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Ninth Generation


349. Dipl. Ing. Ernst Ritter VON HORSTIG genannt d'Aubigny von Engelbrunner was born on 22 May 1893 in Malstadt-Burbach, Saarbrücken, DE. He was born on 22 May 1893 in Malstadt-Burbach, Saarbrücken, DE. He died on 7 Jun 1969 in Korbach. He was a General-major of the Artillery. He was also known as Ritter von Horstig gennant d'Aubigny von Engelbrunner.
He graduated with a M.Sc. in Engineering (Diplom Ingenieur) on 19 Oct 1927

Promotions:

Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (13 Aug 1913); Fähnrich (20 Nov 1913); Leutnant (19 Jun 1914); Oberleutnant (16 Sep 1917); Hauptmann (01 May 1925); Charakter als Major (01 Oct 1932); Major (01 Feb 1933); Oberstleutnant (01 Aug 1935); Oberst (01 Feb 1938); Generalmajor (01 Mar 1942)

Career:

Entered Army Service (06 Mar 1913)
Fahnenjunker in the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (06 Mar 1913-02 Aug 1914)
Detached to the War-School Danzig (29 Aug 1913-20 May 1914)
In the Field as Platoon-Leader with the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (02 Aug 1914-28 Mar 1915)
Adjutant & Court-Officer of II. Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (28 Mar 1915-01 Apr 1915)
Platoon-Leader in the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (01 Apr 1915-06 Jun 1915)
Adjutant & Court-Officer of I. Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (06 Jun 1915-23 Dec 1916)
Adjutant & Court-Officer of III. Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (23 Dec 1916-16 May 1917)
Leader of 3rd Battery of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (16 May 1917-09 Sep 1917)
Leader of 9th Battery of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (09 Sep 1917-11 Sep 1918)
At the same time, Leader of III. Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (27 Jul 1918-06 Aug 1918)
Wounded, in Hospital (11 Sep 1918-01 Nov 1918)
Transferred to II. Replacement-Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (01 Nov 1918-19 Nov 1918)
Adjutant of II. Replacement-Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (19 Nov 1918-25 Jan 1919)
Transferred back to the mobile 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (25 Jan 1919-22 Mar 1919)
Transferred to Freikorps Hessen-Nassau (22 Mar 1919-01 May 1919)
Transferred into the 11th Reichswehr-Artillery-Regiment (01 May 1919-01 Oct 1920)
Detached to Course at the Field Artillery Firing School Jüterbog (15 May 1919-15 Aug 1919)
Transferred into the 1st Reichswehr-Artillery-Regiment (01 Oct 1920-01 Jan 1921)
Transferred into the 6th Artillery-Regiment (01 Jan 1921-01 Oct 1921)
Transferred into the 17th Infantry-Regiment & Detached to Weapon Technology Studies at the Technical College Braunschweig (01 Oct 1921-01 Apr 1926)
Detached to the 3rd Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Apr 1926-01 Apr 1927)
Detached to the RWM (01 Apr 1927-01 Oct 1927)
Chief of 8th Battery of the 3rd Artillery-Regiment (01 Oct 1927-01 Jul 1930)
Detached to the RWM/Wa A (01 Jul 1930-01 Nov 1930)
Advisor in the Army Weapons Office, RWM (01 Nov 1930-01 Oct 1932)
Department-Chief in the Army Weapons Office, RWM (01 Oct 1932-21 May 1935)
Department-Chief in the Army Weapons Office, RKM (21 May 1935-01 Jan 1937)
Commander of II. Battalion of the 53rd Artillery-Regiment (01 Jan 1937-10 Nov 1938)
Transferred to the Staff of Field-Equipment-Command X (10 Nov 1938-01 Feb 1929)
Field-Equipment-Commander X (01 Feb 1939-25 Sep 1939)
Commander of the 256th Artillery-Regiment (25 Sep 1939-20 Mar 1940)
Artillery-Commander 102 (20 Mar 1940-20 Sep 1941)
Führer-Reserve OKH (20 Sep 1941-01 Nov 1941)
Director of the Service-Office of German Military-Economics-Officers in Italy & Special-Representative of the Army Weapons Office (OKH) with the Military-Attaché at the Embassy in Rome (01 Nov 1941-01 Mar 1944)
Director of the Service-Office of Army-Weapons-Office X in Italy (01 Mar 1944-02 May 1945)
In Captivity (02 May 1945-1947)
Released (1947)

At the end of 1929 Lieutenant Colonel Dipl.Ing. Karl Emil Becker, an artillerist, head of section 1 ( Abteilung 1) “ Ballistics and Munitions” of the Army Ordnance Testing Division ( Heeres Waffenamt Prüfwesen Wa Prw ) received permission from the Reich Defense Ministry for a small solid-fuel rocket program. Captain Dipl. Ing. Ernst Von Horstig became his second in command on 1 July 1930.
End 1931 Becker and von Horstig became interested in the liquid-fuel rocket car engine of Paul Heylandt. On 1 Oct 1932 von Horstig was made acting Major and acting head of section 1. In November 1932 Section 1 built a liquid-fuel test stand at the Kummersdorf weapons range. In December 1932 the young apolitical engineering student Freiherr (Baron) Wernher von Braun began to work at Kummersdorf with liquid-fuel rocketry as his dissertation topic for his doctoral degree in applied science at the University of Berlin, under Professor Dr. Erich Schumann. Dr. Schumann, a physisist, also directed the small research branch of section 1 ( Zentralstelle für Heeresphysik und Heereschemie Wa Prw 1/Z). Von Braun received from section 1 a stipend of 300 marks.
In early 1933 Becker was promoted to Chief of the Ordnance Testing Division in the rank of Brigadier General. Von Horstig, on 1 Febr promoted to Major, succeeded him as head of Section 1. Von Braun received his doctorate in June 1934 with high honours, joined the section as a civilian scientist and stayed involved in the program.
In December 1934 two A-2 type test rockets, called Max und Moritz, were launched successfully on the island Borkum. In Febr 1935 the Head of the Ballistics and Munitions Section, von Horstig outlined to Testing Division Chief Becker a budget of nearly half a million marks to expand the facilities at Kummersdorf for solid-fuel and liquid-fuel rockets development. The expanded facilities received the reference “Experimental Center West”. On 1 Aug von Horstig was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
Around mid 1935 the Luftwaffe began to take an interest in the rocket as a propulsion system for high-speed aircraft. Out of that interest arose an interservice rocket alliance and a revolutionairy new center in Peenemünde, located at the northern tip of the island of Usedom. The selection of Peenemünde as the new site, was the result of a suggestion of von Braun`s mother, “Why don´t you take a look at Peenemünde, your grandfather used to go duck-hunting up there.” Next to von Horstig the Luftwaffe key figure in forging the interservice rocket alliance was Lieutenant Colonel Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, a fighter-ace, cousin and squadron mate of the famous “Red Baron” von Richthofen in 1917/18. In early 1935 von Richthofen became the enthusiastic head of the Luftwaffe Technical Offices Development Division.
In January 1936 von Horstig and von Richthofen discussed the layout of the new joint center. The unbureaucratic fast-moving character of the new Luftwaffe administration started the ball rolling, with a budget promise of 5 million marks. To von Horstigs astonishment, General Becker, not wanting the “upstart” Luftwaffe as Junior Service to take control said to him: “ I intend to appropriate six million on top of von Richthofen´s five.”
On 1 Jan 1937 von Horstig was returned to the Artillery and became Commander of the II Battalion of the 53 Artillery Regiment.
For details on Ernst`s assignment to the Army Weapons Office see Michael Neufeld`s “The Rocket and the Reich, Peenemünde and the coming of the Ballistic Missile Era”, The Free Press, New York, 1995 (Copyright by the Smithsonian Institution).

