Johann Wilhelm Kinau (22 August 1880 – 31 May 1916), better known by his

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Gorch Fock ("Fock, Gorch", in ''Webster's Biographical Dictionary'' (1960), Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.), was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

author. Other pseudonyms he used were Jakob Holst and Giorgio Focco.

Life

Kinau was the eldest child of fisherman Heinrich Wilhelm Kinau and his wife, Metta Holst, on the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

island of

Finkenwerder Finkenwerder (; Low German: ''Finkwarder'', ''Finkenwarder'' or ''- wärder''; German: ''Finkeninsel''; translation: Island of finches) is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany in the borough Hamburg-Mitte. It is the location of the Hamburg Airbus plant ...

(now part of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

). In 1895 he was apprenticed to his uncle, the merchant August Kinau in

Geestemünde Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

(today part of

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

), and from 1897 until 1898 he attended a commercial school in Bremerhaven. Later he was employed as an accountant in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East Berlin, East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chem ...

and from 1907 at the shipping company Hamburg-Amerika-Linie in

. He married Rosa Elisabeth Reich in 1908, with whom he had three children. In 1904, Kinau started publishing poetry and stories in his native

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

dialect. In 1913, he published his most popular work, the novel ''Seefahrt ist Not!'', in which he describes the life of the deep sea fishermen of his home island. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Kinau was drafted into the German

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

in 1915. He fought in

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and

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and later at

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

. From 1916 he served in the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

, having requested the transfer. He served as a lookout on the light cruiser SMS ''Wiesbaden'' and died when the ship was sunk in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...

. His body was found on the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

shore on the island Väderöbod midsummer's eve 1916 near

Fjällbacka Fjällbacka is a locality situated in Tanum Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden, with 859 inhabitants in 2010. It is located approximately from Gothenburg, from Oslo and from Stockholm, and is mostly known as a summer tourist resort. ...

. He was later buried on the island of Stensholmen together with other German and British servicemen. He was recognised by carrying a poem, "Letzter Wunsch", which predicted his demise, in a hermetically sealed box in his pocket: In 1938, his widow was invited to take part in the first voyage of M/V ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' to Madeira. The German Navy named two training

windjammers A windjammer is a commercial sailing ship with multiple masts, however rigged. The informal term "windjammer" arose during the transition from the Age of Sail to the Steam-powered vessel, Age of Steam during the 19th century. The Oxford English ...

in his honor, the ''Gorch Fock'' of 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 ...

and the ''Gorch Fock'' of the

Deutsche Marine The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

. Gorch-Fock-Wall on the

Hamburg Wallring The Wallring () is a semi-circular urban ensemble encircling the inner city of Hamburg. It consists of a four-lane ring road with a total length of and a continuous built-up street front on its inner side. The outer perimeter is – for the large ...

is also named after him.

Burial

Gorch Fock is buried on the Stensholmen in Bohuslän the northernmost part of the Swedish west coast. He was buried in the War cemetery on Stensholmen in 1920 by the pastor C. Norborg in Fjällbacka alongside two British and thirteen German sailors found dead in the archipelago and brought to land by local fishermen.

Works

*1910 ''Schullengrieper und Tungenkrieper'' *1911 ''Hein Godenwind'' *1913 ''Hamborger Janmaten'' *1913 ''Seefahrt ist Not!'' () *1914 ''Fahrensleute'' *1914 ''Cilli Cohrs'' (play) *1914 ''Doggerbank'' (play) *1914–15 War poems in Plattdüütsch *1918 (posthumously) ''Sterne überm Meer'' (Diary notes and poems)

References

External links

* *
Gorch Fock biography (in German)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fock, Gorch 1880 births 1916 deaths Writers from Hamburg German military writers Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I German military personnel killed in World War I German male poets 20th-century German poets 20th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers Military personnel from Hamburg

Life

Burial

Works

References

Further reading

External links