- Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 - 30 April 1945) was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (The Nazi party). He was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, and became FAhrer (leader) [2] in 1934, remaining in power until his suicide in 1945.
- Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (May 2, 1892 - April 21, 1918) was a German fighter pilot known as The Red Baron. He was the most successful flying ace of World War I, and was credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories.
- Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel (Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel, 1891-1944) | The famous "Desert Fox" commander of the North African campaign was born in Heidenheim, near Ulm on Nov. 15, 1891. While earning the respect of both sides in WWII, Rommel became disillusioned with Hitler. Although the Nazis accused him of being involved in the abortive July 20, 1944 bombing/assassination attempt against Hitler, his active role in the plot is doubtful.
- Werner von Blomberg
Werner Eduard Fritz von Blomberg was a leading member of the German Army until January 1938. Born in Stargard, Pomerania, German Empire, Werner von Blomberg joined the army at a young age and attended Germany's Kriegsakademie in 1904. After graduating in 1907, Blomberg entered the General Staff in 1908. Serving with distinction on the Western Front during World War I, Blomberg was awarded the Pour le Mérite.
- Erich Hartmann
Erich Alfred "Bubi" Hartmann (April 19, 1922 - September 20, 1993), also nicknamed "The Blond Knight Of Germany" by friends and "The Black Devil" by his enemies, is the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial combat. He claimed 352 enemy aircraft shot down (of which 345 were flown by the Soviet Air Force, and 260 of which were fighters) in 825 combat sorties while serving with the Luftwaffe, Germany's air force, …
- Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring was a German politician and military leader, a leading member of the Nazi Party, second in command of the Third Reich, and commander of the Luftwaffe. He was tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946 and sentenced to death by hanging; however, he escaped the hangman's noose around two hours before his scheduled execution by taking his life through the use of potassium cyanide.
- Gordon Gollob
Gordon MacGollob (16 June 1912 - 8 September 1987) was an Austrian fighter pilot and flying ace in the Luftwaffe from 1938 to 1945) during World War 2. His name comes from the fact his father was originally Scottish. He changed it to become more "Germanic" sounding on joining the military. He rose to the position of "General der Jagdflieger", and was one of only 27 to receive the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.
- Hans-Ulrich Rudel
Hans-Ulrich Rudel was a Stuka dive-bomber pilot during World War II. Rudel is famous for being the most highly decorated German serviceman of the war (Hermann Göring was nominally more highly decorated, but he did not achieve his Grand Cross of the Iron Cross by combat action). Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the only person to be awarded the Knight’s Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. Rudel flew 2,530 combat missions and successfully attacked many tanks, trains, …
- Adolf Galland
Adolf "Dolfo" Joseph Ferdinand Galland (19 March 1912–9 February 1996) was a World War II German fighter pilot and commander of Germany's fighter force ("General der Jagdflieger") from 1941 to 1945. He claimed a total of 103 victories in 705 missions and was awarded the Knight's Cross ("Ritterkreuz") with oakleaves, swords and diamonds, one of only 27 recipients of the highest German military decoration. His victory claims were all against the Western Allies.
- Hans-Joachim Marseille
Hans-Joachim Marseille (13 December 1919 - 30 September 1942) was a Luftwaffe pilot and flying ace during World War II. He was nicknamed the "Star of Africa". Marseille scored all but seven of his 158 victories against the British Commonwealth's Desert Air Force over North Africa. All of his victories were scored in the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
- Otto Skorzeny
Otto Skorzeny (June 12 1908 – July 6 1975) was an Standartenführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he is known as the commando leader who rescued Benito Mussolini from imprisonment after his overthrow. He also was the initiator of Operation Greif, for which he was judged after the war: this special operation involved false flag tactics, that is wearing the uniform of the enemy to confuse him and advance into his lines.
- Robert Ritter von Greim
Robert Ritter von Greim (Robert Greim; June 22, 1892 - May 24, 1945) was a German Field Marshal, pilot and army officer.
