Archibald von Keyserling

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Archibald Graf von Keyserling (* 6 November July / 18 November  1882 greg. In Augustenhof near Grobiņa ; † December 15, 1951 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a Baltic German naval officer. From 1921 to 1931 he was the highest officer in the Latvian fleet as admiral .

Life

Archibald von Keyserling's parents were the German Baltic nobles Gebhard von Keyserling and Sophie, née. Baroness von Offenberg. Archibald von Keyserling attended the Naval Cadet School in St. Petersburg . As an officer in the Russian East Asian Squadron , he was a participant in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 , including the naval battle of Port Arthur . He later became a Japanese prisoner of war . Keyserling graduated from the officers' school for submarine services in Libau by 1908 and was employed in the Baltic Fleet in the following years .

During the First World War he had command posts on various torpedo boats, submarines and the cruiser Diana . During the time of the Latvian War of Independence he was an officer in the Baltic State Armed Forces , most recently on the staff of Colonel Alexander . After joining the Latvian armed forces , Keyserling became the creator of the young Latvian state's small navy. Since 1921 he held the rank of admiral, since 1924 as the highest ranking naval officer the position of "Chief of the Coast Guard Squadron". The fact that he was a Baltic German and his aristocratic lifestyle meant that he had to say goodbye in 1931. The official reason for the resignation were alcohol payments, which Keyserling had given some of his officers during a sea ​​maneuver in the Estonian border area under loose application of the customs regulations . As a pensioner, Keyserling lived alternately in Riga and on his country house near Altmocken (Latvian: Vecmoki). He held various board positions and was among other things honorary chairman of the Riga yacht club .

In 1939, like most of the Baltic Germans, he moved to the German Empire . During the Second World War he worked as a consultant for shipbuilding and shipyards. After 1945 he lived first in Austria , then in Bad Mergentheim and finally in Frankfurt. Archibald von Keyserling died there in 1951; his grave is in the main cemetery in Frankfurt.

literature

  • Otto Freiherr von Taube (Hrsg.): The book of the Keyserlinge. At the border of two worlds. Memories from one gender . S. Fischer, Berlin 1937. pp. 169-200.
  • Baltic Germans in leading positions in Latvia . In: Riga am Sonntag of January 22, 1928, p. 6 (short biography) online
  • Mārtiņš Bisters, Juris Ciganovs: Admirālis Teodors Spāde . Valters un Rapa, Riga 2002, ISBN 9984-595-70-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Admirals Keyserling's "voluntary" farewell . In: Riga on Sunday , September 20, 1931, p. 3 ( digitized version ).
  2. ↑ Mārtiņš Bisters and Juris Ciganovs: Admirālis Teodors Spade. P. 32.
personal data
SURNAME Keyserling, Archibald von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Keyserling, Archibald Graf von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Baltic German naval officer
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Augustenhof near Grobiņa
DATE OF DEATH December 15, 1951
Place of death Frankfurt am Main