg |