Hugo von Abercron

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Baron Hugo Wilhelm von Abercron (24 October 1869 – 16 April 1945) was a German army officer, major general, balloonist and non-fiction author. He was a leading German balloonist in the inter-war years. He was born in Bosatz, Silesia, near Ratibor (now Racibórz, Poland), the son of the Prussian officer Christian Abercron and his wife Maria Theresa Hinsch. After finishing school, he joined the Prussian Army as a lieutenant on 22 March 1888 and was promoted to first lieutenant on 12 September 1895. In 1903 and 1910 he served as a captain and company commander in Düsseldorf. From 1906 to 1927 he chaired the free balloon department of the German Aviation Association (DLV, later Deutsche Luftfahrtverein). He competed in the Gordon Bennett Cup several times, finishing third in St. Louis in 1910. At the start of World War I, Abercron was made commander of the newly formed Reserve Infantry Regiment, leading troops on the Western Front and at Verdun. After the war he helped rebuild German aviation. In 1932 he became manager of URANIA, the Institute for Popular Natural History, in Berlin. He wrote an autobiography titled Hugo von Abercron: An Officer and Air Pioneer.