Hrdlicka was born on 15 October 1920 in Maxdorf in Mähren, present-day the suburb Dvorska of Brno in the Czech Republic.

On 6 August 1942, Hrdlicka was shot down and wounded in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 7021—factory number) near the airfield at Kastornoje, approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of Voronezh.

[3] On 18 December 1944, Hrdlicka was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the I. Gruppe of JG 2 "Richthofen".

He succeeded Hauptmann Kurt Hoffmann who temporarily had led the Gruppe after its former commander, Major Walter Matoni had been injured on 5 December.

[4] Hrdlicka was shot down by United States Army Air Forces fighters and killed in action on 25 March 1945 near Betzenrod, present-day a suburb of Schotten, Hesse.