Relationship to Hermann Göring
In February 1919, Eric von Rosen hired Hermann Göring, who was then flying for the Swedish airline Svensk Lufttrafik to fly him from Stockholm to Rockelstad Castle. The World War I flying ace piloted the count through a severe snowstorm, before landing on the frozen Lake Båven. The pilot impressed von Rosen, who was invited to stay the night. Göring may at this time have first seen the swastika emblem, which Rosen had set in the chimney piece as a family badge.
This was also the first time that Göring saw his future wife; the count introduced his sister-in-law, Carin von Kantzow. Estranged from her husband of 10 years, she had an eight-year-old son. Göring was immediately infatuated and asked her to meet him in Stockholm. Carin obtained a divorce, followed Göring to Munich and married him on 3 February 1922, making the two men brothers-in-law. In 1940, describing their friendship, von Rosen stated:
Hermann Goering is close to me through family relationship. I know him as a man who loves peace with all his heart and who has wide cultural interests.
What he can do for Sweden he has done, with the help of Hitler, and I am convinced he will always work in that direction. Sweden can count on the goodwill that Marshal Goering in collaboration with Hitler will always have for us.
Eric's son, Carl Gustaf von Rosen's career in aviation can be partially attributed to the influence of his uncle, following Göring taking the 11 year old on his first flight in February 1920.
Eric von Rosen maintained connections with Göring as late as 1945. A May 1945 report from the American legation in Stockholm alleged that von Rosen's son, Carl Gustaf von Rosen, facilitated Hermann Göring's smuggling of looted artworks into Sweden. However, subsequent archival examinations of Eric von Rosen's papers by Sweden's Commission on Jewish Assets did not rule out, but found no corroborating evidence for such transfers or any related commentary from von Rosen himself on wartime dealings or their aftermath.
