During the Spanish Civil War, Pingel volunteered for service with the Condor Legion, a unit composed of volunteers from the Luftwaffe and from the Army which served with the Nationalists. There, he was assigned to 2. "Staffel" (2nd squadron) of "Jagdgruppe" 88 (J/88—88th Fighter Group) under the command of "Oberleutnant" Günther Lützow. 2. "Staffel" was the first squadron to be fully equipped wih the then new Messerschmitt Bf 109. On 8 July, during the Battle of Brunete, Pingel led a flight three aircraft () from 2. "Staffel" on a fighter escort mission for bombers from "Kampfgruppe" 88 and reconnaissance aircraft from "Aufklärungsgruppe" 88. Near Aranjuez, the flight encountered five bombers heading for Ávila. In this encounter, Pingel was credited with the destruction of a Tupolev SB-2 bomber. Four days later, he was credited with the destruction of another SB-2 bomber and an escorting Polikarpov I-16 fighter. On 16 July near Fuenlabrada, Pingel shot down another I-16 fighter. Pingel was credited with his sixth and last aerial victory in Spain on 22 August during the Battle of Santander, claiming yet another I-16. He was later awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords () on 14 April 1939 for his service in the Spanish Civil War.