Baur, Hans (1897-1993)

Baur, Hans

PILOT (GERMANY)

BORN 19 Jun 1897, Ampfing, Bayern - DIED 17 Feb 1993, Herrsching am Ammersee, Bayern
BIRTH NAME Bauer, Johann Peter
GRAVE LOCATION München, Bayern: Westfriedhof, Baldurstrasse 28 (114-A-29)

Hans Baur was educated in Munich. He saw service during the First World War after he joined the airforce he soon shot down nine planes of the enemy and received a Bavarian decoration. After the war he flew for several companies until he became one of the first six pilots of the Lufthansa in 1926. During the same year he joined the NSDAP. In 1933 Adolf Hitler hired him as his personal pilot. He had married Elfriede bauer and their daughter Ingebord was born in 1934. Elfriede died of cancer 1935. In that year he married his second wife Maria with Hitler as his best man. With Maria he had two daughters, Frieda (1901-1935) and Maria (1907-1953). Hitler liked him and even gave him a Mercedes Benz to replace his Ford.

After Hitler's suicide he tried to escape from Berlin in 1945, he was shot in both legs and wounded so severely that his right lower leg was amputated in Posen on 10 June 1945. He was taken prisoner by the Russians who initially believed that he had flown Hitler away before they conquered Berlin. He was eventually released in 1955 to the French who imprisoned him again for a while. In 1956 he married his third wife Cresentia (1907-2007) and they remained married until his death. In 1957 he published an autobiography, "Ich flog mit den Mächtigen der Erde" ("I flew with the Mighty People of the Earth").

Images

Hans Baur's grave at the Westfriedhof, Munich.
Picture by Androom (20 Mar 2002)