Emma Johanna Henny "Emmy" Göring (; 24 March 1893 – 8 June 1973) was a German actress and the second wife of ''
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
'' Commander-in-Chief
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...
.
She served as
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
's hostess at many state functions and thereby staked a claim to the title of "
First Lady of the Third Reich", a title also sometimes conferred upon
Magda Goebbels.
Early life
She was born Emma Johanna Henny Sonnemann in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
on 24 March 1893 to a wealthy salesman. After schooling, she became an actress at the
National Theatre in
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
.
On 13 January 1916, Sonnemann married actor Karl Köstlin in
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
. Thereafter, she was known as Emmy Köstlin. In her autobiography, Göring said that she and Köstlin soon realized that they were more suited as friends and soon separated. They eventually divorced in 1926.
Marriage to Hermann Göring
On 10 April 1935, in a church ceremony she married the prominent
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
and ''Luftwaffe'' chief Hermann Göring, becoming Emmy Göring. It was also Göring's second marriage; his first wife,
Carin, had died in October 1931.
She was given an unsolicited membership to the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
during Christmas 1938.
Their daughter,
Edda Göring
Edda Carin Wilhelmine Göring (2 June 1938 – 21 December 2018) was the only child of German politician, military leader, and leading member of the Nazi Party Hermann Göring, and his second wife the German actress Emmy Sonnemann.
Born the ye ...
, was born on 2 June 1938, when Emmy was 45 years old.
Edda was reported as being named after
the Countess of Cortellazzo and Buccari, eldest child of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
. ''Time'' reported: "Herr and Frau Göring became her fast friends." However, in her autobiography, Göring said her daughter was named after one of her friends.
Hermann Göring named his country house ''
Carinhall'' after his first wife, while referring to his hunting lodge at Rominten (now
Krasnolesye)the ''
Reichsjägerhof''as "Emmyhall".
"First Lady of the Third Reich"
Emmy served as Hitler's hostess at many state functions prior to the Second World War. This and her claim to be the "First Lady of the Third Reich" created much animosity between herself and Hitler's future wife,
Eva Braun, whom she snubbed and openly despised. Hitler consequently issued angry instructions to Hermann Göring demanding that Emmy treat Eva with more respect; one of the outcomes of Emmy's condescending attitude toward Eva was that she was no longer invited to Hitler's
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
n retreat, the ''
Berghof''. As for Eva Braun, she allegedly never forgave Emmy for having assumed the role of "First Lady of the Reich".
[Gun, p.162] Emmy and
Magda Goebbels, the wife of Propaganda Minister
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
, also tried to outshine each other, hosting lavish parties and dressing like royalty.
As wife of one of the richest and most powerful men in Europe, she received much public attention, was constantly photographed,
[ and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle well into the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Her husband owned mansions, estates and castles in Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, Germany and Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and was a major beneficiary of the Nazis' confiscation of art and wealth from Jews and others deemed enemies by the Nazi regime. Her husband celebrated their daughter's birth by ordering 500 planes to fly over Berlin (he stated he would have flown 1,000 planes as a salute for a son) and the family had a private box at the theatre. She also hosted foreign dignitaries, such as Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Spencer and then Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986) was an American socialite and the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (former King Edward VIII). Their intentio ...
in 1937. Following her husband's promotion to in 1940, she was addressed as ().
After the end of the war, she was arrested at her home in Sackdilling and was imprisoned at Straubing camp, ninety miles from Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
, with her daughter, sister, niece and a servant. A German denazification
Denazification () was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Par ...
court convicted her of being a Nazi and sentenced her to one year in jail. When she was released, 30 percent of her property was confiscated, and she was banned from the stage for five years. She was unable to revive her career.
Later years and death
Some years after her release from jail, Emmy secured a very small flat in a building in the city of Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and remained there for the rest of her life. In her final years, she suffered from sciatica
Sciatica is pain going down the leg from the lower back. This pain may go down the back, outside, or front of the leg. Onset is often sudden following activities such as heavy lifting, though gradual onset may also occur. The pain is often desc ...
. She wrote an autobiography, ''An der Seite meines Mannes'' (1967), published in English as ''My Life with Goering'' in 1972.
Emmy died in Munich on 8 June 1973 at the age of 80. She is buried at Munich Waldfriedhof.
Selected filmography
*''William Tell
William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head.
According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...
'' (1934)
References
Notes
Sources
*Göring, Emmy (1972). ''My Life with Göring''. London: David Bruce & Watson.
*Gun, N.E. (1968) ''Eva Braun'', Coronet Books.
*
* Klee, E. (2007) ''Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945'' (''The Cultural Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. Who was What before and after 1945''), S. Fischer:Frankfurt am Main. .
*
*
*
External links
*
Photographs of Emmy Sonnemann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goering, Emmy
1893 births
1973 deaths
20th-century German actresses
Burials at Munich Waldfriedhof
German autobiographers
German film actresses
German stage actresses
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
Nazi Party members
Actresses from Hamburg
Women in Nazi Germany
Nazis convicted of crimes
Prisoners and detainees of the United States military
Women fascists