- Werner von Haeften
Werner Karl von Haeften (9 October 1908 - 20 July 1944) was an Oberleutnant in the Wehrmacht, who took part in the military-based conspiracy against Adolf Hitler known as the July 20 Plot. Haeften and his brother Hans Bernd von Haeften were born in Berlin to Hans von Haeften, an army officer and President of the "Reichsarchiv". He studied law in his hometown and then worked for a bank in Hamburg until the outbreak of World War II, when he joined the German army.
- Gregor Strasser
Gregor Strasser (May 31, 1892 - June 30, 1934) was a politician of the German Nazi Party (NSDAP). He was murdered in Berlin during the Night of the Long Knives.
- Bruno Loerzer
Bruno Loerzer was an officer in the German Luftstreitkräfte during World War I and Luftwaffe during World War II. Born in Berlin, Loerzer was a prewar army officer who learned to fly in 1914. Hermann Goering flew as Loerzer's observer until mid-1915. Transferring to fighters, Loerzer flew with two Jagdstaffeln in 1916 before joining "Jasta" 26 in January 1917. By then he had scored two victories over French aircraft.
- Walther von Reichenau
Walter von Reichenau (October 8, 1884 - January 17, 1942) was a German "Generalfeldmarschall". Von Reichenau was born in Karlsruhe to a Prussian general in and joined the German Army in 1902. During World War I he served on the Western Front. He won the Iron Cross and by 1918 was a captain. Von Reichenau stayed in the army under the Weimar Republic as a General Staff officer. From 193] he was Chief of Staff to the Inspector of Signals at the Reichswehr Ministry, …
- Eddie Chapman
Edward Arnold "Eddie" Chapman (November 161914 in Burnopfield, County Durham, - December 111997) was an habitual criminal who became a British double agent (code named ZigZag) during World War II. He had number of aliases which were known to the British police, amongst them Edward Edwards, Arnold Thompson and Edward Simpson. His German codename was "Fritz" or later its diminutive, "Fritzchen".
- Oswald Boelcke
Oswald Boelcke (19 May, 1891-28 October, 1916) was a German flying ace of the First World War and one of the most influential patrol leaders and tacticians of the early years of air combat. Boelcke is considered the father of the German fighter air force; he was the first to formalise the rules of air fighting, which he presented as the "Dicta Boelcke". Germany's premier ace, Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron), …
- Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg, known universally as Paul von Hindenburg (October 2, 1847 - August 2, 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman. Hindenburg enjoyed a long if undistinguished career in the Prussian army, eventually retiring in 1913. He was recalled at the outbreak of the First World War, and first came to national attention, at the age of sixty-six, as the victor at Tannenberg in 1914.
- Hermann Graf
Hermann Graf (24 October, 1912 - 11 April, 1988) was a German Luftwaffe World War II fighter ace. During the war he became one of only 27 people to be awarded the Knights Cross with leaves, swords, and diamonds. He served on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He is credited with 212 victories, 202 of which were on the Eastern Front. He flew more than 830 sorties.
- Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (December 12, 1875 - February 24, 1953) was a "Generalfeldmarschall" of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war.
- Walther von Brauchitsch
Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch (October 4, 1881 - October 18, 1948) was an aristocratic German General and the Commander-in-Chief of the Heer (German Army) in the early years of World War II.
- Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a military theorist and innovative General of the German Army during the Second World War. Germany's panzer forces were raised and fought according to his works, best-known among them "Achtung— Panzer!" He held posts as Panzer Corps commander, Panzer Army commander, Inspector-General of Armored Troops, and Chief of Staff of the Army (Chef des Generalstabs des Heeres).
- Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) and a senior military leader during World War II.
- Erwin von Witzleben
Job-Wilhelm Georg "Erwin" von Witzleben (4 December 1881 - 8 August 1944) was a German army officer (by 1940 a "Generalfeldmarschall") and in the Second World War an Army commander and a resistance fighter in the July 20 Plot.
- Wilhelm Burgdorf
Wilhelm Burgdorf was a German officer. Born in Fürstenwalde, Burgdorf served as a commander and staff officer in the German Army during World War II.
