Günther Korten

Infobox Military Person
name=Günther Korten
lived= 26 July 1898 – 22 July 1944
placeofbirth=Cologne
placeofdeath="Wolfsschanze" near Rastenburg


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=Germany
serviceyears=
rank=Colonel General
branch=Luftwaffe
commands=Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff
unit=
battles=World War I
World War II
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
laterwork=

Günther Korten (26 July 1898 – 22 July 1944) was a German Colonel General and Chief of the General Staff of the Luftwaffe in World War II.

Korten was born in Cologne as a son of the master of building of governments Hugo Korten (1855-1931) and his wife Marie Korten (1866-1942). At the beginning of the World War I he was a cadet in the Prussian army. He served through the war in an engineering battalion. He continued his military career after the war in the Engineers, until he was selected in 1928 to participate in the secret pilot training programme in the Soviet Union. On returning to Weimar Germany he joined the "Bildstelle Berlin".

When the Third Reich started on its rearmament programme, Korten, by then a captain, formally joined the Luftwaffe in 1934. He received training as a general staff officer and served for several years in the Air Ministry. He was a Colonel and Chief of the General Staff of "Luftflotte 4" (4th Air Fleet) stationed in Austria.

At the beginning of 1940, Korten was transferred to the general staff of the "Luftflotte 3" (3rd Air Fleet), in which he served during the Battle of France and in the Battle of Britain. On 19 July he was promoted to Major-General. In January 1941 he transferred back to the 4th Air Fleet, in order to participate in the Balkans Campaign and in the assault on the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa). In August 1942 he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and took over the command over the "I. Fliegerkorps", which fought at the southern sector of the Eastern Front and was temporarily transferred to the "Luftwaffenkommando Don" during the Battle of Stalingrad.

At the beginning of 1943 Korten was promoted to General and in the summer replaced Alfred Keller at "Luftflotte 1" (1st Air Fleet). A few weeks later, on 25 August he accepted the position of General Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe, after the former Chief of Staff Hans Jeschonnek committed suicide.

Korten was mortally wounded in the "Wolfsschanze" near Rastenburg during the July 20 Plot in 1944, in which Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler with a bomb. Two days after the assassination attempt he succumbed to his injuries in the military hospital attached to the Führer's headquarters. Like the other military victims Rudolf Schmundt and Heinz Brandt he was posthumously promoted, in his case to Colonel-General.

Korten is buried in the Friedhof Bergstraße cemetery in Steglitz, Berlin.

Medals and honours

* Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st Class
* Wound Badge (1918) in Black
* Cross of Honor
* "Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse"
* "Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938"
* "Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938"
* Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (3 May 1941)
* German Cross in Gold (29 December 1942) [Patzwall]
* Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Combat Pilots in Gold
* Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds
* Crimea Shield
* "Crete" Cuffband
* Wound Badge 20 July 1944
* Order of Michael the Brave 3rd Class
* "Rumänischer Orden Aeronautische Tugend, Kommandeurkreuz mit Schwertern"
* Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class with Star and Swords

References

* Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. "Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II". Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.