Göring file photo [684]

Hermann Göring

SurnameGöring
Given NameHermann
Born12 Jan 1893
Died15 Oct 1946
CountryGermany
CategoryGovernment
GenderMale

Contributor:

ww2dbaseHermann Wilhelm Göring (sometimes Anglicized as "Goering") was born in Rosenheim, Bavaria, Germany in 1893 to Heinrich Ernst Göring, a lawyer and high-ranking colonial official (of Namibia in Africa) and mother Franziska. Because his father was often not home, he spent significant parts of his childhood in a castle near Nuremberg, Bavaria, which was the home of his wealthy godfather Hermann Epenstein, who was a Christian but of Jewish descent, who was very much a father figure to Göring. He attended a boarding school and later a military academy, all recommended and paid for by Epenstein. During WW1, he was initially a junior infantry officer, but severe arthritis removed him from the front lines. Eager to return to the fight, he requested to become a pilot, was accepted, and was engaged in many types of aerial missions. He was awarded the Pour le Mérite in 1917. On 7 Jul 1918 he was named the commander of Jagdgeschwader I Freiherr von Richthofen, also known as the "Flying Circus", after the death of "Red Baron" Manfred von Richthofen, the famed "Red Baron". He completed WW1 with 22 official victories in the air and came with top 50 German fighter aces of WW1. After WW1, he was a test pilot with Svenska Lufttrafik and a student to Munich University while remaining on the active roster of the post-war Germany military. In 1922, he met Adolf Hitler, joined the Nazi party, and eventually became the commander of the SA. During the 1923 Nazi coup d'etat attempt, he was seriously injured. He was evacuated to Austria to receive treatment and to avoid arrest, and he became addicted to morphine as a side effect of his treatment (obesity later in his life was a result of this addiction). In 1927, he returned to Germany after he was granted amnesty for his participation in the coup d'etat attempt. In 1928, Göring was elected to the Reichstag and was the President of the Reichstag from 1932 to 1933. In 1933, he was named the Prussian Minister of the Interior in Hitler's government; he was the only Nazi Party member to be selected by Hitler. He was responsible for the plotting of the Reichstag Fire incident in Feb 1933. In the same year, he became the Minister of the Interior with a military rank of major general after Hitler's rise to power. He'd later be named Prussian Prime Minister and Air Commissioner. In 1935, he was responsible for creating the German Air Force Luftwaffe with the rank of lieutenant general. In 1939, he was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal.

ww2dbaseGöring upbringing alongside of his godfather Epenstein brought back a preference for luxurious now that he was in a position of power. Through his high salary, bribes, and confiscated Jewish property, he purchased grand estates, hunting lodges, and a large art collection. He also owned a personal train that was complete with separate sleeping coaches for him and his wife and a car that was set up as a cinema.

ww2dbaseOn the eve of the European War, Göring was opposed of invading Poland, as he knew Germany was not yet strong enough to stand up to the Western Allies. Once the war began, the Luftwaffe achieved tremendous success in Poland, Norway, and France. His airborne troopers also achieved great successes. Some of the Luftwaffe's first major failures, however, also took place around this time. In late May 1940, as Hitler became weary of losing too many tanks, held back the army and instead relied on the Luftwaffe to prevent an Allied evacuation from Dunkirk, something the Göring promised would be a simple task but ended up to be something that he was not able to deliver. Next came the Battle of Britain in which the Luftwaffe suffered serious losses that it would be unable to replace. Finally, despite his promises, his aircraft were unable to supply the beleaguered German army at Stalingrad in southern Russia. Nevertheless, on 29 Jun 1941, Göring was named by Hitler as the successor with a promotion to the rank of Reichsmarschall, a rank created just for him, placing him above all other military leaders in Germany. As the war went on, Allied bombers devastated German cities, and Luftwaffe's inability to counter these bombing campaigns finally caused Hitler to doubt Göring. He slowly began to fade away from making operational decisions, leaving that task to his subordinates.

ww2dbaseMany of Göring's high-ranked subordinates also thought little of his leadership over the Luftwaffe. Colonel General Robert von Greim, for example, said to Otto Skorzeny in 1944 that the "Luftwaffe has been resting on the laurels it deservedly won in 1939 and 1940. It has not been thinking of the future." He went on to complain that Göring had the opportunity to start jet production as early as 1942, but he failed to recognize the potential until it was too far too late.

