Full name:
Robert Ritter von Greim Nickname: No information
Date of Birth: 22.06.1892 - Bayreuth, Kingdom of Bavaria (German Empire)
Date of Death: 24.05.1945 - Salzburg (Austria)
Battles and Operations: Battle of Lorraine, Battle of the Somme, Western Front (World War I), Polish Campaign, Western Campaign (breakthrough of the Maginot Line), Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Kursk, support operations for Heeresgruppe Mitte, defense actions on the Eastern Front
NSDAP-Number: 10002210
Religion: No information
Parents: Ludwig Greim (Königlich Bayerischer Gendarmeriehauptmann / police captain) and Marie Greim
Siblings: older brother Ludwig Greim (born 05.10.1888), younger sister Marie Barbara Greim (born 11.01.1911)
Spouse: Alice Wilhelmine Adelheid Braun, née Landauer (married 02.09.1920)
Children: son Hubert von Greim (born 01.07.1921), stepdaughters Gisela Braun and Sascha Braun (from wife's previous marriage)
Promotions: - 14.07.1911 Fahnenjunker
- 28.10.1913 Leutnant
- 17.01.1917 Oberleutnant
- 31.03.1920 Hauptmann (Reichswehr)
- 01.04.1934 Major (Luftwaffe)
- 01.04.1936 Oberstleutnant
- 01.08.1938 Oberst
- 01.01.1939 Generalmajor
- 06.10.1939 Generalleutnant
- 19.07.1940 General der Flieger
- 16.02.1943 Generaloberst
- 25.04.1945 Generalfeldmarschall
Career: - 00.00.1906-06.07.1911 Bayerisches Kadettenkorps München, Abitur
- 14.07.1911-1914 Königlich Bayerisches 8. Feldartillerie-Regiment „Prinz Heinrich von Preußen“, battery officer and adjutant
- 1914-1915 World War I service with 6. Armee, artillery in Lorraine and Saint-Mihiel sector
- 09.03.1915 Battalion adjutant, 1. Bataillon / 8. Feldartillerie-Regiment
- 10.08.1915 Aerial observer training, Feldflieger-Abteilung 3b
- 28.10.1915 Transfer to Luftstreitkräfte as observer and pilot
- 1916-1917 Service with Artillerieflieger-Abteilung 204 and FA 46b
- 04.1917 Transfer to Jagdstaffel 34
- 19.06.1917 Staffelführer Jasta 34
- 21.03.1918 Kommandeur Jagdgruppe 10
- 08.1918 Kommandeur Jagdgruppe 9
- 10.1918 Return to Jasta 34, 28 aerial victories
- 1919-31.03.1920 Return to 8. Bayerisches Feldartillerie-Regiment, discharge as Hauptmann
- 1920 Participation in Kapp Putsch as pilot for Freikorps
- 1921-1927 Study of law at University of Munich, flying instructor and businessman
- 1928-05.1927 Flying school instructor for Chinese Nationalist Government in Canton (with family)
- 1933 Recruitment by Hermann Göring for clandestine Luftwaffe buildup
- 01.04.1934-1935 Kommandeur I. Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 132
- 1935-1939 Various staff and command positions in Luftwaffe training and fighter units
- 1939 Kommandeur 1. Flieger-Division during Polish Campaign
- 1939-1940 Kommandierender General V. Fliegerkorps (Western Campaign, Battle of Britain)
- 1941-1943 Kommandierender General V. Fliegerkorps (Eastern Front, Operation Barbarossa)
- 06.05.1943-04.1945 Befehlshaber Luftflotte 6 (support for Heeresgruppe Mitte, Battle of Kursk)
- 26.04.1945-08.05.1945 Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (appointed by Hitler, final flight into Berlin with Hanna Reitsch)
- 08.05.1945 Captured by U.S. forces near Bad Aussee
- 24.05.1945 Suicide by cyanide in U.S. custody, Salzburg
Awards and Decorations:- Prinzregent Luitpold-Medaille (03.1912)
- Militärverdienstorden IV. Klasse (04.1914)
- Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (1914) (26.11.1914)
- Militärverdienstorden IV. Klasse mit Schwertern (14.04.1915)
- Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (1914) (11.10.1915)
- Abzeichen für Beobachtungsoffiziere aus Flugzeugen (12.1915)
- Ehrenbecher für den Sieger im Luftkampfe (1916)
- Königlich Preußische Militär-Flugzeugführer-Abzeichen (24.04.1917)
- Militärverdienstorden IV. Klasse mit Schwertern und Krone (25.04.1917)
- Ritterkreuz des Königlichen Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern (29.04.1918)
- Pour le Mérite (14.10.1918)
- Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1918)
- Königlich Preußisches Flieger-Erinnerungsabzeichen (1918)
- Goldene Prinzregent Luitpold-Medaille (1920)
- Ritterkreuz des Militär-Max-Joseph-Ordens (23.11.1920, backdated to 23.10.1918)
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer (1934)
- Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 4. Klasse (02.10.1936)
- Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 3. Klasse (02.10.1936)
- Gemeinsames Flugzeugführer- und Beobachterabzeichen (1937)
- Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938 (16.12.1938)
- Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938 (1939)
- Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 2. Klasse (1939) (21.03.1940)
- Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 1. Klasse (1939) (14.05.1940)
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Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (24.06.1940) as Generalleutnant and Kommandierender General of V. Fliegerkorps. The award was bestowed for the decisive aerial assistance rendered by V. Fliegerkorps to German ground troops during the breakthrough phase of the 1940 Western Campaign, particularly the operations that outflanked and later directly assaulted elements of the Maginot Line. In the crucible of the Battle of France, Greim's roughly 300-400 aircraft including He 111 and Ju 88 bombers alongside Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber units from Luftflotte 3 and supporting elements executed what became the most intense aerial bombardment the world had yet witnessed. On 13 May 1940 near Sedan along the Meuse River, waves of Stukas from his command screamed earthward in near-vertical dives, their Jericho sirens wailing like banshees to shatter French morale as much as their bombs pulverized artillery batteries, tank concentrations, and fortified positions on the west bank. French defenders, stunned by the precision strikes that destroyed dozens of vehicles and gun emplacements amid curtains of flak and fighter opposition, saw their lines collapse under the relentless tempo; this enabled Panzergruppe Kleist to forge the river crossing with minimal initial losses, tearing open the Allied front in a lightning thrust through the Ardennes that rendered the vaunted Maginot fortifications irrelevant by outflanking them entirely. In the follow-on Phase II operations of Fall Rot in June, Greim's corps shifted to direct support against remaining Maginot strongpoints, interdicting reinforcements and hammering rear areas with coordinated bomber and ground-attack runs that facilitated rapid German advances into the heart of France. His leadership in maintaining operational tempo despite attrition from enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire proved instrumental in minimizing German casualties and securing victory in the west.
- Orden Imperial del Yugo y las Flechas (Gran Cruz) (12.05.1941)
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Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #216 (02.04.1943) as Generaloberst and Befehlshaber of Luftwaffenkommando Ost. The award recognized Greim's outstanding command of Luftwaffenkommando Ost in providing both relentless ground-attack and air-superiority support to Heeresgruppe Mitte during the brutal defensive struggles on the central Eastern Front in late 1942 and early 1943. Based in Smolensk, his air fleet operated in the frozen expanses around Rzhev and the upper Dnieper, where Soviet winter offensives threatened to rip open the German lines after the disaster at Stalingrad. Pilots under Greim braved sub-zero blizzards, engine-freezing cold, and dense Soviet flak to fly ceaseless close-support sorties: Fw 190 fighter-bombers and Hs 129 tank-busters screamed low over snow-covered fields to strafe advancing Red Army infantry columns and T-34 tank spearheads, while Ju 87 Stukas and medium bombers hammered supply depots, rail junctions, and troop concentrations in interdiction strikes that disrupted Soviet momentum. These missions, often conducted in appalling visibility with limited fuel and spares, coordinated tightly with army artillery and panzer counterattacks to stabilize the front, preventing breakthroughs that could have isolated entire German armies and buying time for reinforcements to arrive. The outstanding integration of air and ground efforts in one of the war's most grueling attritional campaigns, where his forces flew hundreds of sorties daily despite heavy losses, directly contributed to holding the central sector against overwhelming odds.
