moritz, manfred von richthofen, and erich lowenhardt (world war 1 and 3 more) drawn by n.v._koninklijke_nederlandse_vliegtuigenfabriek_fokker and richard_wenzl

Artist's commentary

Original

One of two purported final photographs of Manfred Von Richthofen, aka 'The Red Baron', April 21, 1918.

Behind him a Fokker Dr.I Triplane, he holds his Great Dane, Moritz, to his right, Erich Löwenhardt.

"Just before takeoff, as he was still climbing into the cockpit, von Richthofen was asked for his autograph, but he declined, replying, “What’s the hurry? Are you afraid I won’t come back?” These were his last-known words before his final flight into history." - https://sofrep.com/news/who-killed-the-red-baron/

https://theaerodrome.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-14074.html

Immo_Frese
30 January 2004, 03:34 AM
The photo with Löwenhardt and his dog Moritz was taken by Richard Wenzl and was first published in his book "Richthofen-Flieger" in the early 30'ies. I really think that the argument, that this photo was taken in March at Lechelle aerodrome is too much focused on the Iron Cross - Balkencross transition and completely blends out the story told by Wenzl.

Wenzl in his book longly tells the story of what happened on the morning of 21 Apr 1918. Of special interest is the joke MvR's comrades done with his dog Moritz. A wooden block was tied to Moritz' tail. The line and the block can clearly be seen in the photo.

IMO there is no doubt that this photo was taken indeed on the morning MvR was KIA.

Immo