ww2dbaseOn 20 Apr 1945, Göring destroyed his lavish Carinhall estate near Eberswalde, Prussia, loading all his treasures (most of which plundered from across occupied Europe) onto 24 heavy trucks and several train cars; the particular estate was named after his first wife. While the train and trucks transported his treasures westward, the rest of his country, including the armed services, suffered a severe fuel shortage.

ww2dbaseOn 23 Apr 1945, Göring sent this telegraph to Hitler, probing whether Berlin had fallen and whether he should take over command of the German forces to continue the fighting:

In view of your decision to remain in the fortress of Berlin, do you agree that I take over at once the total leadership of the Reich, with full freedom of action at home and abroad, as your deputy, in accordance with your decree 29 June 1941? If no reply is received by 2200 hours, I shall take it for granted that you have lost your freedom of action, and shall consider the conditions of your decree as fulfilled, and shall act in the best interests of our country and our people. You know that I feel for you in this gravest hour of my life. Words fail me to express myself. May God protect you, and speed you quickly here in spite of everything.

ww2dbaseAlthough Göring had checked in with many top leaders, including Hans Lammers, Hitler's closest legal advisor, before sending out this message, he still wrongfully predicted Hitler's reaction. The German leader grew suspicious of Göring's intentions; Martin Bormann added fuel to the fire, convincing Hitler that Göring was attempting to usurp power for himself. Hitler sent an order to have Göring arrested by the SS, and all of Göring's titles were stripped from him.

ww2dbaseGöring surrendered to the Allies on 8 May 1945 in Austria. At the Nuremberg Trials, he was sentenced to death by hanging for his role in the anti-Semitic "Final Solution". He requested the court to give him a soldier's death by firing squad, but the court denied the request. On 15 Oct 1946, hours before his scheduled execution by hanging, he committed suicide by ingesting cyanide.

ww2dbaseSources:
Kate Moore, The Battle of Britain
Anthony Read and David Fisher, The Fall of Berlin
Otto Skorzeny, Skorzeny's Special Missions
Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Jun 2010

Famous Quote(s)

Hermann Göring Interactive Map

Photographs

Portrait of Hermann Göring, 1907Portrait of Hermann Göring as the commander of the SA organization, Germany, 1920s; note Pour le Mérite medal on his collarHeinrich Himmler, Ernst Röhm, Hermann Göring, and Bernhard Rust at the establishment of the Nazi Harzburger Front organization in the namesake town in Germany, 11 Oct 1931Hermann Göring speaking to the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany, circa 1932-1933
See all 101 photographs of Hermann Göring

