Karl Eglseer was born in Bad Ischl in Upper Austria on 5 July 1890. He entered the Austro-Hungarian Army in August 1908 as an ensign, serving in World War I. Remaining in the Austrian Bundesheer after 1918, he transferred to the Wehrmacht after the Anschluss with Germany in 1938.[1]
In October 1940 he was promoted to command the 4th Mountain Division, serving in Army Group South on the Eastern Front.[1] In October 1941 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his leadership of the division.[2] Eglseer then led the 714th Infantry Division[a] in Yugoslavia from February 1943 to December 1943, when he became commander of the XVIII Army Corps on the Northern sector of the Eastern Front.[1]
On 23 June 1944 the aircraft carrying Eglseer, as well as Generals Dietl, von Wickede and Franz Rossi, crashed in the Styria region of Austria. There were no survivors.[3] At the time of his death Eglseer held the rank of General of Mountain Troops.[1]
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN978-3-7909-0284-6.
Heinemann, Winfried; Smelser, Ronald; Syring, Enrico (1997). Die Militärelite Des Dritten Reiches: 27 Biographische Skizzen [The military elite of the Third Reich. 27 biographical sketches] (in German). Berlin: Ullstein. ISBN978-3548332208.
Lucas, James (1980). Alpine Elite: German Mountain Troops of World War II. Jane's Publishing. ISBN0531037134.
