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Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, known to the civilized world as The Red Baron, was killed in action on April 21, 1918, when his Fokker triplane was shot down over France. As his plane had too many wings, and was painted bright red, it was only a matter of time. After 80 kills, it was his turn. By all accounts, he took it in good humor.
He had no time to marry, but he left behind an autobiography that was quite the beach read at the time. Kaiser Wilhelm II auctioned off several of his surplus names, embezzling proceeds to fund his baking hobby, which led to the development of the “Kaiser Roll.” His job as commander of Fighter Wing 1 was taken by none other than notorious rotund demon, dope fiend and crossdresser, Hermann Göring. But perhaps his greatest legacy is the frozen pizza company which bears his name and carries on his tradition of attacking Western targets.
To this day, it hasn’t been confirmed who actually killed the man with too many names. A couple of Canadian aces of the time have been given credit, and there is also evidence that anti-aircraft fire was able to fix on the glaringly conspicuous big red plane in the sky, and kill The Red Baron. We may never know. I will stick with the theory I first learned as a young one with a thirst for history:
He would be so proud:
Discussion (52)
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I don't understand this. He only had three names:
I have that many names. That's nothing. Sure, his last name is longer with the nobiliary particle, and he beats me by two letters, but that's not long. You want a guy with names, try Charles IV of Spain:
The Kings of Spain became so known for it that they started taking a shortcut. Here is Phil the Sixth's names:
See that number five? That's the shortcut. "All the saints." In other words, "We got tired of adding names. Give him four and throw in the kitchen sink."
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Maybe you are seeing Freiherr (free lord) as a name, but that was his title. It's the Kraut version of "baron." In German, they come between given names and family names. As for "von," that's a nobiliary particle. It's not a name by itself. It's an indicator that the person comes from a noble family. In French that would be "de" or "du" and so forth. The Dutch equivalent is "van," but is much less restrictive. So, Ludwig van Beethoven was not noble, merely a pretentious git.
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(Also, the author is making this up. Fun, though.)
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As in Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis Freiherr von Steuben. (I've seen it suggested that von Steuben's father may have purchased the freiherr. Such things were possible then.) Freiherr is approximately the same level as "baron." It differs in that the sons of a freiherr are born with the title, even if Dad is still kicking around. Manfred's younger brother Lothar was also a freiherr.
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Pretty much true of all German titles. Burgraf, graf, margrave, herzog, whatever. The exception was Elector (Churfürst), which was through primogeniture.
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