Hermann Wilhelm Göring is born at the Marienbad Sanatorium in Rosenheim, Bavaria, into a family shaped by his father’s colonial service and patronage from his godfather, Hermann Epenstein.
As a teenager, Göring is photographed at age 14, reflecting his early immersion in military culture and aspirations toward a soldier’s career.
Göring in 1907, at age 14
Göring joins the Prince Wilhelm Regiment (112th Infantry) of the Prussian Army, beginning formal military service before World War I.
With the outbreak of World War I, Göring serves as an infantryman near Mülhausen and is hospitalised with rheumatism from trench conditions.
After efforts to transfer to air service, Göring becomes associated with Bruno Loerzer and flies reconnaissance/bombing missions with Feldflieger Abteilung 25, earning the Iron Cross First Class.
Following pilot training and recovery from a serious hip wound, Göring returns to fighter operations and is transferred to Jagdstaffel 26 under Loerzer.
Göring is assigned command of Jagdstaffel 27, continuing to score aerial victories and building his reputation as a fighter ace.
He receives the prestigious Pour le Mérite, one of Imperial Germany’s highest military awards, for his fighter achievements.
Göring with the Pour le Mérite and several awards
After the death of Wilhelm Reinhard, Göring becomes commander of Jagdgeschwader 1, the famed fighter wing once led by Manfred von Richthofen.
Göring in 1918 as commander of Jagdgeschwader 1 beside his Fokker D VII(./Fokker_D_VII "Fokker D VII") (F) 5125/18. He holds a walking stick Geschwader Stock that had been owned by Manfred von Richthofen.17
A film clip shows Göring in a Fokker D.VII during the war, illustrating his prominence as an aviator in the final year of World War I.
Film clip of Göring in a Fokker D.VII(./Fokker_D.VII "Fokker D.VII") during World War I (1918)
Göring finishes World War I credited with 22 aerial victories and becomes a proponent of the stab-in-the-back myth, shaping his postwar politics.
Göring moves to Sweden, joins Svensk Lufttrafik, meets Count Eric von Rosen, and is introduced to Carin von Kantzow (later Carin Göring), who becomes his future wife.
After Carin’s divorce, Göring and Carin marry and settle near Munich, where Göring also studies political science at the University of Munich.
Göring joins the Nazi Party after hearing Adolf Hitler speak, becoming an early and prominent member of the movement.
He is appointed commander of the Sturmabteilung (SA) as Oberster SA-Führer, helping organize Nazi paramilitary forces.
During the failed Beer Hall Putsch, Göring is shot in the groin and is smuggled out of Germany for treatment—an episode that begins his long morphine addiction.
In exile, Göring travels through Italy and meets Benito Mussolini via Fascist Party contacts, reinforcing his ties to European fascism.
Amid severe morphine addiction and violent behavior, Göring is committed to Långbro Asylum in Sweden as a dangerous drug addict.
After an amnesty, Göring returns to Germany and resumes work in the aircraft industry as the Nazi movement rebuilds.
Göring is elected to the Reichstag as a representative from Bavaria, increasing his political prominence within the Nazi Party.
Carin Göring dies of heart failure, a personal loss that precedes Göring’s further rise in Nazi state power.
Göring is appointed an SA-Gruppenführer, continuing advancement within Nazi paramilitary ranks.
After the Nazis become the largest party in the Reichstag, Göring is elected President of the Reichstag, a key institutional position used in the party’s drive toward dictatorship.
When Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany, Göring is appointed Reichsminister without portfolio and Reichskommissar of Aviation, entering the new Nazi government at the top level.
The Reichstag fire occurs; Göring arrives early and calls for a crackdown on Communists, helping drive the repressive response that followed.
Following the fire, the Reichstag Fire Decree suspends basic rights and enables mass arrests, accelerating Nazi consolidation of power in which Göring plays a leading role.
Göring becomes Minister-President of Prussia, Prussian interior minister, and chief of the Prussian police—positions that give him immense control over Germany’s largest state.
Göring establishes the Prussian secret police, the Gestapo, with Rudolf Diels as its head, creating a major instrument of Nazi repression.
Using expanded Prussian powers, Göring abolishes the Prussian State Council and replaces it with a revised advisory body he controls, further centralizing authority.
He cedes control of the Gestapo to Heinrich Himmler, helping shift the balance of police power toward the SS.
During the Night of the Long Knives, Göring works with Himmler and others to crush the SA; he helps decide who is executed as the regime eliminates rivals.
Göring marries actress Emmy Göring (née Sonnemann) in Berlin in a highly publicized ceremony with Hitler as best man.
Germany formally acknowledges the existence of the Luftwaffe, with Göring as Reich Aviation Minister, marking open rearmament in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
Hitler appoints Göring Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan, giving him sweeping authority to mobilize Germany’s economy for war and expand rearmament.
Göring appears at the Berlin International Green Week, reflecting his public profile as a leading Nazi official beyond military aviation.
Göring attending the Green Week(./Berlin_International_Green_Week "Berlin International Green Week") in Berlin, 1937
The state-owned industrial conglomerate Reichswerke Hermann Göring is created to expand steel production, symbolizing Göring’s economic power under the Four Year Plan.
