Bio of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (1893-1946)

Hermann Wilhelm Göring

Date of Birth: 12.01.1893 - Rosenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Date of Death: 15.10.1946 - Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany

Battles and Operations: Western Front World War I, Polish Campaign 1939, Western Campaign 1940, Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa air support, Eastern Front operations 1941-1945, defense of the Reich

NSDAP membership: joined October 1922, Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP
SS-Number: none
Religion: No information
Parents: Heinrich Ernst Göring (former cavalry officer and governor-general of German South West Africa) and Franziska Tiefenbrunn
Siblings: Karl Göring, Olga Göring, Paula Göring, Albert Göring
Spouse: Carin von Kantzow (married 03.02.1922, died 17.10.1931), Emmy Sonnemann (married 10.04.1935)
Children: Edda Göring (born 02.06.1938)

Promotions:
00.00.1912 Fahnenjunker, Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Wilhelm Nr. 112
00.00.1914 Leutnant
00.00.1917 Oberleutnant
30.01.1933 General der Infanterie
01.04.1935 General der Flieger
01.02.1938 Generalfeldmarschall
19.07.1940 Reichsmarschall

Career:
00.00.1900-00.00.1911 various schools and cadet training, Haupt-Kadettenanstalt Berlin-Lichterfelde
00.00.1912 joined Prussian Army, Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Wilhelm Nr. 112, Mülhausen
01.08.1914-00.00.1915 infantry service on Western Front, wounded and hospitalized with rheumatism
00.00.1915 transferred to aviation as observer with Feldflieger Abteilung 25, reconnaissance and bombing missions
00.00.1915 pilot training at Flying School Freiburg
00.00.1916 Jagdstaffel 5, wounded in aerial combat
02.1917 Jagdstaffel 26 under Bruno Loerzer
05.1917 commander Jagdstaffel 27
07.07.1918 commander Jagdgeschwader 1 Richthofen
11.1918 demobilized, refused to surrender aircraft to Allies
00.00.1919-00.00.1920 barnstorming pilot and test pilot for Fokker
00.00.1920-00.00.1921 aviation work in Denmark and Sweden with Svensk Lufttrafik
03.02.1922 married Carin von Kantzow
00.00.1922 joined NSDAP after hearing Adolf Hitler speak, appointed Oberster SA-Führer
08.-09.11.1923 participation in Beer Hall Putsch, severely wounded in groin, fled to Austria, morphine addiction began
00.00.1925-00.00.1927 periods in Swedish asylum for morphine withdrawal
05.1928 elected to Reichstag for NSDAP
30.08.1932 President of the Reichstag
30.01.1933 Reichsminister ohne Portfolio, Reichskommissar für die Luftfahrt
11.04.1933 Minister-President of Prussia and Prussian Interior Minister, created Gestapo
1933-1945 President of the Prussian State Council
1935 appointed Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe and Reichsminister der Luftfahrt
1936 Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan, established Reichswerke Hermann Göring
01.02.1938 promoted Generalfeldmarschall
19.07.1940 promoted Reichsmarschall, designated successor to Hitler
1939-1945 Commander-in-Chief Luftwaffe during all major campaigns
22.04.1945 dismissed from all posts after telegram requesting succession
09.05.1945 captured by U.S. forces near Radstadt, Austria
1945-1946 prisoner, Nuremberg Trials
15.10.1946 suicide by cyanide capsule hours before scheduled execution

Awards and Decorations:
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse 1914 (15.09.1914)
Königlich Preussisches Flugzeugbeobachter-Abzeichen (15.11.1914)
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse 1914 (22.03.1915)
Ritter II. Klasse zu dem Orden der Löwen von Zähringen mit Schwertern (19.08.1915)
Königlich Preußische Militär-Flugzeugführer-Abzeichen (12.10.1915)
Ehrenbecher für den Sieger im Luftkampfe (15.04.1916)
Ritter des Königlicher Preussischer Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern (20.10.1917)
Ritterkreuz des Militär Karl-Friedrich-Verdienstorden (02.06.1918)
Pour le Mérite (02.06.1918) as Oberleutnant and Führer Jagdstaffel 27 for repeated outstanding success in aerial combat over the Western Front in 1917-1918, scoring 22 confirmed victories as a fighter pilot and squadron leader, including numerous dogfights supporting ground operations and reconnaissance missions, culminating in command of elite Jagdgeschwader 1 after the death of Manfred von Richthofen
Ehrenzeichen des 9. November 1923 (Blutorden) (09.11.1933)
Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP (01.12.1933)
Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer (01.09.1934)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 2. Klasse (20.09.1939)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 1. Klasse (30.09.1939)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (30.09.1939) for direction of Luftwaffe in Polish Campaign
Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (19.07.1940) as Generalfeldmarschall and Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe for the decisive victories of the Luftwaffe during the Western Campaign (Fall Gelb) in May-June 1940, where air superiority, close support to armored advances, rapid seizure of airfields in the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France, and relentless bombing of enemy positions enabled the unprecedented Blitzkrieg breakthrough at Sedan, encirclement of Allied forces at Dunkirk, and swift collapse of France in six weeks, making him the sole recipient of this highest grade during the entire Second World War
Numerous foreign orders including Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword of Sweden, Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen of Hungary, and others
Gemeinsames Flugzeugführer-Beobachter Abzeichen mit Brillianten

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Hermann Wilhelm Göring rose from a World War I fighter ace and commander of the legendary Jagdgeschwader Richthofen to become the second most powerful man in the Third Reich and creator of the modern Luftwaffe. His bravery in the skies over Verdun and the Western Front earned him the Pour le Mérite for relentless combat missions and leadership that produced 22 victories. After the war he drifted through aviation jobs abroad before committing to the Nazi movement in 1922, surviving wounds in the Beer Hall Putsch and building key institutions including the Prussian police and air force. As Reichsmarschall his direction of air operations brought spectacular early successes in Poland and the West, rewarded by the unique Grosskreuz for the triumph in France. Later campaigns saw declining influence amid failures over Britain and the Reich, leading to his arrest in 1945. Convicted at Nuremberg he chose suicide rather than the gallows, ending one of the most dramatic careers of the era.



Source:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
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https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/207/G%C3%B6ring-Hermann-Wilhelm.htm
Manvell, Roger and Fraenkel, Heinrich: Hermann Göring, Heinemann, London 1962
Evans, Richard J.: The Third Reich in Power, Penguin Press, New York 2005
Franks, Norman and Van Wyngarden, Greg: Fokker Dr I Aces of World War I, Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003