Gustav Ernst Otto Egon Freiherr (Baron) von Senden-Bibran (23 July 1847,

Reisicht Rokitki () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Chojnów, within Legnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately north of Chojnów, north-west of Legnica, and west of the regional capi ...

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

– 23 November 1909 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was an admiral of 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 ...

Biography

His father was a Silesian landowner who had served in the Austro-Hungarian Cavalry. He entered the Prussian Navy at age 15, never married, and dedicated his life to building a strong German Navy.The Entourage of Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1888-1918 by

Isabel V. Hull Isabel Virginia Hull (born 1949) is John Stambaugh Professor Emerita of History and the former chair of the history department at Cornell University. She specializes in German history from 1700 to 1945, with a focus on sociopolitics, political th ...

; Cambridge University Press, 2004 , p. 178-80. After service in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, from 1871 to 1874 Senden-Bibran attended the post-graduate Naval War College, the ''Marineakademie'', along with the future admiral and colleague

Otto von Diederichs Ernst Otto von Diederichs (7 September 1843 – 8 March 1918) was a German admiral of the Prussian Navy who served both the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire. He was the first governor of the German Jiaozhou Bay concession in China. Early ...

.Gottschall, Terrel D.: "By Order of the Kaiser. Otto von Diederichs and the Rise of the Imperial German Navy, 1865-1902", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2003. Senden-Bibran was stationed in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, 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 ...

and

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. After a cruise around the world (1881–83) he was given more important commands at home. He became Naval Adjutant or aide to

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 his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

1888, and, in 1889, Chief of the German Imperial Naval Cabinet. In both positions he was very valuable for his ability to explain technical matters in a manner that the Kaiser could understand. In 1892, he became Rear Admiral and 1899, finally, Vice Admiral. Senden-Bibran often came into strong conflict with army and civilian leaders over his naval building plans, but he often won his goals with the support of

, who "had nothing but the navy in his head." He made no secret of his goal of building a navy which would wrest world economic and political power from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. He was accused of having "delusions of grandeur" and little knowledge of the realities of world politics and power. His period of greatest influence was in the 1890, lessening after the triumph of Tirpitz. He was something of a "naval

Éminence grise An ''éminence grise'' () or gray eminence is a powerful decisionmaker or advisor who operates covertly in a nonpublic or unofficial capacity. The original French phrase referred to François Leclerc du Tremblay, the right hand man of Cardina ...

" to the Kaiser, with whom he had a standing appointment to meet on Tuesday mornings, either in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. His power waned after the appointment of

Admiral 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 the Imperial Naval Office in 1897, partly because he took the losing pro-cruiser side in the debate within the government (and for the Kaiser's ear) over whether Germany should build a cruiser fleet or a great battleship fleet. In the controversy over where Germany should seek a base in the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

, Senden-Bibran preferred Chusan, an island in the mouth of

Hangzhou Bay Hangzhou Bay is a funnel-shaped inlet of the East China Sea on the middle eastern coast of Mainland China, bordered by the province of Zhejiang to the west and south, and the municipality of Shanghai to north. The bay extends westwards to its ...

.By order of the Kaiser, p. 154 He retired from the Naval Cabinet in 1906 in favor of

Georg Alexander von Müller Georg Alexander von Müller (24 March 1854 – 18 April 1940) was an Admiral of the Imperial German Navy and a close friend of the Wilhelm II, Kaiser in the run up to the World War I, First World War. Career Müller grew up in Sweden, where hi ...

. In 1903 he was made full Admiral and Adjutant General to the Kaiser. He died in 1909.

Honours and awards

;German orders and decorations''Handbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat fur das jahr 1908''
p. 39
/ref> ;Foreign orders and decorations

References

Sources

*The Entourage of Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1888-1918 by

; Cambridge University Press, 2004 *Gottschall, Terrel D.: "By Order of the Kaiser. Otto Von Diederichs and the Rise of the Imperial German Navy, 1865-1902", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2003. *The Kaiser and His Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany by John C. G. Röhl; Translated byTerence F. Cole, Cambridge University Press; 288 pages. *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. 154. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Senden-Bibran, Gustav von 1847 births 1909 deaths Prussian naval officers Admirals of the Imperial German Navy German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War People from Legnica County Military personnel from the Province of Silesia Recipients of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 1st class Grand Crosses of the Order of Franz Joseph Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 1st class Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Grand Crosses of Naval Merit Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order