On 24 March 1909 Kraiss was commissioned into the Kingdom of Württemberg’s 8th infantry regiment "Grand Duke Friedrich of Baden", No.

In March 1937 he was promoted to Oberst (Colonel) and was given command of an infantry regiment in Hamburg in October of the same year.

In March 1941, he handed command of the regiment to Colonel Erich Jaschke and was briefly transferred into the Führerreserve.

In April 1943 Kraiss took over the newly established 355th Infantry Division, which sustained heavy losses during action against the Red Army at Merefa and was subsequently disbanded on 9 November 1943.

Against the orders of Adolf Hitler, Kraiss moved his division back to a defensive line about 20 kilometers away from the coast.