Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 17 was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the Luftstreitkräfte, the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I.
As one of the original German fighter squadrons, the unit would score 101 aerial victories[1] (including fourteen wins over enemy observation balloons) during the war, with another 22 of the squadron's claims going unconfirmed.
He entered the unit as an enlisted man,[1] scored its first victory on 17 December 1916,[2] won the Military Merit Cross, rose through the ranks to be commissioned an officer,[1]and became not only its leading ace[2][1] but one of the leading German aces over all.
The squadron's other aces were Georg Strasser, Karl Bohny, Alfred Fleischer, Otto Fitzner, and Günther Schuster[2] The new Jasta was equipped with at least one Halberstadt D.II, several Albatros D.II and Albatros D.IIIs at inception.
[1] Fictional War comic character Enemy Ace aka Baron Hans Von Hammer aka "The Hammer of hell" commands Jasta 17 in World War I.