Carl August Amon von Heeringen (26 November 1855 – 29 September 1927) was a Prussian admiral of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. He headed the Imperial Navy News Office (Nachrichtenbureau des Reichsmarineamts) and served as the Chief of the German Naval General Staff ( Admiralstab) 12 March 1911 – 31 March 1913, and was present at the famous War Council of 8 December 1912.

Early life

Heeringen was born in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

in the

Electorate of Hesse The Electorate of Hesse (), also known as Hesse-Kassel or Kurhessen, was the title used for the former Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel after an 1803 reform where the Holy Roman Emperor elevated its ruler to the rank of Elector, thus giving him ...

. He was the son of Josias von Heeringen (1809–1885) and his wife Ehefrau Karoline von Starkloff (1817–1871). His elder brother

Josias von Heeringen Josias von Heeringen (9 March 1850 – 9 October 1926) was a German general of the imperial era who served as Prussian Minister of War and saw service in the First World War. Early life Heeringen was born in Kassel in the Electorate of Hesse. ...

was a general.

Career

He worked with leaders of the

such as Kaiser

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

, and admirals

Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (; born Alfred Peter Friedrich Tirpitz; 19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral and State Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperi ...

, Georg Alexander von Müller,

Gustav von Senden-Bibran Gustav Ernst Otto Egon Freiherr (Baron) von Bibran-Modlau, Senden-Bibran (23 July 1847, Rokitki, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Reisicht, Lower Silesia, Germany – 23 November 1909 in Berlin) was an admiral of the Kaiserliche Marine, German I ...

, and

Friedrich von Hollmann Friedrich von Hollmann (19 January 1842 – 21 January 1913) was an Admiral of the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) and Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office under Emperor Wilhelm II. Naval career Hollmann was born in Berlin ...

to build a strong German navy. He saw it as a means to secure Germany's position on the world stage. Also, he saw a great national navy as a unifying force for an empire still divided into various kingdoms. At the Navy News Office he worked with and attempted to direct pressure groups such as the

Pan-German League The Pan-German League () was a Pan-German nationalist organization which was officially founded in 1891, a year after the Zanzibar Treaty was signed. Primarily dedicated to the German question of the time, it held positions on German imperia ...

and the Colonial Society ( Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft), and the

Navy League (Germany) The Navy League or Fleet Association () in Imperial Germany was an interest group formed on April 30, 1898 on initiative of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz through the German Imperial Naval Office (''Reichsmarineamt'') which he headed (1897–1916) t ...

(Flottenverein). In March 1896, at the request of Admiral Otto von Diederichs, Chief of Staff of the Naval High Command he produced the first naval plans for a war against

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, which emphasized rapid mobilization and preemptive strikes.By order of the Kaiser: Otto von Diederichs and the rise of the Imperial German Navy, 1865-1902 by Terrell D. Gottschall; Institute Press, 2003, 337 pages, p. 125. He had become something of a follower of Tirpitz, and, when the latter took over the

German Imperial Naval Office The Imperial Naval Office () 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 Naval High Command (''Ka ...

(Reichsmarineamtin) in 1897, he followed to head up the Central Division (Zentralabteilung). At the Kaiser's request in January 1913, he was involved in efforts to plan a coordinated wartime use of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

fleets in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

to prevent French troop movements from

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

.Austro-Hungarian naval policy, 1904-14 by Milan N. Vego; Taylor & Francis, 1996, 213 pages. pp.117-8.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heeringen, August von 1855 births 1927 deaths Admirals of the Imperial German Navy Military personnel from Kassel