File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1979-128-26,_Bernhard-Hermann_Ramcke,_Kurt_Student_crop.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Kurt Student
Sign in to saveAlso known as Kurt Arthur Benno Student
German Luftwaffe general (1890–1978)
OverviewAI-generated
Kurt Student (1890–1978) was a German military officer and aircraft pilot who served in the Luftwaffe during World War I and World War II. He held the rank of Generaloberst and commanded the 7th Flieger Division. His allegiance was to Nazi Germany, and he was detained in the London District Cage. Student was also an author, with works including *Generaloberst Kurt Student und seine Fallschirmajäger* and *Kreta, Sieg der Kühnsten*.
Born in Birkholz and dying in Lemgo, Student’s professional career spanned from 1910 to 1945. He spoke German, and his archives are held by the German Federal Archives. While OpenAlex data associates his name with concepts such as psychology and computer science, his primary historical record identifies him as a military figure.
Synthesized by Vinony from 36 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, OpenAlex, Open Library, Crossref, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Works
- 2
Top works
- Generaloberst Kurt Student und seine Fallschirmajäger
- Kreta, Sieg der Kühnsten
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Born
- 12 May 1890, Birkholz, German Empire , (now Borów , Poland )
- Died
- 1 July 1978 (aged 88), Lemgo , West Germany
- Allegiance
- German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
- Branch
- Imperial German Army Prussian Army Reichswehr Luftwaffe
- Service years
- 1910–1945
- Rank
- Generaloberst
- Commands
- 7th Air Division , 11th Air Corps , 1st Parachute Army
- Conflicts
- World War I World War II
- Awards
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
- Criminal status
- Released in 1948
- Criminal charge
- War crimes
- Penalty
- 5 years imprisonment
- Victims
- Cretan civilians , Allied prisoners of war
- Date
- May 1941
- Country
- Greece
- Location
- Crete
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Kurt
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Germany
- Place of birth
- Birkholz
- Place of death
- Lemgo
- Languages spoken
- German
- Conflict
- World War II
- Military branch
- Luftwaffe
- Military rank
- Generaloberst
- Image
- Wolfgang Willrich - General der Flieger Kurt Student, 1941.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- Kurt Student
- date of birth
- 1890-05-12
- date of death
- 1978-07-01
- commander of (DEPRECATED)
- 7th Flieger Division
- allegiance
- Nazi Germany
- name in native language
- Kurt Student
- start of work period
- 1910-00-00
- place of detention
- London District Cage
- end of work period
- 1945-00-00
- archives at
- German Federal Archives
via Wikidata · CC0
~11 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Kurt Arthur Benno Student (12 May 1890 – 1 July 1978) was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. An early pioneer of airborne forces, Student was in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the Fallschirmjäger, and as the most senior member of the Fallschirmjäger, commanded it throughout the war. Student led the first major airborne attack in history, the Battle for The Hague, in May 1940. He also commanded the Fallschirmjäger in its last major airborne operation, the invasion of Crete in May 1941. The operation was a success despite German losses, and led the Allies to hasten the training and development of their own airborne units.
In 1947, Student was tried and convicted of war crimes for the mistreatment and murder of prisoners of war by his men in Crete. Student was also responsible for a wave of reprisal massacres committed against Cretan civilians in 1941 but avoided harsh punishment.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Kurt Student” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.