THE KAISER AND HIS NAVY

THIS card, probably published in 1905-06, reflects the naval ambitions of Kaiser Wilhelm II (centre), ambitions which helped fuel growing tensions with Britain that came to a climax in 1914. On the left are two of his admirals - von Koester and von Holtzendorff, significant names which are nevertheless unlikely to spring readily to the minds of most readers.

Until the late 1890s Germany relied on its large army for defence. In 1897, however, the new head of the Imperial German Navy, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, advised the Kaiser that the country needed a large modern navy. He argued that this would help protect Germany's growing overseas empire and its northern coastline from enemy attack and in 1898 the German Navy Laws authorised the massive expansion that Tirpitz sought.

By 1914 the German Navy was the second largest in the world. It included seventeen modern dreadnoughts, five battlecruisers, twenty-five cruisers and twenty pre-dreadnought battleships. It also had ten diesel-powered U-boats - with seventeen more under construction - and another thirty petrol-powered submarines.

All those seen in this card were involved to a greater or lesser extent in that growth. On the right are (top) the Kaiser's younger brother Prince Heinrich of Prussia, who eventually rose to the rank of Grand Admiral, while below, wearing his cap at a rakish angle as always, is the Kaiser's son, Prince Adalbert, who played only a small part in these historic events.

Grand Admiral Hans von Koester (1844-1928)
He joined the Prussian Navy in 1859 and was appointed to Germany's Baltic Sea forces in 1896. He was ennobled in 1900 and promoted to Grand Admiral in 1905, a fact which helps to date this card. His retirement was announced in Berlin on 31 December 1906 when newspaper reporters recalled that he had had much to do with the development of the German Navy. He was its commander-in-chief for a number of years until ill health forced him to give up active work in July 1906.

Grand Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff (1853-1919)
His name is one that should we should remember because of his famous memo of 22 December 1916 to the Kaiser in which he said unrestricted submarine warfare would drive the British into submission within five months and that the Americans were too disorganised to help. He was made a Grand Admiral in 1918.

Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1862-1929)
The prince was a career officer who joined the Imperial Navy as a fifteen-year-old in 1877, his education including a two-year voyage round the world. At the beginning of the First World War, he was named commander-in-chief of the German Baltic Fleet. Although the means provided to him were far inferior to those of Russia's Baltic Fleet, he succeeded, until the 1917 Revolution, in putting Russia's naval forces on the defensive, hindering them from making attacks on the German coast. After the conclusion of hostilities with Russia his mission was over and he left active duty. With the end of the war in 1919 and the dissolution of the monarchy in Germany, he left the navy.

Prince Adalbert of Prussia (1884-1948)
One of Europe's 'Sailor Princes', he was married at Wilhemshaven at a significant point in his country's history - on 3 August 1914 - to Princess Adelheid ('Adi') of Saxe-Meinigen. Adalbert died in Switzerland on 22 September 1948, while his wife survived him until 1971.

Although the card is the usual dimensions, this version was not intended for postal use. Instead of space for address and message, the coloured reverse features ratings' badges, another illustration of the level interest Germans were encouraged to have in their navy at the time.

Go Back.