Reinhard Winterhoff

Reinhard Winterhoff (born August 20, 1895 in Hagen , † November 20, 1968 in Hamburg ) was an officer , most recently General Director of the German Air Force in World War II .

Life

Promotions

• July 14, 1920 trainee lawyer
• February 23, 1924 court assessor
• February 18, 1929 District Court Judge
• August 1, 1933 Councilor
• October 1, 1935 Upper Government Council
• August 1, 1939 Intendant
• 1st August 1940 Chief Executive Officer
• October 1, 1944 General Manager

Early years and World War I

Winterhoff began studying law at the Universities of Lausanne and Bonn from 1914 to March 1915 . In April 1915 he had to interrupt his studies for military service in World War I. Winterhoff first moved into the infantry . At the beginning of 1918 he switched to the air force and completed an observer training there. On November 30, 1918, he resigned from military service as a reserve lieutenant and resumed his law studies in December 1918, this time at the University of Münster .

Interwar period

On July 14, 1920, he took his first state examination in law. He then completed his legal preparatory service at various faculties and courts from August 17, 1920 to February 1924. On February 23, 1924, he passed his second state examination in law. Winterhoff entered the civil service on April 24, 1924 and worked there until mid-February 1929 as a court assessor at the district courts of Haspe , Meschede and Bigge . Also at the Arnsberg and Meschede regional courts . On February 28, 1929, he became a judge at the Reichsausgleichgericht in Berlin , whose function he held until mid-April 1930. Subsequently, he worked in the same position until the end of July 1933 with the Reichs-Poland Damage Commissioner and the Reichsamt für Flugsicherung, both also in Berlin. On August 1, 1933, Winterhoff moved to the Luftwaffe, which was being established, where he was a councilor until mid-March 1938, and later a senior councilor in the Reich Ministry of Aviation (RLM). From March 17, 1938 to the end of June 1938, he worked at Luftkreis-Kommando VII in Berlin and then until the end of July 1939 as a permanent representative of Luftgau-Intendant XI in Hanover .

Second World War

In the course of the general mobilization, Winterhoff was appointed Luftgauintentanden XI of Hanover on August 1, 1939, a position he held until the end of February 1940. He then held the same position from March 1940 to August 1943 as Luftgauintendant of Hamburg (March 1, 1940 to May 31, 1942), Kiev (June 1942 to February 1943) and Moscow (February 1943 to August 1943). This was followed by his assignment as Feldluftgauintendant XXVII from August 25, 1943 to mid-November 1943 and as Luftgauintendant of western France from November 16, 1943 to April 1944.

On May 1, 1944, Winterhoff was appointed to the troops of the special service, where he worked as an official until May 10, 1944. b. V. was active in the RLM. From May 11, 1944 to June 1944, he was instructed as head of the LP office group in the RLM, whose boss he became on June 3, 1944. He held this position until May 8, 1945 and was then taken prisoner of war . Winterhoff was released from this in 1947.

literature

• Karl Friedrich Hildebrandt: The Generals of the Air Force 1935-1945 . Osnabrück 1991, ISBN 376481701-1 , p. 530 f.