Günter Schwartzkopff

Günter Schwartzkopff
Günter Schwartzkopff
Born	5 August 1898 Forbach (Posen), German Empire
Died	14 May 1940 (aged 41) Le Chesne, France
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Deutsches Heer (1914–1916) Luftstreitkräfte (1916–1918) Reichswehr (1918–1933) Luftwaffe (1933–1940)
Years of service	1914–1940
Rank	Generalmajor (Posthumously)
Commands held	IV. (Stuka)Gruppe/LG 1 Sturzkampfgeschwader 77
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Invasion of Poland Battle of France †
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Günter Schwartzkopff (5 August 1898 – 14 May 1940) was a highly decorated Generalmajor in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Günter Schwartzkopff was killed on 14 May 1940 after his Junkers Ju 87 was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 November 1940 and later promoted to Generalmajor.

The Air Force School of the Bundeswehr (Federal Armed Forces) in Hamburg was named General Schwartzkopff barracks in April 1965. The school was renamed in June 1994 to Lieutenant General Graf von Baudissin barracks. A lecture hall was named after him instead.^[1]

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• Wound Badge (1914)
  • in Black
  • in Silver
• Kgl. Preuss. Flugzeugführer-Abzeichen
• Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 November 1940 as Oberst and Geschwaderkommodore of Sturzkampfgeschwader 77^[2]

References

Citations

1. "Schwartzkopff behält seine Ecke". Berliner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 20 February 2014.
2. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 321.

Bibliography

• Brütting, Georg (1992) [1976]. Das waren die deutschen Stuka-Asse 1939 – 1945 [These were the German Stuka Aces 1939 – 1945] (in German) (7th ed.). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch. ISBN 978-3-87943-433-6.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Obermaier, Ernst (1976). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe 1939–1945 Band II Stuka- und Schlachtflieger [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe 1939–1945 Volume II Dive Bomber and Attack Aircraft] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-021-3.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

External links

• Lexikon der Wehrmacht
• Axis Biographical Research at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009)