Childhood

Manfred von Richthofen was born on May 2, 1892 in Breslau in Northern Germany to Baroness and Rittmeister Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen. Manfred was the eldest of three boys, next came Lother, born in 1894 and the youngest was Karl Bolko, born in 1903. He had a sister Ilse.

The Richthofens were wealthy farmers and landowners, but his father was a soldier. His father's career was cut short when he dove into a cold river to try to save two of his friends. He became ill and lost his hearing. He wanted his sons to follow in his footsteps.

They lived at a family estate at Schwidnitz. At age nine he was very daring because he liked excitement. He enjoyed hunting. He began his military career at age eleven. He attended the Military School of Wahlstatt. The school was very harsh; he hated it. He climbed up a church steeple and tied his handkerchief to prove he had done it. He studied as little as possible. He was very athletic and loved sports. He stayed at this school to please his father.

At age seventeen he went to the Royal Military Academy at Lichterfelde. He loved it, because it was not so hard. One of his friends was Prince Friedrich Karl the son of Kaiser Wilhelm II. He left in 1910 to attend the Berlin War Academy for one year. In 1911 he was in the first regiment of Uhlans.