[6] His parents were farmers, and in 1916, his father was killed in action on the Western Front of World War I. Bär attended the Volksschule, a combined primary and lower secondary school, in Sommerfeld.

Initially, he planned on taking over the family farm in Engelsdorf and following graduation attended the agriculture school in Wurzen.

He was transferred again, attending the flight school at Ludwigslust where he attained his Luftwaffe Advanced Pilot's Certificate (Erweiterter Luftwaffen-Flugzeugführerschein), also known as 'C'-Certificate, confirming proficiency on multi-engine aircraft, on 16 May 1938.

Initially Bär refused, but after he illegally conducted some aerobatics in the Ju 86 leading to an engine failure, he reluctantly accepted and became a fighter pilot.

[13] This earned him the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse) on 29 September 1939 which was presented to him by Hugo Sperrle.

[10] During this time, he had several emergency landings in badly damaged aircraft and was shot down over the English Channel on 2 September 1940 by a Spitfire.

[Note 3] When Göring asked him what he was thinking about while in the water, Bär immediately replied, "Your speech, Herr Reichsmarschall, in which you said that England is no longer an island!

[16] In early 1941, he was credited with an additional four aerial victories against the Royal Air Force (RAF), bringing his total to 17.

On the morning of 22 June, Bär and his wingman Oberfeldwebel Heinrich Höfemeier were escorting a damaged Heinkel He 111 over German lines when they made contact with 18 Tupolev SB bombers from the 39 SBAP (Skorostnoy Bombardirovohchnyy Aviatsionny Polk—high speed bomber aviation regiment) and 10 SAD (Smeshannaya Aviatsionnaya Diviziya—composite aviation regiment).

The Germans noted the vulnerability of the Soviet aircraft which lacked self-sealing fuel tanks and had a propensity to burst into flames.

[17] JG 51 at the time was part of Fliegerkorps II, operating in the central sector of the Eastern Front.

Three were lost from the 411 BAP (Bombardirovochnyy Aviatsionyy Polk—bomber aviation regiment) operating under the OSNAZ (Osoboye Naznachenie—Special purpose-unit or task force).

[23] On 11 May, Bär was transferred from IV./JG 51 on the Moscow front to take command of I. Gruppe of Gordon Gollob's Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77) flying wing.

[34] Mutual animosity between the two men, Gollob, a disciplinarian pro-Nazi, and Bär, an anti-authoritarian, ensured an intense rivalry.

[36] That same day, Inspector of Fighters (General der Jagdflieger) Adolf Galland arrived to inspect Bär's I./JG 77 and JG 77 surpassed 2,000 victories.

[38] In June 1942, JG 77 was moved to the Mediterranean theater and took part in the air battles over Malta before relocating to Tunisia and participating in the North African campaign.

Bär accounted for two Spitfires—Flight Sergeant Tilston, from 601, was forced to bail out and Flying Officer Mahon from the South African unit was killed.

After several arguments with Hermann Göring and JG 77's new commander, Oberst Johannes Steinhoff, in mid-1943 Bär was transferred to France "for cowardice before the enemy" and demoted to squadron leader.

[60][65] Bär had just landed at Störmede airfield from a II./JG 1 intercept when a smoking United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) B-24 of the 458th Bombardment Group passed overhead.

[67] Bär claimed his 204th and 205th victories against two Hawker Typhoons on 1 January 1945 during Operation Bodenplatte, a Luftwaffe mass attack against Allied airfields in the Benelux area.

[71] On 23 April, Bär transferred to the elite Jet Experten unit Jagdverband 44 (JV 44), led by Adolf Galland.

The air defences had detected an incoming American formation and Bär instructed the jet pilots on the appropriate tactical approach to take when the interception was made.

Flying the Me 262 A-1/U5, a six MK 108 cannon prototype, he was accompanied by Major Wilhelm Herget and the non-commissioned officer NCO (Unteroffizier) Franz Köster when the trio engaged American fighters over Munich-Riem Airfield; Bär claimed one aerial victory.

[73] While not flying operationally, Bär spent most of his time giving hasty instruction to the new pilots still being assigned to JV 44.

All told, he had achieved 16 victories in the Me 262, making him the second most successful Jet Expert of the war, which he finished as a Lieutenant Colonel (Oberstleutnant).

[Note 4][75] During the final days of the Second World War in Europe, Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant) Adolf Galland attempted to surrender JV 44 to American forces from his hospital bed.

Bär was further pressured to relocate JV 44 when Major General (Generalmajor) Dietrich Peltz, commander of IX.

He settled in Braunschweig, where he continued his career in aviation, including a lead position for motor-powered flight with the Deutscher Aero Club.

The aircraft spun down to 50 meters (160 ft); unable to regain control, Bär was killed in the resulting crash at Braunschweig-Waggum.

At the same time, Virchow argues, the characterizations point to a concept of masculinity whose very one-sided characteristics could be described by qualities such as "hardness", "sacrificial will", "heroism in the face of death", "bravery", "resilience", "dash" or "stamina".