Hermann Göring Timeline

12 Jan 1893 Hermann Göring was born.
30 Aug 1932 Hermann Göring was elected the president of the German Reichstag.
12 Sep 1932 A new session of the German Reichstag began with Hermann Göring as its president. German Chancellor Franz von Papen attempted to issue the order to dissolve the Reichstag, but Göring pretended to not see him, and instead conducted a vote that effectively made Papen's order to dissolve the Reichstag useless.
22 Feb 1933 Hermann Göring established an auxiliary police force in Prussia, Germany, staffed mostly with members of the SA organization.
24 Feb 1933 Hermann Göring's auxiliary police raided Communist Party offices in Prussia, Germany and claimed to have found documents suggesting the Communists were planning a revolt against the German republic.
26 Apr 1933 Hermann Göring established the Gestapo as a small Prussian secret police organization.
27 Apr 1933 In Germany, Hermann Göring was appointed Minister of Aviation.
23 Jun 1933 Hermann Göing issued a police directive to suppress all activities of the Social Democratic Party, including meetings and press, and ordered confiscation of all its property.
12 Jul 1934 Hermann Göring, the German Reichstag President, announced that Adolf Hitler was above the law.
1 Apr 1935 The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) was established with Hermann Göring as its Commander-in-Chief.
10 Apr 1935 Reichminister Hermann Göring married his second wife, Emmy Sonnemann. His devotion to his first wife, Countess Carin von Kantzow and Emmy was accounted a weakness by the Nazis.
9 Sep 1936 At the annual party rally Hitler announced a four year plan for economic and military revival under the supervision of Hermann Göring. Hjalmar Schlat, the Reich Minister of Economics, insultingly was not notified of the plan until it was publicly announced.
18 Oct 1936 The second Four-Year plan was passed into law, which gave Göring the authority to remove any political or institutional obstacle to achieving the plan (e.g. to ride roughshod over any objections to rearmament).
17 Dec 1936 In a secret meeting, Hermann Göring told leading German industrialists that the war to which Germany was preparing for was on the horizon.
15 Apr 1939 Hermann Göring arrived in Rome, Italy to meet with Benito Mussolini.
16 Apr 1939 Hermann Göring met with Benito Mussolini in Rome, Italy.
23 Jun 1939 Hermann Göring headed up the Reich Defense Council in Germany to plan for total mobilization of the country for war. Minister of Economics Walther Funk offered the idea of using future prisoners of war as forced laborers, while SS chief Heinrich Himmler offered his prisoners in concentration camps for the same propose.
31 Aug 1939 German official Hermann Göring hosted British Ambassador Nevile Henderson and Swedish businessman Birger Dahlerus at his home in Berlin, Germany for tea between 1700 and 1900 hours, during which the latter two made a last attempt to broker peace.
7 Nov 1939 Hermann Göring met with American journalists at the Soviet embassy in Berlin, Germany and mocked the quality and quantity of the US-built aircraft that would soon arrive in Britain.
7 Feb 1940 At a conference presided over by Hermann Göring the German General Staff recommended that no research or development should be pursued unless it promised military results within four months.
3 Mar 1940 Hermann Göring met with US Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles in Berlin, Germany.
5 Mar 1940 Hermann Göring complained that he was not consulted for the planning of the Norwegian invasion.
19 Jul 1940 Hermann Göring was promoted to the rank of Reichsmarschall, a rank created for him so that he would outrank all Field Marshals of the German military. The ceremony took place at the Kroll Opera House in Berlin, Germany.
5 Nov 1940 Hermann Göring issued an order to loot the art treasures at the Louvre museum in Paris, France, which were to be distributed to German museums and private collections of Nazi leaders, with a large portion of the art reserved for himself.
23 May 1941 Hermann Göring ordered the plunder and destruction of Soviet industrial centers since the conquered Soviet population would be no more than low laborers for Germany.
2 Jun 1941 In light of the successful campaign at Crete, Greece, Göring boasted that there was no such thing as an unconquerable island, hinting a similar fate for Britain. As for the killings of German paratroopers by civilians at Crete, Göring officially ordered reprisals to be conducted as if the killers were partisan fighters.
26 Jun 1941 Adolf Hitler officially named Hermann Göring his successor.
6 Feb 1942 Hermann Göring departed Rome, Italy. Galeazzo Ciano noted in his diary that during this visit, Göring was seen wearing expensive jewelry and furs.
6 Aug 1942 Hermann Göring again ordered the plunder of Soviet industries.
30 Jan 1943 In Germany, Hermann Göring publicly noted that the defense and sacrifice at Stalingrad, Russia would go down in history as a heroic tale.
26 May 1943 At Peenemünde, Germany, before Hermann Göring, Erhard Milch, and other top German leaders, an A-4 rocket and a flying bomb were tested. The A-4 rocket flew perfectly, while the flying bomb crashed only after a mile or two of flight.
20 Apr 1945 Hermann Göring destroyed his lavish Karinhall estate near Eberswalde in Germany, loading all his treasures (most of which plundered from across occupied Europe) onto 24 heavy trucks and several train cars.
23 Apr 1945 In Berlin, Germany, Adolf Hitler noted that, when Germany would have lost the war, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring would be the better person to negotiate peace terms. Göring, who was in Berchtesgaden in southern Germany, was made aware of this fact. After consulting Hans Lammers and other senior government officials, Göring carefully noted that, according to Hitler's decree of 29 Jun 1941, Göring would take power over Germany if Hitler could not respond by midnight. This message would be distorted by Martin Bormann as a sign of Göring's thirst for power. Hitler originally ordered Göring to surrender all of his positions, but Bormann would convince Hitler to issue an arrest order.
9 May 1945 Nazi German leader Hermann Göring surrendered to US troops in southern Germany.
15 Oct 1946 Two hours before his scheduled execution, Hermann Göring committed suicide.




