Alfred Meyer-Waldeck

Alfred Wilhelm Moritz Meyer , since April 1903 Meyer-Waldeck (born November 27, 1864 in Saint Petersburg , † August 25, 1928 in Bad Kissingen ) was a German naval officer , most recently vice admiral and governor of the German protected area Kiautschou (1911-1914).

Life

Meyer-Waldeck as captain z. lake

Meyer joined the Imperial Navy as a cadet on April 21, 1884 and completed his basic training on the sailing frigate SMS Niobe . He graduated from the naval school from September 26, 1884 to April 14, 1885, then joined the cruiser frigate SMS Moltke until April 18, 1887, where he was appointed midshipman on April 16, 1885 and, two years later, he was promoted to lieutenant at sea . He was then used as such on the ironclad SMS König Wilhelm until October 7, 1887 . Meyer then went to the naval school again from October 8, 1887 to September 14, 1888 and then to the Moltke as an officer on watch until April 30, 1889 . He was employed in the same position on the Niobe until September 28, 1889 . There, he was transferred to I. sailors Artillery Division as a company officer until September 30, 1890. He was then as a security officer to 6 April 1891 on a battleship SMS Kaiser in use and was on Dec. 15, 1890 to lieutenant promoted .

From April 7 to September 30, 1891 Meyer worked as a watch and training officer on the brig SMS Musquito . He was then a company officer in the ship's boy department and was used from April 1, 1892 to January 12, 1893 as a watch officer on the training ship SMS Gneisenau . Meyer was deployed as the first officer on the Aviso SMS Wacht . From April 1, 1893 to March 31, 1895 he was commanded to serve in the Navy High Command. This was followed by a transfer to I. Torpedo Department, where Meyer was then used as a company, watch and first officer as well as a torpedo boat commander. At the same time he acted from August 3 to September 21, 1897 as commander of the torpedo division boat D 1 and flag lieutenant of the II. Torpedo boat flotilla and on April 12, 1897 became lieutenant captain .

General view of Tsingtau

From September 22, 1897 to May 31, 1898 Meyer graduated from the I. Coetus at the Naval Academy in Kiel . For three months he was then ordered to perform an inspection of the torpedo system before completing the Second Coetus. Meyer resigned after successful completion on 1 May 1899, leaving for Panama on to first officer on the light cruiser SMS Geier station service to be provided. After returning home on June 26, 1901, he was first officer on the survey ship SMS Hyäne . For two months he was deployed in the same position on the coastal armored ship SMS Hagen , and then served in the Admiralty's staff of the Navy until January 28, 1905, and in the meantime was promoted to Corvette Captain on March 28, 1903 .

In April 1903 Meyer received the approval to use the name Meyer-Waldeck from the state director of the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont .

Visit of the Governor Sun Pao-Chi (1910)

As Oskar von Truppel's successor , Captain Meyer-Waldeck became Governor of Kiautschou on August 19, 1911. When the Japanese declaration of war on the German Empire took place on August 23, 1914 , he telegraphed to Kaiser Wilhelm II. "Take responsibility for the fulfillment of duty to the extreme". At the end of the siege of Tsingtau , which lasted several weeks , he had to surrender to the British and Japanese troops on November 7th after most of the artillery ammunition had been used up.

He was taken prisoner of war by Japan and was taken to the Fukuoka camp and from there to the Narashino camp in 1918 . About this time he later wrote somewhat across the board that the prisoners had “been exposed to the arbitrariness of subordinate positions in various camps for five long years. Only the German newspapers could tell of 'chivalrous treatment' ”. Released from captivity at the end of December 1919, he took part in the liquidation of the camps and the handover formalities and left Japan on March 25, 1920 on the steamer Nankai Maru . By order of 30 January 1920, he was retroactively simultaneously to Rear Admiral ( RDA transported of 22 March 1915) and Vice Admiral (RDA of 27 January 1918), after arrival in the home for the disposition made and on 31 August from active Service adopted.

Although he was an unreserved advocate of the idea of colonialism, he stayed away from current politics until his death.

In 1898 Meyer-Waldeck married Johanna Ney (1880–1964) from Charlottenburg in Kiel, where her son and two daughters were born.

Awards

Order of the Red Eagle III. Class with the loop
Order of the Crown II class
Prussian service award cross
Commander 1st class of the Order of Henry the Lion
Second degree of the Order of the Double Dragon, 1st class
Grand Cross of the Chia Ho Order
Grand Cross of the Franz Joseph Order
Russian Order of Saint Anne III. class
Russian Order of Saint Stanislaus II class

literature

Dermot Bradley (eds.), Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849-1945. The military careers of naval, engineering, medical, weapons and administrative officers with admiral rank. Volume 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1989, ISBN 3-7648-2481-6 . Pp. 484-485.

Web links

Literature by and about Alfred Meyer-Waldeck in the catalog of the German National Library
Newspaper article about Alfred Meyer-Waldeck in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

↑ Biography at tsingtau.org
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1914, p. 110.

personal data
SURNAME	Meyer-Waldeck, Alfred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Meyer-Waldeck, Alfred Wilhelm Moritz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German Vice Admiral and Governor of Kiautschou (1911–1914)
DATE OF BIRTH	November 27, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH	St. Petersburg
DATE OF DEATH	August 25, 1928
Place of death	Bad Kissingen

[1] Biography at tsingtau.org

[RanglisteM1914-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Marinekabinett (ed.): Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1914, p. 110.