- Johannes Steinhoff
Johannes Steinhoff was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace of World War II, and later a senior West German air force officer and military commander of NATO. Steinhoff was one of very few Luftwaffe pilots who survived to fly operationally through the whole of the war period 1939-45. He was one of the highest-scoring pilots with 176 victories, and one of the first to fly the Me 262 jet fighter in combat, being a member of the famous aces squadron JV 44 led by Adolf Galland.
- Wilhelm Reinhard
Wilhelm "Willi" Reinhard was a German pilot during World War One. Reinhard was born in Düsseldorf and became a flying ace during the war, credited with 20 victories. Reinhard was killed in a flying accident while flying a Zeppelin-Lindau D.I during aircraft trials in Adlershof.
- Ernst Udet
Ernst Udet was the second-highest scoring German flying ace of World War I. He was one of the youngest aces and was the highest scoring German ace to survive the war (at the age of only 22). His 62 victories were second only to Manfred von Richthofen, his commander in the Flying Circus.
- Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch (March 30, 1892 - January 25, 1972) was a German field marshal of Jewish ancestry who oversaw the development of the Luftwaffe as part of the re-armament of Germany following World War I.
- Hanna Reitsch
Hanna Reitsch was a famous German test pilot. Reitsch was born in Hirschberg, Silesia. She was the daughter of an ophthalmologist and was in training to become a medical doctor in 1932 when she left that field to pursue a career as a test pilot. In the 1930s she became famous, setting many glider, aerobatic and endurance records, being the first woman to cross the Alps in a glider. Several of her gliding records stand to this day.
- Hans Krebs
Hans Krebs was a German general of infantry who served during during World War II.
- Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein (November 24, 1887-June 10 1973) served the German military as a lifelong professional soldier. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Nazi Germany's armed forces ("Wehrmacht"). During World War II he attained the rank of Field Marshal ("Generalfeldmarschall") and was held in high esteem by his fellow officers as one of the Wehrmacht's best military minds.
- Walter Nowotny
Walter "Nowi" Nowotny (December 7, 1920 - November 8, 1944) was an Austrian-born German fighter ace of World War II with 258 confirmed victories in 442 missions, 255 victories over Russian pilots.
- Alfred Meyer
Dr. Alfred Meyer was a Nazi official, achieving the rank of "Staatssekretär" and Deputy Reichsminister in the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories ("Reichministerium für die Besetzten Ostgebiete" or "Ostministerium"). Meyer was born in Göttingen, the son of a government official. He was educated at the Gymnasium in Soest, graduating in 1911. In 1912 he became a "Fahnenjunker" (cadet officer) with Infanterieregiment 68 (Koblenz), …
- Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz ; September 16, 1891-December 24, 1980) was a German naval leader, who was in command of the "Kriegsmarine" during World War II and was President of Germany for 23 days after Adolf Hitler's suicide. Dönitz was born in the suburb Grünau of Berlin. He entered the "Kaiserliche Marine" (Imperial German Navy) in 1911. During World War I, he served on surface ships before transferring to submarines.
- Wilhelm Mohnke
SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke was one of the original 120 members of the "SS-Stabswache "Berlin" formed in March 1933. From those ranks, he was to rise to become one of German dictator Adolf Hitler's last remaining generals. Mohnke saw action while serving with the infamous Infantry Regiment Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler in Poland and the Balkans. After several failed attempts to introduce a Panzer arm to the Leibstandarte, …
- Lothar von Richthofen
Lothar-Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories during the war. He was younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen (the "Red Baron") and a cousin of the Luftwaffe field marshal Wolfram von Richthofen. Starting the war as a cavalry officer, Lothar transferred to the German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) in 1915 and his first posting was to his brother's "Jasta 11" on 6 March 1917.
- Ernst Busch
Ernst Busch (6 July, 1885 - 17 July, 1945) was a German field marshal during World War II.
- Wolfram von Richthofen
Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen (10 October 1895 - 12 July 1945) was a German a general and field marshal of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Von Richthofen was a distant cousin of the German World War I flying ace Manfred von Richthofen, popularly known as the "Red Baron" (who had shot down 80 enemy aircraft before being killed in action in 1918), and the baron's younger brother Lothar von Richthofen, who himself shot down 40 enemy aircraft.