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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Anonymous says:
7 Dec 2005 04:05:24 PM

Damn this is one ugly mother *** er
2. Anonymous says:
26 Apr 2008 11:45:31 AM

good source of information. helped alot with my report. (:
3. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
16 Feb 2009 10:24:14 AM

Goring never got modern military aviation he once talked about flying on instruments, as "MUMBO JUMBO" and he was head of the luftwaffe.he really had good officers, who understood what the luftwaffe needed. the long range bomber,long range transports. so much in fighting, everyone wanted to get on hitler's side.
4. Commenter identity confirmed BILL says:
5 May 2009 12:28:03 PM

Luftwaffe loses during World War II: Fighters 41,452, Night Fighters 10,221, Ground Attack 8,548, Bombers 22,037, Transports 6,141, Reconnaissance 6,733, Trainers 15,428.
Total Production of Aircraft during W.W.II by Germany: 119,331, Italy 11,122 ,and Japan 76,320.
Allied Aircraft Production during W.W.II England 131,449, U.S.A. 324,750, U.S.S.R. 139,261.
5. Commenter identity confirmed BILL says:
25 May 2009 08:03:09 AM

"Don't worry, the Americans can't build planes, only electric ice boxes and razor blades.
Hermann Goering

In 1944 the Americans built 96,270 aircraft.
6. Commenter identity confirmed BILL says:
15 Jun 2009 10:17:24 AM

The failure of the Luftwaffe to support the
Wehrmacht caused many German soldiers to
quip.
"If the plane in the sky is silver, it's
American, if the plane is blue, it's British
,if it's invisible it's ours"!
7. Anonymous says:
14 Dec 2010 11:40:57 AM

awsome paragraph i got a lot out of what you said about the german comander
8. Anonymous says:
6 May 2011 06:52:22 AM

good source for my report due in 2 weeks for the wax museum project :]
9. Anonymous says:
26 Apr 2012 06:24:24 AM

Good info but i need a timeline of ww2 events and that would be lots to put on a cereal box proj...
10. Anonymous says:
9 Dec 2012 07:19:34 PM

its good but... its unknown who started the Reichstag Fire incident
11. Anonymous says:
27 Mar 2013 01:12:38 AM

1/He was awarded the Pour le Mérite in 1917 : he was awarded the "Pour le Mérite" on June 2, 1918
2/The correct spelling of the name of his estate near Eberswalde : Carinhall (with "c", not "k")
12. Anonymous says:
27 Sep 2014 04:15:46 PM

Shouldn't his category be Air, rather than Government?
13. Commenter identity confirmed David Stubblebine says:
27 Sep 2014 09:32:36 PM

If this were the World War ONE Database, then Air would be the appropriate category but since World War Two is the focus here, Government is really the better choice.
14. Anonymous says:
7 Apr 2015 08:00:36 AM

this is not legit m8
15. Anonymous says:
20 Apr 2015 07:09:01 AM

Date of apprehension is May 7th 1947 2300hr. 7th Army, 36th ID, 636th TD, Recon Co, A Plt.
16. Commenter identity confirmed David Stubblebine says:
20 Apr 2015 11:37:21 AM

To Anonymous #15 above:

You list a date almost 7 months after Goering died. What “apprehension” are you talking about?
17. Anonymous says:
27 Nov 2015 03:10:43 PM

i'm seriously wanting to figure out the likely date of AH's death.
18. Anonymous says:
2 Feb 2016 11:03:37 AM

Good site, could be better though.
19. keagan meyer says:
2 Feb 2016 11:05:47 AM

helps

:)
20. Malcolm Barber says:
29 Sep 2019 07:31:24 AM

Prior to his appointment as Reichsmarshal, did Hermann Göring hold the rank of Field Marshal? If not, what was his rank?

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More on Hermann Göring
Event(s) Participated:
» Hossbach Conference
» Annexation of Austria
» First Vienna Arbitration
» Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia
» Nuremberg Trials and Other Trials Against Germany

Document(s):
» Telegram from Göring to Hitler

Related Books:
» The German Aces Speak

Hermann Göring Photo Gallery
Portrait of Hermann Göring, 1907
See all 101 photographs of Hermann Göring


Famous WW2 Quote
"All that silly talk about the advance of science and such leaves me cold. Give me peace and a retarded science."

Thomas Dodd, late 1945


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