The road beneath my feet was once a German airstrip, used in the final desperate days of World War II when the Soviets were closing in on Berlin. The last flight out of the city took off from this very road, carrying a German aviator named Hanna Reitsch. This is the story of that flight. Hanna was one of Nazi Germany’s most celebrated women, a test pilot for military aircraft who received decorations that were rarely given to women in the Third Reich.
Born on March 29, 1912, she was fascinated with flying from a young age. She was said to have jumped off her balcony at just four years old, driven by a desire to feel the sensation of flight. In her autobiography, she wrote, “The longing grew in me, grew with every bird I saw flying through the azure summer sky, with every cloud that drifted past me on the wind, until it turned into a deep, persistent yearning that followed me everywhere and could never be stilled. ”
Her father wanted her to study medicine, so she agreed, but she also obtained her pilot’s license in 1932.
She saw a compromise in becoming a flying doctor, which would satisfy both herself and her father. To pursue this goal, she enrolled at a flight school for powered aircraft near Berlin. Her determination and talent led her to break several flying records, including a women’s endurance record of 5. 5 hours.
In 1933, Hanna left medical school to become a full-time gliding instructor. She set several unofficial records and conducted thermal research during an expedition in South America, where she became the first woman to receive the Silver C badge, an award given to glider pilots who have gained at least 1,000 meters in altitude, completed a 5-hour flight, and flown a straight-line distance of at least 50 kilometers. Back in Germany, she joined the German Institute for Glider Research and set more records, including being the first woman to fly a glider across the Alps. In 1937, Hanna joined the Luftwaffe as a test pilot for military aircraft.
She only carried out test flights and never participated in combat, but she did have the opportunity to visit France once. In February 1943, after the news of Germany’s defeat at Stalingrad, she received an invitation from Colonel General Robert von Greim to visit the Eastern Front, where she spent three weeks visiting various Luftwaffe units. Hanna also became a prominent figure in Nazi propaganda. Starting in 1937, she embodied the ideal Aryan image promoted by Hitler with her blonde hair, blue eyes, slim figure, and radiant smile, making her a frequent appearance in propaganda material.
She had a similar view of Hitler, always looking for a father figure in her life. She made him her ultimate paternal guide, affectionate and generous to her, kind and ready to promote her dreams. He was everything a girl could want. Not long after receiving the Iron Cross Second Class from Hitler in March 1941 for her courageous efforts in testing Luftwaffe aircraft, disaster struck.
During a test flight, the cockpit of the Messerschmitt 163 rocket plane was found to be poorly suited to someone of Hanna’s size. The aircraft became nearly uncontrollable. She decided to attempt a landing and nearly succeeded, but at the last moment, the aircraft crashed. She survived but suffered serious injuries, including six skull fractures.
After the accident, she was awarded a special version of the Gold Medal for Military Flying, and later the Iron Cross First Class. Despite her injuries, she resumed flying after five months in hospital. Toward the end of the war, plans emerged to convert the V1 flying bomb into a manned weapon. The idea was born during a lunch Hanna had with friends in Berlin.
As the conversation turned to how Germany might be saved from inevitable defeat, the group proposed carrying out air strikes on strategic Allied targets using pilots willing to sacrifice themselves. The concept became known as Operation Self-Sacrifice. In late 1943, Hanna had the opportunity to discuss the operation directly with Hitler during a ceremony where she received the Iron Cross First Class. After some persistence, she received his reluctant approval to continue experimental work, on the condition that he be spared the details.
The project was assigned to General Gunther, but despite around 70 volunteer pilots, the plan was never put into action. A man who became important in Hanna’s life was Robert von Greim, a World War I flying ace who would be appointed commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe by Hitler in April 1945 after Hermann Göring fell out of favor. Born in 1892 in Bavaria, von Greim had started his military career as a junior officer during the early days of World War I. He later joined the German Air Service and got his first combat victory in 1915 by shooting down an enemy plane while working as an artillery observer.
By 1917, he was flying fighter planes and earned the Iron Cross. He eventually became the commander of his fighter unit and became known as a flying ace, with 28 confirmed kills by the end of the war. After the war, von Greim couldn’t find a place in the reduced German army, so he studied law and passed the tough exams. But his real passion was flying.