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Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #92 (28.08.1944) as Generaloberst and Oberbefehlshaber of Luftflotte 6. The award were granted for continued extraordinary leadership of Luftflotte 6 in delivering critical air support to the shattered remnants of Heeresgruppe Mitte amid the cataclysm of the Soviet summer offensive Operation Bagration in June-August 1944. By this stage Greim's once-formidable fleet had been reduced to a skeleton force often numbering fewer than 50 operational aircraft due to chronic fuel shortages, overwhelming enemy numbers, and attrition, yet his airmen performed superhuman feats over the burning forests and marshes of Belarus. In desperate defensive actions, Fw 190s and remaining Stukas launched multiple sorties per day through curtains of anti-aircraft fire and swarms of Soviet fighters, diving with engines roaring to blast columns of T-34s and infantry waves advancing relentlessly westward; low-level strafing runs shredded supply trains and artillery positions, while bomber strikes targeted bridgeheads and troop assemblies to slow the Red Army juggernaut. These heroic efforts, executed under constant threat of total annihilation and in coordination with retreating ground units, inflicted punishing delays on the Soviet advance, allowed disorganized German forces to extract themselves from encirclements, and preserved fragments of the front long enough for partial stabilization further west. The unyielding valor and tactical ingenuity displayed by Luftflotte 6 pilots in the face of near-impossible odds exemplified the highest standards of aerial-ground cooperation during the collapse of Army Group Center, securing the 92nd Schwerter award.
- Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP (30.01.1945)
- Gemeinsames Flugzeugführer- und Beobachterabzeichen in Gold mit Brillanten (17.04.1945)
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Robert Ritter von Greim was born as Robert Greim on 22 June 1892 in Bayreuth in the Kingdom of Bavaria, a state of the German Empire, the son of a police captain. Greim was an army cadet from 1906 to 1911. He joined the Bavarian Army on 14 July 1911. After completion of officer training, he was posted to Bavaria's 8th Field Artillery Regiment on 29 October 1912 and commissioned as a Lieutenant (Leutnant) a year later, on 25 October 1913.
When World War One started in August 1914, he commanded a battery in fighting at the Battle of Lorraine and around Nancy, Epinal, Saint-Mihiel, and Camp des Romains in France. He became a battalion adjutant on 19 March 1915. On 10 August 1915, Greim transferred to the German Air Service (Fliegertruppe). On 10 October 1915, while flying two-seaters in FFA 3b as an artillery spotting observer, Greim claimed his first aerial victory: a Farman. He also served with FAA 204 over the Somme. After undergoing pilot training, Greim joined FA 46b on 22 February 1917. He transferred to Jagdstaffel 34 in April 1917. He scored a kill on 25 May 1917, and on the same day he received the Iron Cross First Class. On 19 June, he rose to command Jasta 34. Greim became an ace on 16 August 1917, when he shot down a Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter. By 16 October, his victory tally totaled 7. There was a lull in his successes until February 1918. On the 11th, he had an unconfirmed victory and on the 18th he claimed aerial victory number 8.
On 21 March 1918, the day of his ninth credited victory, Greim became Commanding Officer of Jagdgruppe 10. He flew with them until at least 18 June, when he notched up his 15th success. On 27 June 1918, while Greim was engaging a Bristol Fighter, his aircraft lost its cowling. The departing cowling damaged his top wing, along with the lower left interplane strut, but Greim managed to land the machine successfully. By 7 August 1918 he was commanding Jagdgruppe 9, and scored his 16th victory. On 23 August, he cooperated with Vizefeldwebel Johan Putz in what was arguably the first successful assault by aircraft on armored tanks. On 27 September, he scored kill number 25 while flying with Jagdgruppe 9.
He returned to Jasta 34 in October 1918. The Jasta had been re-equipped with 'cast-offs' from Richthofen's Flying Circus, Jagdgeschwader 1. The new equipment was warmly welcomed as being superior to the older Albatros and Pfalz fighters that they had been previously equipped with. Greim's final three victories came during this time, while he was flying Albatros D.Vs, Fokker Triplanes, and Fokker D.VIIs. By the war's end he had scored 28 victories and had been awarded the Pour le Mérite on 8 October, as well as the Bavarian Military Order of Max Joseph (Militär-Max Joseph-Orden). This latter award made him a Knight (Ritter), and allowed him to add both this honorific title and the style 'von' to his name. Thus Robert Greim became Robert Ritter von Greim.
By 1919, Greim had returned to Bavaria and rejoined his regiment (8th Bavarian Artillery) and for 10 months ran the air postal station in Munich. This was the key turning point in his career, as in 1920 he flew the up-and-coming German army propaganda instructor Adolf Hitler to Berlin as an observer of the failed Kapp Putsch. Many other people from Hitler's years in Bavaria immediately after World War I also rose to prominence in the National Socialist era. Greim then focused on a new career in law and succeeded in passing Germany's rigorous law exams. However, Chiang Kai-shek's government offered him a job in Canton, to help to build a Chinese air force. Greim accepted the offer and took his family with him to China, where he founded a flying school and initiated measures for the development of an air force.