Generalmajor Dipl.Ing. Ernst Ritter von Horstig genannt d'Aubigny von Engelbrunner

Diploma in Engineering: 19 Oct 1927

Promotions:

Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (13 Aug 1913); Fähnrich (20 Nov 1913); Leutnant (19 Jun 1914); Oberleutnant (16 Sep 1917); Hauptmann (01 May 1925); Charakter als Major (01 Oct 1932); Major (01 Feb 1933); Oberstleutnant (01 Aug 1935); Oberst (01 Feb 1938); Generalmajor (01 Mar 1942)

Career:

Entered Army Service (06 Mar 1913)
Fahnenjunker in the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (06 Mar 1913-02 Aug 1914)
Detached to the War-School Danzig (29 Aug 1913-20 May 1914)
In the Field as Platoon-Leader with the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (02 Aug 1914-28 Mar 1915)
Adjutant & Court-Officer of II. Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (28 Mar 1915-01 Apr 1915)
Platoon-Leader in the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (01 Apr 1915-06 Jun 1915)
Adjutant & Court-Officer of I. Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (06 Jun 1915-23 Dec 1916)
Adjutant & Court-Officer of III. Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (23 Dec 1916-16 May 1917)
Leader of 3rd Battery of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (16 May 1917-09 Sep 1917)
Leader of 9th Battery of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (09 Sep 1917-11 Sep 1918)
At the same time, Leader of III. Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (27 Jul 1918-06 Aug 1918)
Wounded, in Hospital (11 Sep 1918-01 Nov 1918)
Transferred to II. Replacement-Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (01 Nov 1918-19 Nov 1918)
Adjutant of II. Replacement-Battalion of the 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (19 Nov 1918-25 Jan 1919)
Transferred back to the mobile 27th Field-Artillery-Regiment (25 Jan 1919-22 Mar 1919)
Transferred to Freikorps Hessen-Nassau (22 Mar 1919-01 May 1919)
Transferred into the 11th Reichswehr-Artillery-Regiment (01 May 1919-01 Oct 1920)
Detached to Course at the Field Artillery Firing School Jüterbog (15 May 1919-15 Aug 1919)
Transferred into the 1st Reichswehr-Artillery-Regiment (01 Oct 1920-01 Jan 1921)
Transferred into the 6th Artillery-Regiment (01 Jan 1921-01 Oct 1921)
Transferred into the 17th Infantry-Regiment & Detached to Weapon Technology Studies at the Technical College Braunschweig (01 Oct 1921-01 Apr 1926)
Detached to the 3rd Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Apr 1926-01 Apr 1927)
Detached to the RWM (01 Apr 1927-01 Oct 1927)
Chief of 8th Battery of the 3rd Artillery-Regiment (01 Oct 1927-01 Jul 1930)
Detached to the RWM/Wa A (01 Jul 1930-01 Nov 1930)
Advisor in the Army Weapons Office, RWM (01 Nov 1930-01 Oct 1932)
Department-Chief in the Army Weapons Office, RWM (01 Oct 1932-21 May 1935)
Department-Chief in the Army Weapons Office, RKM (21 May 1935-01 Jan 1937)
Commander of II. Battalion of the 53rd Artillery-Regiment (01 Jan 1937-10 Nov 1938)
Transferred to the Staff of Field-Equipment-Command X (10 Nov 1938-01 Feb 1929)
Field-Equipment-Commander X (01 Feb 1939-25 Sep 1939)
Commander of the 256th Artillery-Regiment (25 Sep 1939-20 Mar 1940)
Artillery-Commander 102 (20 Mar 1940-20 Sep 1941)
Führer-Reserve OKH (20 Sep 1941-01 Nov 1941)
Director of the Service-Office of German Military-Economics-Officers in Italy & Special-Representative of the Army Weapons Office (OKH) with the Military-Attaché at the Embassy in Rome (01 Nov 1941-01 Mar 1944)
Director of the Service-Office of Army-Weapons-Office X in Italy (01 Mar 1944-02 May 1945)
In Captivity (02 May 1945-1947)
Released (1947)


