Early Years
Johannes Steinhoff was born on 15 September 1913 in Bottendorf, Thuringia, the son of a millworker and a housewife. He had two brothers, Bernd and Wolf.
Before World War II, he studied to become a teacher at the University of Jena but unable to find a job, he enlisted in the Kriegsmarine, where he served for one year as a naval flying cadet. Steinhoff transferred to the Luftwaffe after Hermann Göring became its commander in chief in 1935. After completing his pilot training he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 26.
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