Edgar von Spiegel from and to Peckelsheim

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Baron Edgar von Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim (born October 9, 1885 in Padrojen, Insterburg district ; † May 15, 1965 in Bremen ) was a German submarine commander in World War I , consul general in New Orleans and Marseille in World War II and a writer . He wrote several, predominantly autobiographical naval war books. His most successful work, the war diary U 202 published in 1916 , had a circulation of 360,000 copies.

Life

Submarine commander, consul general

Edgar von Spiegel came from the Westphalian noble family Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim . The son of a forest council grew up in the East Prussian Padrojen, district of Insterburg, and in Danzig, completed military training at a cadet school and joined the Imperial Navy on April 1, 1903 as a midshipman . In 1911 he served as first lieutenant at sea (since March 27, 1909) on the small cruiser SMS Cormoran and was involved as leader of the local police force in the suppression of the Sokehs uprising on Ponape in German New Guinea .

During the First World War, von Spiegel was captain lieutenant (from April 16, 1915) in command of the submarine SM U 32 from September 1914 to February 1916 . From February to April 1917 he then commanded SM U 93 , which was severely damaged in a battle with the British submarine trap ("Q-ship") disguised as a sailing ship HMS Prize under the command of Lieutenant William Edward Sanders. Von Spiegel and two of his crew went overboard in the battle, were rescued by the Q-ship and spent the remainder of the war in British captivity .

During the Weimar Republic , he worked in the shipping industry before moving to the automotive industry in the late 1920s and becoming General Manager of Graham-Paige Automobil GmbH in Berlin-Johannisthal , a subsidiary of the American automobile manufacturer Graham-Paige . He joined the NSDAP early on ( membership number 348.182) and worked in the diplomatic service during the Nazi regime . In 1936/37 he first worked in the Ribbentrop office at the German embassy in London , before becoming Consul General in New Orleans in 1937 . Because of subversive activities (" Fifth Column ") and espionage, the American secret service FBI investigated him there. From the basement of the consulate building "Van Benthuysen Elms Mansion", Baron von Spiegel radioed German submarines in the Gulf of Mexico about merchant ships leaving the port of New Orleans for England from the beginning of World War II . After Germany declared war on the United States in December 1941, had to mirror US leave; he then became consul in Marseilles . Since 1942 he had the rank of SS-Oberführer . Spiegel observed the destruction of the old town of Marseille. After the war, he claimed, untruthfully, that this destruction (by the SS and Gestapo ) was necessary because of the risk of epidemics and because of the "security of the (German) troops". After Marseille had been liberated from the Allies in August 1944, Spiegel was assigned to the RF SS staff in November 1944 . Spiegel died in Bremen in 1965.

writer

Edgar von Spiegel wrote several, predominantly autobiographical books about experiences of war in the Imperial Navy. In the war diary U 202 from 1916 he processed his experiences as commander of the submarine SM U 32 (the title "U 202" was fictional; there was no submarine with this designation). With 360,000 copies, the book was one of the six highest-circulation works in German-language war literature between 1914 and 1939 and, according to a 25-year bestseller list, was one of the 40 greatest public successes during this period. His books Oberheizer Zenne (1917, print run: 160,000 copies) and U-Boot im Purgatory (1930, print run: 55,000 copies) were also economically successful.

An English translation of the U 202 war diary ( U boat 202. The war diary of a german submarine , 1919) sold very well in the United States. The U 202 war diary was also used as a template for several U-boat plays and films, e.g. B. for Gerhard Menzel's screenplay of the feature film Morgenrot (1933) about the fate of a submarine crew in the First World War.

Edgar von Spiegel also wrote two of his own film scripts, translated Raiders of the deep (1928), a book about submarine commanders and submarine warfare in World War I by the American writer Lowell Thomas (1892–1981) and wrote a romance novel in the South Seas. Milieu ( The girl under the three trees , 1930).

In a study of the sociology of literature on war poetry in the Weimar Republic, Edgar von Spiegel is counted among the typical "orthodox" war literary figures who described the war "mostly as a smooth, seamless, affirmative heroic narrative". In his work War Diary U 202 , the material basis, the authentic experience as a submarine commander, is narrative strongly reshaped and processed, with a compilation of several sources in some cases . Traditional war ideals of chivalry are linked to innovations in war technology, with moments of luck and fate being important for the successful outcome of the "adventure" war.

Questions of honor and chivalry would also play a central role in the work U-Boot in Purgatory . This book describes, among other things, the British captivity of Edgar von Spiegel after the sinking of his submarine U 93.

Works

Naval War Books:

  • War pictures from Ponape. Experiences of a naval officer in the uprising on the Carolines . Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft , Stuttgart, Berlin, Leipzig 1912.
  • Diary U 202 . Verlag August Scherl , Berlin 1916. Translations: English: U boat 202. The war diary of a German submarine . A. Melrose Ltd., London 1919 (translated by Barry Domvile ). Romanian: Jurnalul de bord al submarinului 202 . Rule Carol, Bucharest 1917.
  • Zenne top heater. The last man in Wiesbaden . According to reports from the Chief Heater Zenne von Freiherr Spiegel from and to Peckelsheim. Verlag August Scherl, Berlin 1916. New edition: Martin Schneider, Casilla Correo, Buenos Aires 1918 (South America War Edition).
  • Submarine in purgatory . Verlag August Scherl, Berlin 1930. New edition: Verlag Gerdes, Preetz 1963 (summary of: U-Boot im Purgatory and war diary U 202 in one volume).
  • Seas, islands, people. From midshipman to submarine commander . Publishing house August Scherl, Berlin 1934.
  • A great submarine trip . Verlag Anst. Mager, Donauwörth 1934 (Jungdeutschland-Bücherei series).
  • My last trip with the U 202 . Verlag H. Hilger , Berlin 1935 (Hilgers Deutsche Jugendbücherei series)
  • 45,000 tons sunk . Bertelsmann Verlag , Gütersloh 1937 (with drawings by Karl Mühlmeister).

