World War I · Film · 2008
The Red Baron
Young aristocrat Manfred von Richthofen treats air combat as a sport until his fame, his red aircraft and a nurse who has seen the field hospitals force him to face what the war really is.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 3 places.
Stop 1: Skies over Bapaume
Richthofen's squadron clashes with Lanoe Hawker's British fighters, and his victory over the famous ace earns him the Pour le Mérite.
Stop 2: Jasta 11 airfield near Douai
Key location
Given his own squadron, Manfred paints his plane red, is joined by his brother Lothar and turns his pilots into the 'Flying Circus'.
Stop 3: Morlancourt ridge, Vaux-sur-Somme
Refusing a safe staff post, Richthofen flies again during the great German offensive of spring 1918.
What really happened
Manfred von Richthofen became the war's top-scoring ace with 80 confirmed victories. He shot down the British ace Lanoe Hawker near Bapaume on 23 November 1916, took command of Jasta 11 in January 1917, painted his Albatros red and from June 1917 led Jagdgeschwader 1, the 'Flying Circus'. He was badly wounded in the head on 6 July 1917.
He was killed on 21 April 1918 over the Morlancourt ridge near Vaux-sur-Somme. The RAF credited Canadian pilot Roy Brown, but most historians now believe a single bullet fired by Australian ground gunners killed him. The film invents his friendship with Brown, the Jewish pilot Sternberg and much of his romance with nurse Käte Otersdorf, who did treat him after his head wound.
Where to watch
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Full details
- Original title
- The Red Baron
- Directed by
- Nikolai Müllerschön
- Countries
- Germany
- Languages
- English, German, French
- Released
- 2008
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Air war
- Biography
- Romance
