This list of World War I flying aces from Austria-Hungary contains the names of aviators from the countries ruled by the Habsburg dynasty. Austria-Hungary was a constitutional union of the Austrian Empire (Cisleithania) and the Kingdom of Hungary (Transleithania) which existed from 1867 to 1918, when it collapsed as a result of defeat in World War I. Its territory contained a melange of nationalities. Although the aces of the K.u.k. Luftfahrtruppen owed their military allegiance to the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a whole, they came from various ethnic groups. Despite the Hungarian government's policy of Magyarization, many inhabitants of that kingdom clung to their ethnic identities. The breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire post World War I saw the formation of independent nations from some of these ethnic groups.
Major background information for this list comes from O'Connor, pp. 272 - 332. As O'Connor also states on page 9: "Germanic name forms are used for the sake of uniformity and because German was the official language of the Austro-Hungarian Empire." This supplies the most common names of aces as Germanic, while non-German names are appended as aliases.
Listings are based on best available victory-by-victory listings. Every aircrew member significantly contributing to the defeat of an enemy aircraft could be credited with a full victory. All victories counted equally, whether the aviator scored them as a fighter pilot, a reconnaissance pilot, or an aerial observer/gunner.[1]
For six to eight months in early 1918, the rules were tightened to allow only one verified victory per combat claim. This restriction was later revoked, and the former rule of shared victories reinstated, even retroactively.[2]
Austro-Hungarian authorities did credit enemy aircraft that were forced to land as actual victories. This can be noted throughout the victory records of their aces.[3]
| Name | Victories | Birthplace | Nation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godwin von Brumowski | 35 | Wadowice | Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (now Poland) | Leading Austro-Hungarian ace of the war and leading Austro-Hungarian ace from present-day Poland.[4] |
| Julius Arigi | 32 | Děčín | Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic) | Leading ace from present-day Czech Republic.[5] |
| Benno Fiala von Fernbrugg | 28 | Vienna | Archduchy of Austria below the Enns (now Republic of Austria) | Leading ace from present-day Austria.[6] |
| Frank Linke-Crawford | 27 | Kraków | Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (now Poland)[7] | |
| József Kiss alias József Kiss de Elemér et Ittebe | 19 | Pozsony | Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovak Republic) | Leading ace from present-day Slovakia.[8] |
| Franz Gräser alias Ferenc Gräser | 18 | Nyírmada | Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary) | |
| Eugen Bönsch | 16 | Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic)[9] | ||
| Stefan Fejes alias István Fejes | 16 | Győr | Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary)[10] | |
| Ernst Strohschneider | 15 | Ústí nad Labem | Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic)[11] | |
| Adolf Heyrowsky | 12 | Murau | Duchy of Styria (now Republic of Austria)[12] | |
| Kurt Gruber | 11 | Linz | Archduchy of Austria above the Enns (now Republic of Austria)[13] | |
| Franz Rudorfer | 11 | Vienna | Archduchy of Austria below the Enns (now Republic of Austria)[14] |
||-| Alexander Tahy alias Sándor Tahy| 8| Nyíregyháza| Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary)[22]
|-| Ferdinand Udvardy (with diacritics Ferdinánd Udvardy)| 8[23] | Pozsony (now Bratislava)| Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovak Republic)||-| Josef Friedrich| 7| Cvikov| Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic)[24] ||-| Ludwig Hautzmayer| 7| Fürstenfeld| Duchy of Styria (now Republic of Austria)[25] ||-| Otto Jäger| 7| Asch| Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic)[26] ||-| Josef von Maier alias József von Maier| 7| Pozsony (now Bratislava)| Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovak Republic)[27] ||-| Johann Risztics alias János Risztics| 7| Budapest| Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary)[28] ||-| Andreas Dombrowski| 6| Mährisch-Ostrau| Duchy of Moravia (now Czech Republic)[29] |||-| Johann Frint alias János Frint| 6| Budapest| Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary)[30] ||-| Alexander Kasza alias Sándor Kasza| 6| Bácskosuthfalva| Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary)[31] ||-| Karl Nikitsch| 6| Gross-Czakowitz (now Čakovice district of Prague)| Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic)[32] ||-| Franz Peter| 6| Vienna| Archduchy of Austria below the Enns (now Republic of Austria)[33] ||-| Josef Pürer| 6| Brno[34] or Schönau[35] | Duchy of Moravia (now Czech Republic), ethnic Austrian[35] ||-| Roman Schmidt| 6| Varaždin| Kingdom of Croatia (now Croatia)[36] | Only ace from present-day Croatia|-| Rudolf Weber| 6| Sighișoara| Principality of Transylvania (now Romania)[37] | |-| Julius Busa alias Gyula Busa| 5| Budapest| Kingdom of Hungary (now Hungary)[38] ||-| Friedrich Hefty (alias Hefty Frigyes)[39] | 5| Pozsony (now Bratislava)| Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovak Republic)[34] [40] | |-| Julius Kowalczik| 5| Ostrava| Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia (now Poland)[41] ||-| Franz Lahner| 5| Bad Goisern| Archduchy of Austria above the Enns (now Republic of Austria)[42] |||-| Friedrich Lang| 5|| Austria[43] ||-| Johann Lasi| 5| Katy (now Kać)| Kingdom of Hungary (now Serbia),| Ethnic Croat, only ace of the Luftfahrtruppen born in present-day Serbia.[44] |-| Béla Macourek| 5| Pozsony (now Bratislava)| Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovak Republic)[34] [45] |-| Kurt Nachod| 5| Brno| Duchy of Moravia (now Czech Republic)[46] ||-| Augustin Novák| 5| Botenwald[47] |Duchy of Moravia (now Czech Republic)||-| Karl Patzelt| 5| Craiova, Romania| Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic)[48] ||-| Alois Rodlauer| 5| Urfahr-Umgebung| Archduchy of Austria above the Enns (now Republic of Austria)[49] ||-| Rudolf Szepessy-Sokoll (alias Rudolf Szepessy-Sokol Freiherr von Negyes et Reno)| 5|| Kingdom of Hungary[50] ||-| Karl Teichmann| 5| Hrabišín| Duchy of Moravia (now Czech Republic)[51] ||-| Karl Urban| 5| Graz| Duchy of Styria (now Republic of Austria)[52] ||-| Franz Wognar| 5| Nagyszombat (now Trnava)| Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovak Republic)[53] |||}