Erich Hippke

Prof. Dr.med. Erich Hippke (7 March 1888 in Prökuls – 10 June 1969 in Bonn) was a German Air Force General Surgeon with the rank of Generaloberstabsarzt. He is most noted as Chief Medical Officer of Luftwaffe and subsequent Inspector of the Medical Matters of Luftwaffe during World War II.

Erich Hippke was born on March 7, 1888 in the town Prökuls, East Prussia. Young Erich intended to be a military doctor, thus he enrolled the elite Academy for military surgeons, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Akademie in Berlin. Also he had to join the German Army on April 1, 1907 and was officially assigned to the 4th Guard Infantry Regiment (4. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß) stationed in Berlin-Moabit.

During his senior years on the Academy, Hippke was commissioned Unterarzt (Officer candidate) on March 1, 1912 and assigned to Grenadier-Regiment 9. Hippke finally graduated on June 19, 1913 and served with his regiment in its garrisons in Stargard, Bromberg or Demmin. He was also promoted to the rank of Assistenzarzt (equal to Leutnant) on August 18, 1913.

With his new promotion, Hippke was transferred to the 54th Infantry Regiment "von der Goltz" (Infanterie-Regiment von der Goltz (7. Pommersches) Nr.54) stationed in Kolberg as Troop medic.

With the outbreak of World War I, his regiment was sent to the Eastern front as a part of 36th Reserve Division under the command of Generalleutnant Kurt Kruge. Hippke subsequently participated in the Battle of Gumbinnen and Battle of Tannenberg. In September 1915, he was transferred to the Division Staff and appointed Adjutant to the Division Surgeon. In this capacity, Hippke was promoted to the rank of Oberarzt (Oberleutnant) on October 13, 1915 and saw combat in Galicia.

In October 1916, Hippke was transferred to the Heeresgruppe Below under the command of General Otto von Below, and served on the Macedonian Front. Hippke spent almost year with this unit, before he was appointed Adjutant of the Army Surgeon within 11th Army under General Kuno von Steuben command.

In July 1917, Hippke was sent to the Palestine front, where he was assigned to the Staff of Heeresgruppe F under the command of General Erich von Falkenhayn. He was tasked again with the capacity of Adjutant of the Army Surgeon.

For his service during the War, Hippke was decorated with the both classes of Iron Cross, Prussian Red Cross Medal 3rd Class and Ottoman War Medal.

In the time of Nazi Germany, from 1937 to December 1943, Hippke was the Chief Medical Officer of Luftwaffe. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research. Hippke was the true source of the ideas for the so-called "freezing experiments" on behalf of the Luftwaffe, conducted at Dachau concentration camp by Sigmund Rascher.

He was succeeded by Oskar Schröder on May 15, 1944.

He was arrested only in December 1946. By that time he was a general practitioner working in Hamburg, Germany. He avoided the Doctors' Trial and left Nuremberg without charge. He was never charged with a crime but American investigators of the Nazi medical atrocities later concluded that he was actually the source of the idea for those deadly experiments on humans.

• German Cross in Silver on March 20, 1944
• War Merit Cross (1939), 1st and 2nd class with Swords
• German Red Cross Decoration 1st Class
• Iron Cross (1914), 1st and 2nd class (World War I decoration)
• Prussian Red Cross Medal 3rd Class, (World War I decoration)
• Ottoman War Medal (World War I decoration)
• Spanish Cross in Bronze without Swords
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer)
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award, 1st Class (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung)
• Anschluss Medal (Die Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938)
• Memel Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an die Heimkerhr des Memellandes 22. März 1939)
• Sudetenland Medal (Die Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938)
• Grand Officer of the Italian Military Order of Savoy
• Imperial Order of the Yoke and the Arrows (Spain)
• Austrian World War I Medal with Swords
• Hungarian World War I Medal with Swords