At the end of 1929 Lieutenant Colonel Dipl.Ing. Karl Emil Becker, an artillerist, head of section 1 ( Abteilung 1) “ Ballistics and Munitions” of the Army Ordnance Testing Division ( Heeres Waffenamt Prüfwesen Wa Prw ) received permission from the Reich Defense Ministry for a small solid-fuel rocket program. Captain Dipl. Ing. Ernst Von Horstig became his second in command on 1 July 1930.
End 1931 Becker and von Horstig became interested in the liquid-fuel rocket car engine of Paul Heylandt. On 1 Oct 1932 von Horstig was made acting Major and acting head of section 1. In November 1932 Section 1 built a liquid-fuel test stand at the Kummersdorf weapons range. In December 1932 the young apolitical engineering student Freiherr (Baron) Wernher von Braun began to work at Kummersdorf with liquid-fuel rocketry as his dissertation topic for his doctoral degree in applied science at the University of Berlin, under Professor Dr. Erich Schumann. Dr. Schumann, a physisist, also directed the small research branch of section 1 ( Zentralstelle für Heeresphysik und Heereschemie Wa Prw 1/Z). Von Braun received from section 1 a stipend of 300 marks.
In early 1933 Becker was promoted to Chief of the Ordnance Testing Division in the rank of Brigadier General. Von Horstig, on 1 Febr promoted to Major, succeeded him as head of Section 1. Von Braun received his doctorate in June 1934 with high honours, joined the section as a civilian scientist and stayed involved in the program.
In December 1934 two A-2 type test rockets, called Max und Moritz, were launched successfully on the island Borkum. In Febr 1935 the Head of the Ballistics and Munitions Section, von Horstig outlined to Testing Division Chief Becker a budget of nearly half a million marks to expand the facilities at Kummersdorf for solid-fuel and liquid-fuel rockets development. The expanded facilities received the reference “Experimental Center West”. On 1 Aug von Horstig was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
Around mid 1935 the Luftwaffe began to take an interest in the rocket as a propulsion system for high-speed aircraft. Out of that interest arose an interservice rocket alliance and a revolutionairy new center in Peenemünde, located at the northern tip of the island of Usedom. The selection of Peenemünde as the new site, was the result of a suggestion of von Braun`s mother, “Why don´t you take a look at Peenemünde, your grandfather used to go duck-hunting up there.” Next to von Horstig the Luftwaffe key figure in forging the interservice rocket alliance was Lieutenant Colonel Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, a fighter-ace, cousin and squadron mate of the famous “Red Baron” von Richthofen in 1917/18. In early 1935 von Richthofen became the enthusiastic head of the Luftwaffe Technical Offices Development Division.
In January 1936 von Horstig and von Richthofen discussed the layout of the new joint center. The unbureaucratic fast-moving character of the new Luftwaffe administration started the ball rolling, with a budget promise of 5 million marks. To von Horstigs astonishment, General Becker, not wanting the “upstart” Luftwaffe as Junior Service to take control said to him: “ I intend to appropriate six million on top of von Richthofen´s five.”
On 1 Jan 1937 von Horstig was returned to the Artillery and became Commander of the II Battalion of the 53 Artillery Regiment.
For details on Ernst`s assignment to the Army Weapons Office see Michael Neufeld`s “The Rocket and the Reich, Peenemünde and the coming of the Ballistic Missile Era”, The Free Press, New York, 1995 (Copyright by the Smithsonian Institution).

Dipl. Ing. Ernst Ritter VON HORSTIG genannt d'Aubigny von Engelbrunner and Irmgard Carola Ellen ROEBEL were married on 15 Sep 1919 in Wiesbaden, DE. Irmgard Carola Ellen ROEBEL was born on 31 Dec 1899 in Wiesbaden, DE. She died on 20 Dec 1988 in Neu Isenburg, DE. Dipl. Ing. Ernst Ritter VON HORSTIG genannt d'Aubigny von Engelbrunner and Irmgard Carola Ellen ROEBEL had the following children:

+406

i.

Horst-Eberhardt VON HORSTIG.

+407

ii.

Dieter Oskar Georg Ritter VON HORSTIG genannt d'Aubigny von Engelbrunner.