When he got the chance to help build a Chinese air force, he moved to Canton with his family to teach flying. However, von Greim held racist beliefs and didn’t think highly of his Chinese students, believing they couldn’t fly as well as Europeans. Unhappy, he returned to Germany just as the Nazi movement was gaining popularity. He was drawn to Hitler’s ideas and became a strong supporter, even joining Hitler’s failed attempt to take over the government in Munich in 1923.
Because of his loyalty and experience, Nazi leader Hermann Göring chose von Greim in 1933 to help rebuild the German air force. In 1934, he was put in charge of the first official fighter pilot school. Over the next ten years, he rose through the ranks and became a field marshal. When Hanna met him in 1936, he was still training pilots, neither of them knowing how closely their lives would later be connected.
In April 1945, Hanna visited her hometown of Hirschberg for the last time. Once a celebrated hero, she now found the streets empty and silent, awaiting the Soviet onslaught. She took one final look at her old home, knowing she’d never return. She then went to Zell am See to see her family, spending a day with them despite the looming end of the war.
On April 25, Hanna received a call from General von Greim. Hitler had summoned him to the Führerbunker in Berlin, an extremely dangerous mission. By that time, the Soviets were advancing through the city’s districts, and much of the city was an active battlefield. Von Greim asked Hanna to fly him in, trusting her skills and knowledge of Berlin’s air routes.
Some later claimed Hanna insisted on joining to see Hitler one last time. Together, they flew to Berlin. Since the aircraft Hanna planned to use was destroyed, they squeezed into a cramped fighter plane, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, with Hanna stuffed into the back, barely able to move. The flight was dangerous, dodging Soviet planes and gunfire.
At some point, the pilot dived suddenly to avoid an attack. Hanna, thinking they’d been hit, braced for death, but they landed safely at Gatow. Von Greim then planned to fly closer to the bunker. Their only option was a light plane, the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch.
As they approached Berlin, Soviet fire hit them, and von Greim was wounded in the foot. Hanna took control of the plane and, despite heavy attacks, managed to land near the Brandenburg Gate, where an improvised airstrip was in operation. They were escorted to Hitler’s bunker. Inside the complex, many wondered why the Führer stayed in doomed Berlin.
While it made no military sense, Hitler believed leaving would be cowardly. He had grown paranoid, angry, and obsessed with death. Goebbels encouraged him to remain, to die like a Roman emperor with his people, unlike the Kaiser who had fled in 1918. In the bunker’s final days, Nazi leaders clung to dreams of heroic death and future myths, even as their world collapsed.
Hitler had chosen Colonel General von Greim, a loyal officer, to replace Göring. He had summoned him to Berlin, a dangerous and ultimately pointless journey. Hanna was not prepared for what she found in the bunker. At the entrance, Magda Goebbels broke down crying and hugged her.
Moments later, Hitler appeared frail, twitching, and with lifeless eyes. He greeted them with a flat voice. Von Greim, injured during the flight, gave his report to Hitler. Hitler, trying to remain in control, shouted about Göring’s betrayal and appointed von Greim as field marshal and head of the Luftwaffe on the spot.
He called Hanna brave, grateful that someone still showed loyalty. Hanna had to remain in the bunker. The plane they had arrived in was damaged beyond repair, and there was no fuel. Escaping by car or on foot was nearly impossible with Red Army troops closing in and roads destroyed.
Hanna knew what Soviet capture would mean. At best, she would be imprisoned or sent to a Soviet camp. Given those options, staying with von Greim under SS protection seemed safer. Meanwhile, the Red Army had zeroed in on the Reich Chancellery, and shelling intensified.
Even deep underground, explosions shook the bunker and knocked plaster from the ceilings. Cut off from the world, its residents clung to illusions of rescue. Hitler talked about secret armies preparing to strike and wonder weapons that would turn the tide. Hanna saw through the delusions and later wrote that the level of self-deception in the bunker was incredible.
