Air Force High Command

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The Oberkommando der Luftwaffe ( OKL ) was the supreme command authority of the German Air Force during World War II . It was introduced in analogy to the High Command of the Army (OKH) in February 1935 and ended with the unconditional German surrender in 1945. Before that , the Air Force, which Adolf Hitler established as a separate armed force on February 26, 1935 , was directly subordinate to the Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM) founded in 1933 .

Commander in chief

Supreme Commander of the Air Force (ObdL) were

• Reichsmarschall (from 1935) Hermann Göring (until Hitler was expelled from the Wehrmacht and the party on April 23, 1945). Goering was also the first Reich Aviation Minister.
• Field Marshal General Robert Ritter von Greim (April 26, 1945 until his capture by American troops on May 8, 1945).
• Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff (with the capture of Robert Ritter von Greim , Stumpff was authorized to sign the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on May 9, 1945 in Berlin-Karlshorst by the (last) Reich President Karl Dönitz as representative of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force).

Flags

Command flag of the Reich Aviation Minister

The Ministry's flag was used from 1933 to 1935.

Front red; in the center a silver laurel wreath with four-feathered wings of the same color, each shortened towards the bottom, in it in white a black eagle with a red beak turned to the right and golden fangs; hanging on the natural colored Pour le Mérite ; starting from the wreath, four white broadening rays with a black border; a black swastika in each corner. Reverse side with swastika and eagles changed places. (Variants)

Command flag of the Reich Aviation Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force

In the late 1935 the flag was changed: front and back swapped, swastikas now all gold, wreath without wings, now covered with all-gold eagle with outstretched wings, landing on a swastika from the right. Swastika border. From 1938 onwards, two marshal's staffs touching each other in the shape of a roof were added above the medal on the back .

The operational headquarters were located in the Kurfürst bunker in Potsdam.

See also

• Maritime General of the Air Force
• General z. b. V. of the Air Force High Command
• Air War in World War II
• High Command of the Wehrmacht
• Army High Command
• Navy High Command
• 15 bunkers were built there for a possible relocation of the Air Force High Command to Bad Wildungen .