Hermann Göring

Hermann Wilhelm Göring (also Goering or Goring in English) (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) was an early member of the Nazi party, founder of the Gestapo, and one of the main leaders of Nazi Germany. He was tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946 and sentenced to death, but he avoided execution by committing suicide in his cell, a few hours before the sentence was to be carried out.

Early life

Göring was born in Rosenheim, Bavaria to Heinrich Ernst Göring, a lawyer and colonial bureaucrat, and Franziska. Often apart from his parents, he was tutored at home before attending cadet schools at Karlsruhe and Lichterfelde.

Related Topics:
Rosenheim - Bavaria - Lawyer - Bureaucrat - Cadet - Karlsruhe

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In World War I he was commissioned in the infantry, then became a pilot. He flew reconnaisance and bombing missions before becoming a fighter pilot. By the end of the war he was a highly decorated "ace" and commanded the famed Richthofen Squadron.

Related Topics:
World War I - Fighter - Richthofen Squadron

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In mid-1915 Göring began his pilot training at Freiburg, and on completing the course he was posted to Jagdstaffel 5. He was soon shot down and spent most of 1916 recovering from his injuries. On his return in November 1916 he joined Jagdstaffel 26, before being given his first command. In 1917 he was awarded the Pour le Mérite. On July 7, 1918, after the death of Manfred von Richthofen, he was made commander of Jagdgeschwader Freiherr von Richthofen (Jasta 11). He finished the war as an "ace," with 22 confirmed kills. Incidentally, he was the only veteran of Jasta 11 to have never been invited to the squadron's post-war reunions.

Related Topics:
1915 - 1916 - 1917 - Pour le Mérite - July 7 - 1918 - Manfred von Richthofen - Ace - Jasta 11

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In June 1917, after a lengthy dogfight, Göring shot down a novice Australian pilot named Frank Slee. The battle is recounted flamboyantly in The Rise and Fall of Hermann Goering. Göring landed and met with the Australian, and presented Slee with his Iron Cross. Years after, Slee gave Göring's Iron Cross to a friend, who later died on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.

Related Topics:
Australian - Iron Cross - Normandy - D-Day

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He remained in flying after the war, worked briefly at Fokker, tried "barnstorming," and in 1920 he joined Svenska Lufttrafik. He was also listed on the officer rolls of the Reichswehr, the post-World War I peacetime army of Germany, and by 1933 had risen to the rank of Generalmajor. He was made a Generalleutnant in 1935 and then a General in the Luftwaffe (German air force) upon its founding later that year.

Related Topics:
Fokker - Barnstorming - 1920 - Svenska Lufttrafik - Reichswehr - 1933 - 1935 - Luftwaffe

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In Stockholm he met Karin von Kantzow (née Fock, 1888-1931), whom he later married. She died in 1931, and soon after he married actress Emmy Sonnemann.

Related Topics:
Stockholm - Karin von Kantzow - 1888 - 1931 - Emmy Sonnemann

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