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Lightning visit to Schweidnitz

Event ID: 316

Categories: 

Die Erinnerungen der Mutter des roten Kampffliegers Kunigunde Freifrau von Richthofen. Im Verlag Ullstein - Berlin, 1937.

02 February 1916

50.84890767354939, 16.476310886960174
Władysława Sikorskiego 19, 58-105 Świdnica, Polen
Swidnica
Schweidnitz

Source ID: 10

Die Erinnerungen der Mutter des roten Kampffliegers Kunigunde Freifrau von Richthofen. Im Verlag Ullstein - Berlin, 1937. p.  71 

“The Christmas days lingered in me for a long time, and no sooner had I savoured them than a new joy came over us. It came from the air. On 1 February I had a call from Manfred that he was flying to Sweidnitz with Lothar the next day and would land on the small parade ground opposite our house. I quickly passed on the good news to Albrecht in Gnadenfrei; by eight o’clock the next morning my husband was already there. There was great excitement in the house, which reached its climax when Manfred phoned again to say that he would be landing at our house in an hour. We hurried to the small parade ground, which had already been cordoned off for military purposes; numerous acquaintances had gathered. Albrecht could hardly be stopped, he was determined to insist that a sheet be put up as a landing sign; it was only with difficulty that I was able to talk him out of it. This hour on the small parade ground had something special for me, as both brothers, who were so much one heart and one soul, were now to arrive in an aeroplane. We stared at the sky; we felt a slight headache and lost our sense of our surroundings. Then, at half past ten, Ilse called out – she has the same marvellous eyes as Manfred: ‘They’re coming…!’ – ‘Where?’ I saw nothing, the others saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. Finally, we spotted a tiny shimmering dot at an immense height. Joyful excitement seized the spectators, very soon the outline of the aeroplane emerged clearly, it grew visibly. The roar of the engine, which had initially been a faint hum, became a roar. Manfred landed with great safety and elegance. The aeroplane taxied out and came to a halt, everyone surrounded the biplane. Everyone wanted to talk to them, they were photographed and couldn’t resist the countless questions in which we mingled ours. It had taken them less than a quarter of an hour to get from Wroclaw. The few minutes between landings dwindled into just as many seconds, then the biplane taxied against the wind in short, hopping jumps, lifted off the ground and soon disappeared from our sight, just as it had arrived. What remained was a shimmering dot in the sky, nothing more than a spark sucked out by the winter sun. The rest of us went home in great and joyful excitement.”

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