Was Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring an Idiot?
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- Colonel Kurtz
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The Ogre
The Wikipedia entry mentions... A caricature can refer to a portait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness.by MVSNConsolegenerale on 06 May 2002
"...Göring talked of little else but the jewels he owned. In fact, he had some beautiful rings on his fingers . . . On the way to the station he wore a great stale coat, something between what automobile drivers wore in 1906 and what a high-grade prostitute wears to the opera."
- Count Ciano on Göring in his diary.
It seems nobody has anything good to say about Göring. What do you think?
This statement applies very well to Volker Spengler's portrayal of Hermann Göring in Volker Schlöndorff's 1996 film Der Unhold (The Ogre), an adaptation of Michel Tournier's novel Le roi des aulnes itself based on Johann Wolfgang's von Goethe's poem Der Erlkönig (Alder King or Elf King).
Volker Spengler is hilarious in the role of Hermann Göring; the hedonistic Reichsmarschall who entertains his guests with lavish hunting parties at his fabulous Karinhall domain. Göring appears as a jovial, yet deranged character.
Was Göring an idiot ? Fat Hermann was more than that. He was prone to fits of excessive, hysterical behaviour. The overabundance of power in which he found himself as a self-indulgent Nero who seems to have lost all sense of reason. Doesn't this sound familiar to the Apocalyspe Now theme ? Göring wasn't an idiot. He simply was like Colonel Kurtz, an intelligent man who was off his rocker !
I think the surrealistic vision of the film goes deeper than anything that could be said about the Reichsmarschall. Much like the description of a caricature given above, the characterization of Göring in Der Unholdtruly touches the essence of Göring the man.
By the way, John Malkovich stars in the film. Armin Mueller-Stahl is fantastic in his depiction of General Graf von Kaltenborn, an East Prussian of the Old Guard. We could easily imagine him as Gen.d.Art. Alfred von Vollard-Bockelberg, responsible for some administrative function in East Prussia (e.g. Wehrkreis I) in 1945.
For those who wish to give a more thought to the subject, I delve a bit deeper with the subject in the movie section of the forum:
The Ogre
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... &sk=t&sd=a
The photo is taken from Filmarchiv - Cinema.de
http://www.cinema.de/film_aktuell/filmd ... face=slide
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- bf109 emil
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Re: Was Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring an Idiot?
Schmauser wrote
..............2 The Medeterannean/North Africa and Balkans
..............3. The eastern front to 3 army groups...
sure he made often over estimates, but what else it was Göring who advised against Poland and the USSR offensives and he more then anyone could see how trying to supply and keep air supremacy in 3 theaters was not possible...over all though for the limited resources Germany had, the acute fuel problems of training worthy pilots and the obvious logistics of being out numbered in every theater the Luftwaffe did more for 4 or 5 years then one could have hoped on 3 fronts
Göring helped to build one of the most fearsome fighting arm of the Germany military machine or anywhere around the world for that matter by 1939...I would not say he was ignorant of military situations and on the contrary could see more then most...he knew and advised against Barbarossa knowing full well to now split his air-force and be respnsible in 3 theatres,,, 1.Europe/France/Holland/NorwayI don't think he was an idiot, his performance at the Nuremburg trial proved that, however to answer your question correctly, according to the war, I believe he was over-enthusiastic, Ignorant of the present military situations and basically his attentions were elsewhere when he should have been thinking about saving lives than apposed to if his toy trains were running on time!
~Rehards Schmauser
..............2 The Medeterannean/North Africa and Balkans
..............3. The eastern front to 3 army groups...
sure he made often over estimates, but what else it was Göring who advised against Poland and the USSR offensives and he more then anyone could see how trying to supply and keep air supremacy in 3 theaters was not possible...over all though for the limited resources Germany had, the acute fuel problems of training worthy pilots and the obvious logistics of being out numbered in every theater the Luftwaffe did more for 4 or 5 years then one could have hoped on 3 fronts
Re: Was Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring an Idiot?
I heard Göring took a lot of drugs
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Re: Was Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring an Idiot?
My dad told me about this after informing him that Göring once served as a fighter ace in World War I. It's highly probable that Göring's addiction to morphine influenced decisions made by the Luftwaffe that led to it being swamped out by the Eighth Air Force, which in turn prompted Hitler to blame people in the Luftwaffe for letting the US Army Air Force get away with outwitting Bf 109s, Fw 190s, Bf 110s, and Me 410s in the skies over Nazi Germany.