Friedrich von Hollmann (19 January 1842 – 21 January 1913) was an Admiral of the

German Imperial Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

(Kaiserliche Marine) and Secretary of the

German Imperial Naval Office The Imperial Naval Office (german: Reichsmarineamt) was a government agency of the German Empire. It was established in April 1889, when the German Imperial Admiralty was abolished and its duties divided among three new entities: the Imperial Na ...

under Emperor

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

Naval career

Hollmann was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He entered the

Prussian Navy The Prussian Navy ( German: ''Preußische Marine''), officially the Royal Prussian Navy ( German: ''Königlich Preußische Marine''), was the naval force of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1867. The Prussian Navy was created in 1701 from the ...

in 1857 and made his first trip as a cadet aboard the SMS ''Amazone'', the and . In 1859-1862 he took part in the expedition to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

along with

Karl Eduard Heusner Carl Eduard Heusner (8 January 1843 – 27 February 1891) was a Vice-Admiral of the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). Heusner was born in Perl (today in the German state of Saarland). He entered the Prussian Navy in 1857, and in 1859–1 ...

whom he would follow years later as Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office. In 1863 he was appointed to the Central Division (Zentralabteilung) of the Prussian Navy Department. During the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. ...

in 1864 he commanded the gunboat SMS ''Wolf'', and then (1864–1867) served as a Lieutenant aboard the cadet school ship . From 1867 to 1869 he was assigned to the naval school in Kiel. In Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71 Hollmann was a

Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer an ...

, then (1871–1873) served the expedition to North and South America aboard . Between 1874 and 1881 in the Central Division (Zentralabteilung) of the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

, he commanded the cadet ships and from 1876 to 1878, and then captained the academy corvette of the on its global tour from 1881 to 1883, the year the Krakatoa volcano erupted. On 20 May 1883 the German ship was stationed in the Sunda Strait, observing the ongoing eruption. In 1886-87 he was president of the Ship Examination Board (Schiffsprüfungskommission) and in the subsequent two years, Chief of Staff of the Admiralty. Now a Rear Admiral, Hollmann commanded the squadron which accompanied the Kaiser and Kaiserin on their royal visit to Greece and Turkey, 1889 to 1890. On 22 April 1890, Hollmann became a member of the Federal Council ( Bundesrat, upper house of the Parliament) and State Secretary of the

(Reichsmarineamt) in the cabinet of Chancellor

Leo von Caprivi Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecuccoli (English: ''Count George Leo of Caprivi, Caprara, and Montecuccoli''; born Georg Leo von Caprivi; 24 February 1831 – 6 February 1899) was a German general and statesman who served as the cha ...

, following the resignation of

. Here he planned naval construction and maintenance programs, directed the procurement of naval supplies, and represented the navy in the Reichstag. In the same year he was appointed Vice Admiral and in 1896, finally, Admiral. He was conservative in his attitude to war and especially horrified when he heard talk of war with Britain. In the mid-1890s the quest for a German naval base in the

was uppermost in the minds of the naval leaders of the German Empire. Many saw the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...

(1894–95) as an opportunity to act. For Hollmann, bases were "an absolute necessity for overseas naval operations." In the heated discussions as to where the basse should be, he preferred

Amoy Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...

on the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a ...

. Nevertheless, when the Kaiser demanded that the navy take territory on the

Shandong peninsula The Shandong (Shantung) Peninsula or Jiaodong (Chiaotung) Peninsula is a peninsula in Shandong Province in eastern China, between the Bohai Sea to the north and the Yellow Sea to the south. The latter name refers to the east and Jiaozhou. Geo ...

in September 1895, he demurred because of the uncertain reaction of Japan,

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. In the struggle over the Kaiser's naval expenditures, he admitted in February 1896 that "there are not 10 people in the Reichstag in favor of our great future fleet plans." He resigned in June 1897 because he could not prevail in getting the Kaiser's desired increases in the 1897 budget of the navy through the Reichstag. He promoted a navy of mainly cruisers as opposed to the heavy battle fleet sought by his successor,

Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussi ...

.Röhl & Sombart, p.152

Later life

Hollmann was appointed a member of the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords (german: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Re ...

in 1904. In 1906 he became the President of the Institute for Testing of Aerodynamic Models of the Powered Airship Society ( Motorluftschiff-Studiengesellschaft) and its successor company, the Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft, which dealt with the construction, development and distribution of airships, including for the Navy. On 27 January 1905 he was appointed to the

Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle (german: Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler) was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I, King ...

. He is one of the founders of the German Fleet Association (Deutsche Flottenverein). After leaving the military Hollmann was a member of the supervisory board of the Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft AEG, and later its chairman. He died in Berlin.

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Naval career

Later life

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Further reading