Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Carl Gustaf Bloomfield Eric von Rosen (2 June 1879 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

– 25 April 1948 Skeppsholmen,

) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

honorary doctor, patron, explorer, ethnographer, prominent figure in the Swedish upper class and a leading figure in Sweden's own

national socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

movement in the 1930s.

Family

Von Rosen was married to Baroness Mary Fock (1886–1967) with whom he had six children: Björn (b. 1905), Mary (b. 1906),

Carl Gustaf von Rosen Count Carl Gustaf Ericsson von Rosen (19 August 1909 – 13 July 1977) was a Swedish pioneer aviator, humanitarian, and mercenary pilot. He flew relief missions in a number of conflicts as well as combat missions for Finland (whose first mili ...

(b. 1909), Birgitta (b. 1913), Egil (b. 1919), and Anna (b. 1926). Eric von Rosen's father was Count Carl Gustaf von Rosen and his mother was Ella Carlton Moore of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, a descendant of the Winthrop family. His grandmother was the writer and philanthropist Clara Jessup Moore. He was brother to Count Clarence von Rosen. His grandson (through Birgitta) is the film director Peter Nestler, who in 2009 made a film about Rosen called ''Death and Devil'' (''Tod und Teufel'').

Relationship to Hermann Göring

Von Rosen became brother-in-law to Hermann Göring when his wife's sister, Carin von Kantzow, married Göring. The pair became acquainted when Göring was flying Eric von Rosen in bad weather from Stockholm to Rockelstad Castle, at the lake

Båven Båven () is a lake in the municipalities Flens, Gnesta, and Nyköping in Södermanland, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is th ...

in Sörmland, Sweden. Due to bad weather conditions, Göring had to stay at the castle. There he became acquainted with the sister of von Rosen's wife,

Carin von Kantzow Carin is a given name and surname. As a given name it is a variant spelling of Karin. Notable persons with the name Carin include: Persons with the given name * Carin Cone (born 1940), American swimmer * Carin du Rietz (1766–1788), Swedish soldie ...

. She was at that time married to a Swedish officer, but would be his future wife and greatest love.

The von Rosen swastika

Eric von Rosen had been using a

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

as a personal owner's mark. He originally saw the symbol on

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...

s in

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

, while at school. Knowing that the symbol signified good luck for the Vikings, he utilized the symbol and had it carved into all his luggage when going on an expedition to South America in 1901. It is also found in the hunting lodge he commissioned

Ivar Tengbom Ivar Justus Tengbom (April 7, 1878 – August 6, 1968) was a Swedish architect and one of the best-known representatives of the Swedish neo-classical architecture of the 1910s and 1920s. Tengbom was born in Vireda in Jönköping County, stu ...

and to build in what is now

Jaktstuguskogen Nature Reserve Jaktstuguskogen Nature Reserve ( sv, Jaktstuguskogens naturreservat) is a nature reserve in Södermanland County, Sweden. Established in 1919, it is the oldest nature reserve in the county and the first natural monument of Sweden. History From at ...

, in 1909. Being a friend of Finland, in March 1918 he gave the newly independent state an aircraft, which signified the beginning of the

Finnish Air Force The Finnish Air Force (FAF or FiAF; fi, Ilmavoimat, , Air forces; sv, Flygvapnet, , Air weapon) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of Finnis ...

. The aircraft, a license manufactured Morane-Saulnier MS Parasol/ Thulin D, was marked with his badge, a blue swastika on a white background. The Finnish Air Force adopted this

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...

as their national insignia. Göring had noted the swastika during his stay in Sweden and at von Rosens' castle (forged into a metal piece at the fireplace). However, the swastika of the German Nazi party had been adopted already in 1920, two years before Göring met

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

References

External links

Rockelstad castle's home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Eric 1879 births 1948 deaths Politicians from Stockholm Swedish explorers Swedish collaborators with Nazi Germany Swedish Nazis Swedish people of American descent Swedish people of English descent