Göring hosts British War Secretary Lord Halifax at Schorfheide, reflecting Göring’s role in foreign contacts as tensions rise in Europe.
Göring with British War Secretary Lord Halifax(./Edward_Wood,_1st_Earl_of_Halifax "Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax") at Schorfheide, 20 November 1937
He acts as a witness at War Minister Werner von Blomberg’s wedding, triggering events in the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair that reshuffle Germany’s military leadership.
Göring supports pressure on Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg, as Hitler threatens invasion unless Austria moves toward unification with Germany.
During the Anschluss, Göring threatens Austrian leaders by phone, Schuschnigg resigns, and German troops enter Austria without resistance, bringing the country into the Reich.
Göring appears with Hitler on the balcony of the Chancellery in Berlin shortly after the Anschluss, symbolizing his status near the center of Nazi power.
Hitler with Göring on balcony of the Chancellery, Berlin, 16 March 1938
The Munich Agreement transfers the Sudetenland to Germany after negotiations driven by Hitler; Göring remains heavily involved in diplomacy and pressure tactics surrounding Czechoslovakia.
After Kristallnacht, Göring helps plan the confiscation of Jewish property and proposes a massive collective fine, tying economic policy to escalating antisemitic persecution.
Göring establishes the head office of the Central Office for Jewish Emigration in Berlin, tasked with forcing or pressuring Jews to leave the Reich.
Göring threatens Czechoslovak president Emil Hácha with bombing, contributing to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Just before war begins, Hitler appoints Göring chairman of the Council of Ministers for the Defense of the Reich, effectively a war cabinet.
Germany invades Poland, starting World War II; Hitler designates Göring as his successor in a Reichstag speech, underlining Göring’s position as second only to Hitler.
The Luftwaffe supports rapid campaigns in Western Europe, including airborne operations like the capture of Fort Eben-Emael, helping enable the Battle of France.
After France’s defeat, Göring receives the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross for his Luftwaffe leadership, and his prestige peaks.
Hitler promotes Göring to Reichsmarschall, a special rank making him senior to all other German officers, consolidating his status as the regime’s top military figure after Hitler.
Göring as Reichsmarschall(./Reichsmarschall "Reichsmarschall")
During the Battle of Britain, Göring oversees efforts to neutralize the RAF as a precondition for Operation Sea Lion, but the air campaign fails to secure air superiority.
Operation Sea Lion is postponed indefinitely after Luftwaffe failure to defeat the RAF, marking a strategic setback that begins eroding Göring’s standing.
Nazi Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union; initial Luftwaffe successes are followed by worsening attrition and logistics problems.
Göring issues a letter to Reinhard Heydrich ordering him to organise the practical implementation of the Final Solution, linking Göring to the bureaucratic planning of genocide.
Göring's July 1941 letter to Reinhard Heydrich(./Reinhard_Heydrich "Reinhard Heydrich")
Hitler and Göring decide on mass deportations of Soviet POWs and civilians for forced labor in Germany; massive mortality follows among deported prisoners.
The Battle of Stalingrad begins with a Luftwaffe bombing campaign, a major turning point in which Göring’s promises about air supply later prove disastrously unrealistic.
After the Sixth Army is encircled at Stalingrad, Göring promises a daily airlift of supplies that the Luftwaffe cannot deliver; the army surrenders in early February 1943, badly damaging Göring’s credibility.
Göring is photographed with Hitler and Albert Speer, as Allied bombing intensifies and Göring’s influence increasingly declines.
Göring with Hitler and Albert Speer(./Albert_Speer "Albert Speer"), 10 August 1943
The appearance of long-range escort fighters like the P-51 Mustang enables sustained Allied bombing; the Luftwaffe cannot replace losses, further undermining Göring’s reputation.
On D-Day, the Luftwaffe has only about 300 fighters near the landings while the Allies deploy roughly 11,000 aircraft, highlighting German air inferiority under Göring’s command.
After Hitler indicates he will remain in Berlin and die there, Göring sends the Göring telegram asking permission to assume leadership under prior succession decrees; it is framed by rivals as treason.
Hitler rescinds Göring’s succession status, expels him from the Nazi Party, and orders his arrest; Göring is placed under house arrest and moved as the Obersalzberg area is attacked.
Hitler commits suicide in Berlin; in his last will he formally removes Göring and names Karl Dönitz as Reich president, ending Göring’s claim to succession.
Göring surrenders and is taken into U.S. custody near Radstadt; a photo shows him in captivity shortly after the war in Europe ends.
Göring in captivity 9 May 1945
After initial detention at Camp Ashcan, Göring is transferred with other senior Nazis to Nuremberg ahead of the Nuremberg trials.
At the Nuremberg proceedings, Göring is tried on charges including conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and is ultimately found guilty on all counts.
Göring (first row, far left) at the Nuremberg trial
The tribunal delivers its judgment: Göring is sentenced to death by hanging, with the court describing him as a leading aggressor and a central driver of Nazi crimes.
The night before his execution, Göring commits suicide by ingesting cyanide, avoiding hanging; his death closes the most prominent case among the convicted Nazi leaders.
Göring's corpse