A farmer's son, Eggeling went to the Bürgerschule (a type of vocational school once found in some parts of Germany) and the Gymnasium in Blankenburg.

He served with that unit until early 1913, when he was promoted to Oberleutnant (First lieutenant) and transferred to the 7th Machine Gun Detachment (Maschinengewehr Abteilung Nr.

Following the outbreak of World War I, Eggeling was promoted to Hauptmann (Captain) in January 1915 and assumed command of the 5th Machine Gun Detachment (Maschinengewehr Abteilung Nr.

[1] After November 1918, he fought as a member of the Goslar riflemen against the left-wing Marxist Spartacus League in Hanover.

[4] Eggeling first joined the Nazi Party in September 1923 shortly before it was banned in the wake of the Beer Hall Putsch.

[5] He founded several ortsgruppen (local groups) in Anhalt in 1926, and from 1926 to 1930 was the agricultural policy advisor to the Gauleiter of Anhalt-Sachsen-Nord.

In June 1933 he was appointed provincial agricultural leader (Landesbauernführer) of both Anhalt and the Prussian Province of Saxony.

He first raised the issue of a peaceful handover of the city with Martin Bormann, Personal Secretary to the Führer, who warned Eggeling that this would result in his execution and the extermination of his family.

Having failed in his mission, Eggeling returned to Halle and committed suicide by gunshot at Moritzburg Castle on 15 April.