Rumors flew constantly. People dreamed of rescue, though none would come. The war was nearly over, and for Hanna, the dream of the German Reich was crumbling. She watched, disillusioned, as even Hitler continued to believe in fantasies of victory—fantasies she knew were already lost.
On April 27, a Junkers Ju 52 plane made a dangerous flight into Berlin to collect von Greim, but he refused to leave. The plane returned empty. Hanna was stuck. She couldn’t leave without von Greim’s permission, and he didn’t give it.
In her autobiography, she wrote as if she chose to stay out of loyalty to Hitler, but in truth, she had no real choice. Von Greim was her only way out, and she had to stay with him. When the plane returned, Hanna was called to Hitler’s study. She realized Hitler was worn out and weak, barely holding on to the hope that German forces would save Berlin.
Hitler refused to leave. He believed that his presence in the city would inspire his troops to fight on. Hanna retreated from the gloomy bunker to von Greim’s room. He was in pain from a serious foot injury and needed hospital care, but he had committed to staying with Hitler.
He knew the Soviet forces would soon take the bunker, and he planned to kill himself before that happened. Some have speculated that Hanna and von Greim were lovers, but that seems unlikely. Von Greim was married and deeply honorable. Hanna had very strict views about relations and had turned down a lover in the past because of religious guilt.
People who saw them together said they had a deep friendship. Hanna admired von Greim as a mentor and father figure, someone to protect and support her as Hitler no longer was that figure. Just after midnight on April 29, Hitler came to von Greim’s room. His face was pale and he looked exhausted.
He told them, “Now Himmler has betrayed me,” and ordered them to leave the bunker quickly. There was a small plane waiting for them, and von Greim was supposed to lead an air attack. Hanna didn’t believe Hitler’s plan could work. She had seen the destruction outside, the burned-out roads, the Russian tanks and troops, and how little was left of the German air force.
But she did want to leave. She had hoped to escape on the Ju 52 and didn’t want to die underground in the bunker. Still, she didn’t want to risk her life for a hopeless cause either. Hanna said goodbye to the Goebbels family and left with Hitler’s final words to her: “God protect you.
” Von Greim, in pain, limped out of the bunker with Hanna and a pilot. The three found an armed car and made their way through the ruins, hoping not to run into Soviet troops. They were lucky. When they reached the airfield, they found the same brave pilot who had flown them in earlier.
He flew them out safely, landing at Rechlin around 3:00 a. m. The airfield was mostly empty, but von Greim tried to organize a final desperate air attack, though it was hopeless. Hanna became von Greim’s personal escort, helping him travel to meet top Nazi leaders like Admiral Dönitz and Field Marshal Keitel.
While in Lübeck, they learned that Hitler had killed himself on April 30. Many of his followers soon followed his example. Dönitz had become the new leader of what remained of Germany. Von Greim wanted to get to his command in Bohemia, but his injured foot put him in the hospital for four days.
While there, he heard that Germany would surrender on May 9. On the morning of May 9, Hanna brought von Greim to the hospital in Kitzbühel. The same afternoon, she was arrested by the Americans based on information from a British officer. After two days of interrogation by American military intelligence officers, during which she was questioned about Hitler’s order for her to leave the Führerbunker on April 29, 1945, she stated, “It was the blackest day when we could not die at the sight of our Führer.
” After a prolonged interrogation, Hanna was cleared of any involvement in war crimes, and after 15 months in captivity, she was released. After her release, Hanna settled in Frankfurt. But for a long time, she was not allowed to pursue her passion. In the postwar period, German civilians were prohibited from flying both powered and glider aircraft.
However, within a few years, gliding was once again permitted, and she resumed her activity. She became a gliding instructor and began teaching across Europe. She continued to break records and was even invited in 1961 by US President John F. Kennedy to be a guest at the White House in Washington, DC.
Even after the war, she reportedly continued to wear her decorations with pride and wrote somewhat defensive memoirs. In a 1970s interview, she declared, “I am not ashamed to say that I believed in national socialism. I still wear the Iron Cross with diamonds that Hitler gave me.
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Hanna Reitsch died on August 24, 1979, in Frankfurt.