Upon his return to Germany, Greim joined the Nazi Party and took part in the 1923 putsch; as a convinced Nazi he "remained utterly committed to Hitler to the very end of the war".
In 1933, Hermann Göring invited Greim to help him to rebuild the German Air Force, and in 1934 he was appointed to command the first fighter pilot school, following the closure of the secret flying school established near the city of Lipetsk in the Soviet Union during the closing days of the Weimar Republic (Germany had been forbidden to have an air force under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, so it had to train its pilots in secret.). In 1938, Greim assumed command of the Luftwaffe research department. Later, he was given command of Jagdgeschwader 132 (later JG 2), based in Döberitz, a fighter group named after Manfred von Richthofen.
After the end of the Polish Campaign, von Greim became commander of the 5th Fliegerkorps which participated in the Battle of Britain. In the early stages of this battle, von Greim was promoted to General der Flieger. In 1941, on the Eastern Front, his korps split up and renamed Sonderstab Krim. In April 1942 he became commander of Luftwaffenkommando Ost in Smolensk, as his korps replaced the 8th Fliegerkorps in the front area there. In February 1943, von Greim was given command of Luftflotte 6, which continued to support Army Group Centre in its operations. As part of Operation Citadel, von Greims Luftflotte provided 730 aircraft in July 1943. Due to high losses, by June 1944 only around 50 aircraft were operational!
In late 1942, his only son, Hubert Greim, a fighter pilot with 11./JG 2 was listed as missing in Tunisia. He was shot down, but bailed out and spent the remainder of the war in a prison camp in the United States.
As late as January 1945, von Greim made a commitment to Hitler: "I who believed in the Führer - and damn it, still believe in him. I can not become a traitor. Not me!"
On 26 April 1945, with Berlin encircled by Soviet forces during the Battle of Berlin, von Greim flew into Berlin from Rechlin with his mistress Hanna Reitsch, in response to an order from Hitler. Initially they flew from the central Luftwaffe test facility airfield, the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin to Gatow (a district of south-western Berlin) in a Focke Wulf 190. As the cockpit had room for only the pilot, Reitsch flew in the tail of the plane, getting into it by climbing through a small emergency opening. Having landed in Gatow, they changed planes to fly to the Chancellery; however, their Fieseler Storch was hit by anti-aircraft fire over the Grunewald. Greim was incapacitated by a bullet in the right foot, but Reitsch was able to reach the throttle and joystick to land on an improvised air strip in the Tiergarten, near the Brandenburg Gate.
Hitler promoted Greim from General to Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal), making him the last German officer ever to achieve that rank and appointed him as commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, to replace Hermann Göring, whom he had recently dismissed in absentia for treason. Greim thus became the second man to command the German Air Force during the Third Reich. However, with the end of the war in Europe fast approaching, his tenure as Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe lasted only a few days.
On 28 April, Hitler ordered Ritter von Greim to leave Berlin and had Reitsch fly him to Plön, so that he could arrest Heinrich Himmler on the charge of treason. That night, the two left Berlin, taking off from the Tiergarten air strip in a small Arado Ar 96 aircraft. Soldiers of the Soviet 3rd Shock Army feared they had just seen Hitler escape. In a post-war interview, Reitsch said, "It was the blackest day when we could not die at our Führer's side. We should all kneel down in reverence and prayer before the altar of the Fatherland." When asked what the "Altar of the Fatherland" was, she responded: "Why, the Fuhrer's bunker in Berlin...."
On 8 May, the same day as the surrender of Germany, Greim was captured by American troops in Austria. His initial statement to his captors was reportedly "I am the head of the Luftwaffe, but I have no Luftwaffe". Greim committed suicide in prison in Salzburg on 24 May.
Oberleutnant Robert Ritter von Greim in World War I.
Major Robert Ritter von Greim.
Oberst Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalmajor Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalmajor Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalmajor Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalmajor Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalmajor Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalmajor Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalleutnant Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalleutnant Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalleutnant Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generalleutnant Robert Ritter von Greim.
General der Flieger Robert Ritter von Greim. Photo by Walter Frentz.
General der Flieger Robert Ritter von Greim. Photo by Walter Frentz.
General der Flieger Robert Ritter von Greim. Photo by Walter Frentz.
Robert Ritter von Greim. Akira Takiguchi photo collection.
Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim (center) with two Luftwaffe generals.
Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim (center) with Hans Seidemann.
Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim.
Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim.
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