Dr. Ernst Heinkel was a German aircraft designer, manufacturer, Wehrwirtschaftsfhrer in the Third Reich, and member of the Nazi party. His company Heinkel Flugzeugwerke produced the Heinkel He 178, the worlds first turbojet aircraft and jet plane, and the Heinkel He 176, the first rocket aircraft. He was awarded the German National Prize for Art and Science in 1938.
He was born in Grunbach, today a part of Remshalden. As a young man he became an apprentice machinist at a foundry. Heinkel studied at the Technical Academy of Stuttgart, where he initially became interested in aviation through a fascination with Zeppelins, and in 1909 attended an international airshow in Frankfurt am Main. He determined flight was the future of transportation, and the following year, he built his first aircraft, working from a set of plans by Henri Farman. Heinkel crashed the plane in 1911 and suffered severe injuries.
Source: Wikipedia