Original Item: Only One Available. Here we have a very nice German WWII period Portrait Photograph of the Military Leader and Convicted War Criminal, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. Originally the head of just the Luftwaffe, he was promoted to Reichsmarschall after the successful invasion of France, which was a rank over Feldmarschall, created especially for him to placate his need for glory, and to show that he was senior to all other Wehrmacht leaders. New insignia were created for this special rank, which Göring quickly adopted and had fitted to his uniforms.

This portrait photograph was taken after 1940, when he received the promotion, and it shows the correct "Crossed Baton" devices on his left collar. We can also somewhat see the more ornate shoulder boards that were used by the rank. Göring looks to be wearing a light gray uniform with a white shirt in the photograph, and is also wearing his 1939 Grand Cross of the Iron Cross around his neck. He was given this award in the same ceremony as his promotion, and he was the only person to be awarded this during WWII. Below this we can also see a Pour le Mérite award, and Iron Cross, along with more awards and a ribbon bar on his left breast.

The photograph measures 11 ¾ x 15 ½", and is marked on the bottom right front with a white script Röhn, which we assume would be either the name of the photographer or printer.

A very nice period portrait photograph of one of the most powerful men in the Third Reich, if not the most conceited of all the NSDAP leadership. Ready to display!

Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the NSDAP Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945.

A veteran World War I fighter pilot ace, Göring was a recipient of the Pour le Mérite ("The Blue Max"). He was the last commander of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG I), the fighter wing once led by Manfred von Richthofen. An early member of the NSDAP Party, Göring was among those wounded in A H's failed Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. While receiving treatment for his injuries, he developed an addiction to morphine which persisted until the last year of his life. After AH became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Göring was named as minister without portfolio in the new government. One of his first acts as a cabinet minister was to oversee the creation of the Gestapo, which he ceded to Heinrich Himmler in 1934.

Following the establishment of the NSDAP state, Göring amassed power and political capital to become the second most powerful man in Germany. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe (air force), a position he held until the final days of the regime. Upon being named Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan in 1936, Göring was entrusted with the task of mobilizing all sectors of the economy for war, an assignment which brought numerous government agencies under his control. In September 1939, A H designated him as his successor and deputy in all his offices. After the Fall of France in 1940, he was bestowed the specially created rank of Reichsmarschall, which gave him seniority over all officers in Germany's armed forces.

By 1941, Göring was at the peak of his power and influence. As the Second World War progressed, Göring's standing with A H and with the German public declined after the Luftwaffe proved incapable of preventing the Allied bombing of Germany's cities and resupplying surrounded Axis forces in Stalingrad. Around that time, Göring increasingly withdrew from military and political affairs to devote his attention to collecting property and artwork, much of which was stolen from Jewish victims of the war crimes. Informed on 22 April 1945 that A H intended to commit suicide, Göring sent a telegram to A H requesting his permission to assume leadership of the Reich. Considering his request an act of treason, A H removed Göring from all his positions, expelled him from the party, and ordered his arrest. After the war, Göring was convicted of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials in 1946. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but committed suicide by ingesting cyanide hours before the sentence was to be carried out.