 Nowotny was sent on a propaganda tour in Germany , which included the presentation of the Ritterkreuz des <unk> ( Knight 's Cross of the War Merit Cross ) to the railroad engineer August <unk> on 7 December 1943 – Nowotny 's 23rd birthday . Shortly before Christmas , he visited the Focke @-@ Wulf production site at Bad <unk> , where he was met by Professor Kurt Tank . The mayor of Vienna , <unk> Hanns Blaschke awarded Nowotny the city 's ring of honor on 11 January 1944 , the presentation taking place a week later . It was a token that Nowotny accepted reluctantly , feeling that he did not deserve it . His next official visit was the <unk> ( office machinery factory ) at Zella @-@ <unk> , before he briefly returned to Jagdgeschwader 54 . Nowotny was made Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 101 ( JG 101 ) and commander of the Jagdfliegerschule 1 , a Luftwaffe fighter pilot training school at Pau in southern France , in April 1944 . 
