serviceyears branch death_date children birth_date signature term_end commands death_place image_size battles order term_start rank image name occupation caption relations predecessor birth_place president cabinet awards office parents chancellor governor successor primeminister article_title birth_name
1912 -- 1918 1923 -- 1945 & cross pattée & nbsp ; '' luftstreitkräfte '' '' '' nbsp ; & nbsp ; german army 23px 15 october 1946 edda göring 12 january 1893 hermann göring signature.svg 23 23 april 1945 15 january 1938 23 april 1945 23 april april 1945 1945 23 april 1945 23 april 1945 '' 45 -rrb- luftwaffe '' & nbsp ; -lrb- 1935 -- nuremberg , bavaria , allied-occupied germany suicide by poison 195px world war i world war ii president state of prussia acting '' reichsstatthalter '' of prussia '' of reichsminister '' of economics '' reichsminister '' of aviation '' the reichsminister '' of forestry reichstag minister president of the free 30 25 april 1933 kershaw 2008 284 26 november 1937 27 august april 1933 july 1934 1932 10 february 1941 10 april 1933 & '' generalfeldmarschall '' & nbsp ; '' reichsmarschall '' & nbsp nbsp ; ; '' sa-gruppenführer '' & nbsp ; bundesarchiv bild 102-13805 , hermann göring.jpg hermann göring aviator politician göring mérite '' in 1932 , wearing the '' pour le albert göring -lrb- brother -rrb- paul hitler hjalmar schacht '' none '' '' none '' löbe franz von papen franz von papen adolf rosenheim , kingdom of bavaria , german empire paul hitler -lrb- 1934 -- 1945 -rrb- paul von hindenburg adolf von hitler paul von hindenburg adolf hitler hindenburg -lrb- 1932 -- 1934 -rrb- adolf hitler & lion with swords friedrich order '' pour le mérite '' nbsp ; iron cross , 1st class zähring vice-chancellor of germany heinrich mother -rrb- ernst göring -lrb- father -rrb- franziska tiefenbrunn -lrb- & von schleicher adolf hitler adolf hitler adolf hitler adolf hitler nbsp adolf hitler ; heinrich brüning franz von papen kurt adolf hitler '' himself as '' reichsstatthalter '' none ; office abolished '' '' none ; prussia abolished none '' walther funk robert ritter von greim '' none '' ; office abolished '' franz blücher '' himself hermann göring
 hermann wilhelm göring
hermann göring

hermann wilhelm göring -lrb- or goering ; ; 12 january 1893 -- 15 october 1946 -rrb- was a german politician , military leader , and leading member of the nazi party -lrb- nsdap -rrb- .
a veteran of world war i as an ace fighter pilot , he was a recipient of the coveted `` pour le mérite '' , also known as the `` blue max '' .
he was the last commander of `` jagdgeschwader '' 1 , the fighter wing once led by manfred von richthofen , dubbed the `` red baron '' .
a member of the nsdap from its earliest days , göring was wounded in 1923 during the failed coup known as the beer hall putsch .
he became addicted to morphine after being treated with the drug for his injuries .
after helping adolf hitler take power in 1933 , he became the second-most powerful man in germany .
he founded the gestapo in 1933 , and later gave command of it to heinrich himmler .
göring was appointed commander-in-chief of the luftwaffe -lrb- air force -rrb- in 1935 , a position he held until the final days of world war ii .
by 1940 , he was at the peak of his power and influence ; as minister in charge of the four year plan , he was responsible for much of the functioning of the german economy in the build-up to world war ii .
hitler promoted him to the rank of `` reichsmarschall '' , a rank senior to all other `` wehrmacht '' commanders , and in 1941 hitler designated him as his successor and deputy in all his offices .
göring 's standing with hitler was greatly reduced by 1942 , when the luftwaffe failed to fulfill its commitments and the german war effort was stumbling on all fronts .
göring largely withdrew from the military and political scene and focused on the acquisition of property and artwork , much of which was confiscated from jewish victims of the holocaust .
informed on 22 april 1945 that hitler intended to commit suicide , göring sent a telegram to hitler requesting permission to assume control of the reich .
considering it an act of treason , hitler removed göring from all his positions , expelled him from the party , and ordered his arrest .
after world war ii , göring was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the nuremberg trials .
he was sentenced to death by hanging , but committed suicide by ingesting cyanide the night before the sentence was to be carried out .
