egbert Posted 4 August , 2012 Share Posted 4 August , 2012 Today I visited a cemetery in the Harz mountains in Wernigerode. I stumbled across this beautiful gravestone and ask if the broken propeller blades hint to a killed aviator? Anybody with ancestry information maybe? Detail photo of gravestone. There may be the sign of AOK 4 on top of prop Gravesite total view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 15 March , 2014 Share Posted 15 March , 2014 I am not sure how I missed this post the first time around, but that is an impressive stone. I suspect you are onto something re: his being an aviator. -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 15 March , 2014 Share Posted 15 March , 2014 That broken prop is certainly evocative.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 15 March , 2014 Author Share Posted 15 March , 2014 I am not sure how I missed this post the first time around, but that is an impressive stone. I suspect you are onto something re: his being an aviator. -Daniel RE: this grave lies next to the disbanded grave of my grandparents -maternal line, which I found after extensive research....(the ones where your relatives Löwenstein from same town maybe went to visit their dentist office) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 15 March , 2014 Share Posted 15 March , 2014 He's on Gräbersuche No details about his unit - and note the last line! Nachname: Hofmann Vorname: Helmuth Geburtsdatum: 22.12.1892 Todes-/Vermisstendatum:11.12.1917 Todes-/Vermisstenort: nicht verzeichnet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 15 March , 2014 Share Posted 15 March , 2014 More evidence of his probably being a flyer lies in the crowned wreath at the top, which mimics the German flyer badge (albeit with a square replacing the plane): http://www.trocadero.com/anjin/items/1046684/catphoto.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 15 March , 2014 Share Posted 15 March , 2014 I thought it might be a badge of some kind, so thanks for confirming that! Which made me look a little closer and then I noticed that there are different leaves on the wreath - oak one side and I would guess laurel(?) the other, as that is usual in victory wreaths! Symbolism anyone? Trajan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarsA Posted 15 March , 2014 Share Posted 15 March , 2014 Here he is mentioned with his unit, Feldfliegerabteilung 29. He was an observer. http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/83203-post10.html Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 15 March , 2014 Author Share Posted 15 March , 2014 Great find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 16 March , 2014 Share Posted 16 March , 2014 Egbert, would you be able to correct the Grabersuche entry - "Todes-/Vermisstenort: nicht verzeichnet"? I don't trust my German enough to write to them about that but much more to the point, you found the grave and can give better details! Tschuss! Trajan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 16 March , 2014 Author Share Posted 16 March , 2014 Egbert, would you be able to correct the Grabersuche entry - "Todes-/Vermisstenort: nicht verzeichnet"? I don't trust my German enough to write to them about that but much more to the point, you found the grave and can give better details! Tschuss! Trajan Done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 16 March , 2014 Share Posted 16 March , 2014 Done! Vielen Danke! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 16 March , 2014 Share Posted 16 March , 2014 Well, what a mitzvah...well done, Egbert!!! -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchener's Bugle Posted 16 March , 2014 Share Posted 16 March , 2014 Thanks for posting, tremedous Headstone, KB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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