The German Imperial Naval High Command () was an office 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 ...

which existed from 1 April 1889 until 14 March 1899 to command the

German Imperial Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (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 f ...

. A similarly named

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

existed in the

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

and the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'' of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. After the dissolution of the

German Imperial Admiralty The German Imperial Admiralty () was an imperial naval authority in the German Empire. By order of Kaiser Wilhelm I the North German Federal Navy, Northern German Federal Navy Department of the North German Confederation (1866–71), which had ...

(Kaiserliche Admiralität) on 1 April 1889, the Imperial Naval High Command, the Office of the Inspector-General of the Navy, and the Imperial Naval Office ( Reichsmarineamt) were established as successor institutions. The Imperial Naval High Command was headed by a commanding admiral, directly subordinate to the emperor,

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

. With the same obligations and rights as a commanding general of the army, this admiral fulfilled the duties of a Chief of the Naval Staff. Under instructions from the emperor, he commanded all naval units at sea and ashore. When the German Emperor decided to take over the supreme command of the Navy himself on 14 March 1899, the Imperial Naval High Command was disbanded. This happened mainly at the instigation of Admiral

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 ...

, to increase the power of his Imperial Naval Office (''Reichsmarineamt''). Some of the powers of the Imperial Naval High Command were transferred to the previously existing Admiralty Staff.

Commanding Admirals

{{Officeholder table end

Sources

*Walther Hubatsch: Der Admiralstab und die obersten Marinebehörden in Deutschland 1848-1945. Bernard & Graefe: Frankfurt/Main 1958 *Konrad Ehrensberger: 100 Jahre Organisation der deutschen Marine, Bernard & Graefe: Bonn 1993.

External links

*http://www.deutsches-marinearchiv.de/Organisation/dienststellen/oberkommandos/okm.htm *http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/okm.htm Imperial German Navy Naval history of Germany 1889 establishments in Germany 1899 disestablishments

Commanding Admirals

See also

Sources

External links