Erich Hartmann - Early Life

Early Life

Erich Hartmann was born on 19 April 1922 in Weissach, Württemberg, to Doctor Alfred Erich Hartmann and his wife, Elisabeth Wilhelmine Machtholf. The economic depression that followed World War I in Germany prompted Doctor Hartmann to find work in Changsha, China, and Erich spent his early childhood there. The family was forced to return to Germany in 1928, when the Chinese Civil War broke out. During World War II, Hartmann's younger brother, Alfred, also joined the Luftwaffe, serving as a gunner on a Ju 87 in North Africa. He was captured by the British and spent four years as a prisoner of war.

Hartmann was educated at the Volksschule in Weil im Schönbuch (April 1928–April 1932), the Gymnasium in Böblingen (April 1932–April 1936), the National Political Institutes of Education in Rottweil (April 1936–April 1937), and the Gymnasium in Korntal (April 1937–April 1940), from which he received his Abitur. It was at Korntal that he met his wife-to-be, Ursula "Usch" Paetsch.

Hartmann's flying career began when he joined the glider training program of the fledgling Luftwaffe and was taught to fly by his mother, one of the first female glider pilots in Germany. The Hartmanns also owned a light aircraft but were forced to sell it in 1932 as the German economy collapsed. The rise to power of the Nazi party in 1933 resulted in government support for gliding, and, in 1936, Elisabeth Hartmann helped set up a flying school at Weil im Schönbuch, where 14-year-old Hartmann became an instructor. In 1939, he gained his pilot's license, allowing him to fly powered aircraft.