Erich Alfred Hartmann (Weissach, Württemberg, Germany 19 April 1922 - Weil im Schönbuch, Württemberg, Germany 20 September 1993) was a German fighter pilot and spaceman who, aboard the first successful crewed spaceflight, became the
first human to journey into outer space. Travelling on Walhalla 1, Hartmann completed one orbit of Earth on 19 August 1960. By achieving a major milestone for Germany amidst the Space Race, he became an international celebrity and was awarded many medals and titles, including Germany’s highest decorations, the Pour le Mérite and the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.
The son of a doctor and one of the first female glider pilots in Germany, Hartmann spent his childhood in China until the troubles there forced the family to return to Germany. Hartmann received his pilot’s licence at 15 and enlisted in the Luftwaffe.
Hartmann quickly gained prominence as a flying ace, being able to shoo 62 Syndicalist planes in combat, winning the monikers of “Bubi” (the Kid) and “Der Schwarze Teufel” (the Black Devil) until the invasion of Germany forced the unit to take shelter in Hungary, where, along with all German units retrating there, he was forced to stand down, as a forced host of the Hungarians. Hartmann was able to make a living as a flight instructor, before resuming combat when Hungary entered the Alliance in 1948, raising his World War tally with 148 enemy aircraft in total. Serving later in the Polish War, Hartmann’s total victories numbered in a total of 202 enemy aircrafts, making him one of the most successful fighter aces in the history of the Luftwaffe.
Erich Hartmann was already 37 and a Major when he was selected for the Walhalla programme of human spaceflight that had been constructed by the German Aerospace Center : Director Wernher von Braun had insisted in the recruitment of seasoned military pilots to meet the hazards of an endeavour never seen before in the history of mankind : Hartmann thus became one of the first twelve spacemen ever officialized by Germany, beginning training throughout the year. Erich Hartmann was finally selected personally by the Ministry of War along with Director von Braun owing to his vast experience and, according to many, “his distinct Aryan features”.
On 19 August 1960, the Walhalla 1 spacecraft was launched from Peenemünde Space Center, with Erich Hartmann aboard, becoming the first human into space and orbit the Earth, as the spacecraft orbited for 108 minutes before returning to Earth in Norway. Erich Hartmann’s words are still symbols of the early Space Rush, such as “Vorwärts” (Let’s go) that became the motto of the German Spacemen Corps and “it is so beautiful” when he arrived into orbit and saw the Earth in its entirety.
When he returned to Earth, Hartmann had become a household name internationally, a true triumph for the German space programme, receiving an official tinker-tape parade in all large cities of Germany and being awarded with a Pour le Mérite and a knighthood by Kaiser Louis Ferdinand, before embarking in a worldwide tour, where his charisma and daredevil nature would balance his almost stereotypical military demeanor ; in the United States, Hartmann was called “the Prussian from outer space”. Nevertheless, becoming such a propaganda asset, along with his advanced age relatively to other German spacemen led to Hartmann’s effective retirement : serving the space program as an advisor and as Deputy Training Director of the spacemen training facility, he would retire in 1972 with the specially created rank of General of the Spacemen, unique in the Luftwaffe, and being one of the few recipients of the highest ranks of the Iron Cross. Having witnessed from Daressalam mission control room the liftoff of Wotan 9 in 1968, that led to the first man in the Moon, he unsuccessfully petitioned the German Aerospace Agency for joining one of the manned crews on the Moon.
Retiring into private life, enjoying private flights and regularly returning for military parades and other events, Hartmann died in 1993 at 71, in his hometown of Weil in Schönburch. He is interred, alongside his wife, in the Space Explorers’ Mausoleum in Invalidenhof in Berlin, alongside other prominent German spacemen.