Eggeling was born in Blankenburg am Harz in the Duchy of Brunswick. A farmer's son, Eggeling went to the Bürgerschule and the Gymnasium in Blankenburg. Between 1898 and 1904 he completed officer training at the cadet schools at Oranienstein and Groß-Lichterfelde. In March 1904, Eggeling joined the army as an infantrylieutenant, and after August 1914, served in combat units during World War I. By 1915 he was promoted to captain and led a machine-gun unit. After November 1918, he fought as a member of the Goslar riflemen against the left-wing MarxistSpartacus League in Hanover. In October 1919 Eggeling retired from the army. Eggeling attended the Agricultural College at Halle. He completed his studies at the age of 35 and began work as an agriculturist. In November 1922 he was administering the rural domain at Frose in Anhalt. Eggeling joined the Nazi Party in July 1925. In 1930, Eggeling organized the agrarian policy apparatus in Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt. In June 1933 he was appointed provincial agricultural leader of the Prussian Province of Saxony and the Free State of Anhalt. Eggeling's skills so impressed his superiors that he was elected to the Reichstag for the NSDAP in November, 1933. He was also named Deputy Gauleiter for Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt. After Gauleiter Wilhelm Friedrich Loeper's death on 23 October 1935, Eggeling, as Deputy Gauleiter, was charged with the leadership of the Gau's business. Owing to this, he was granted leave from his job as a provincial agricultural leader in February 1936. In the same year, Eggeling joined the SS and was given the honorary rank of SS-Brigadeführer. On 20 April 1937 Eggeling was appointed Gauleiter of Gau Halle-Merseburg, succeeding Rudolf Jordan. At the same time, he was elected to the Prussian State Council and promoted to SS-Gruppenführer. On 21 June 1943, Eggeling was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer. On 18 August 1944 he was appointed Oberpräsident of the Province of Halle-Merseburg. He thus united under his control the highest party and governmental offices in the province. In April, 1945, convinced of the futility of defending the town of Halle, overcrowded with thousands of refugees, from the advancing American troops, Eggeling tried in vain to get Adolf Hitler to rescind his unconditional order to defend to the death. Having failed in his mission, Eggeling committed suicide by gunshot at Moritzburg Castle in Halle on 15 April.
