Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen
(10.03.1867 - 05.08.1942)
place of birth:  Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein
Königreich Preußen:  Kogenluft-Stabschef,  Oberst


Imperial German officer and aviation pioneer Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen is considered to be the co-founder of Germany's air forces. Thomsen served during the Great War as Chief of Staff to the Commanding General of the German Air Force, Kogen-Luft General von Hoeppner.

He began his military career in 1887 as an officer in the Pionier (combat engineers) service arm. He then spent the majority of his pre-War service
duty either on staff at fortresses in Alsace-Lorraine, or serving on the Great General Staff in Berlin.

After the Great War, Thomsen retired but remained secretly active during the 1920s at the German Military Mission in the Soviet Union as Germany sought to re-establish its air power. Even though he had meanwhile become legally blind, von der Lieth-Thomsen was reactivated in 1935 with the rank of Generalmajor and served as nominal chief of the German Air Force's Military Science Department until his death in August 1942 on Sylt Island. Air Force General von der Lieth-Thomsen was interred at the Invaliden-Friedhof in Berlin-Zehlendorf. 

	Oberst	18.08.1918
	Pour le Mérite	08.04.1917