Seas, islands, people and my last trip with U 202 were put on the list of literature to be sorted out in the German Democratic Republic .

Novel:

  • The girl under the three trees. A South Sea novel . Domverlag, Berlin 1931.

Translation:

  • Knight of the Deep . From Lowell Thomas. Translated and edited by Edgar Freiherr von Spiegel. Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin 1930. New edition: Wegweiser-Verlag, selection series of the Volksverband der Bücherfreunde, Berlin 1937 (original title: Raiders of the deep, 1928).
  • We hunt German U-Boats, Gütersloh: Bertelsmann, 1937 (original edition My mystery ships, London 1928, Gordon Campbell VC, translation by Edgar Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim)

Scripts:

  • Script idea for the feature film Morgenrot . UFA , Germany 1934.
  • Screenplay for the feature film Full Steam Ahead! . Carl Froelich film, Germany 1934.
  • Screenplay for the feature film Oberwachtmeister Schwenke . Carl Froelich-Film, Germany 1935.

literature

  • Jörg Friedrich Vollmer: Imaginary battlefields. War literature in the Weimar Republic - a literature-sociological investigation . Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin 2003 (especially Chapter 5: The Orthodox: War as an Adventure , pp. 88–126) online edition .
  • Biographical manual of the German Foreign Service 1871–1945. Volume 4: p . Published by the Foreign Office, Historical Service, edited by: Bernd Isphording, Gerhard Keiper, Martin Kröger. Schöningh, Paderborn u. a. 2012, ISBN 978-3-506-71843-3

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See the information in: Jörg-Peter Jatho: Der Giessener Goethe-Bund. An inventory of the public literature business in the Weimar Republic and the Nazi era . 2004, pp. 93, 211; Edgar von Spiegel: Sea Islands People. From midshipman to submarine commander. , Berlin 1934, p. 8f.
  2. ↑ Cf. Garzke: The uprising in Ponape and its overthrow by SM ships Emden, Nuremberg, Cormoran, Planet . In: Marine Rundschau. Scientific journal on naval issues. Ed. By the news office of the Reichs-Marine-Amt, 22nd year, 6th issue 1911, pp. 703-738 (esp. Pp. 711, 717).
  3. ↑ See the information on the website uboat.net - Freiherr Edgar von Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim
  4. ↑ See Lowell Thomas: Raiders of the deep . 1928, pp. 169f .; Automobile Body Builders Association: Autobody, 14-16 (1928), p. 174; Michael E. Keller: The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige to 1932 . Turner Publishing Company 1998, pp. 146, 222.
  5. ↑ See the information in: Jörg-Peter Jatho: Der Giessener Goethe-Bund. An inventory of the public literature business in the Weimar Republic and the Nazi era . 2004, p. 211; Thomas Mann: Diaries 1940-1944 . Edited by Peter de Mendelssohn. Verlag S. Fischer, Frankfurt 1982, p. 745 fn. 5.
  6. ↑ See Raymond J. Batvinis: The Origins of FBI Counterintelligence . 2007, p. 66; William B. Breuer: Deceptions of World War II . 2001, p. 71; Melanie Wiggins: Torpedoes in the Gulf . 1995, pp. 10f., 39; Lindy Boggs: Washington through a purple veil . 1994, p. 86.
  7. ↑ See the information on the Van Benthuysen Elms Mansion - History website
  8. ↑ See the information in: Thomas Mann: Diaries 1940 - 1944 . Edited by Peter de Mendelssohn. S. Fischer, Frankfurt 1982, p. 745 fn. 5.
  9. ^ IMG International Military Tribunal, Vol. 6, page 444
  10. ↑ See the information in: Jörg Friedrich Vollmer: Imaginäre Schlachtfelder. War literature in the Weimar Republic. A sociological study of literature . Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin 2003 (Chapter 5, p. 116, fn. 411) online edition
  11. ↑ See the 25 year bestseller list 1914–1939 in: Thomas F. Schneider, Hans Wagener (ed.): From Richthofen to Remarque. German-language prose on World War I. Editions Rodophi, Amsterdam 2003, p. 12f. (with reference to Helmut Müssener: German-language war and anti-war literature in Germany and Sweden 1914–1939. Stockholm 1987, pp. 18f.)
  12. ↑ See the website uboat.net - Freiherr Edgar von Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim
  13. ↑ Cf. Nils Grosch (Ed.): Aspects of Modern Music Theater in the Weimar Republic. Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2004, p. 268; Jörg Friedrich Vollmer: Imaginary battlefields. War literature in the Weimar Republic - a literature-sociological investigation . Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin 2003 (Chapter 5, p. 413) online edition
  14. ↑ Cf. Jörg Friedrich Vollmer: Imaginary battlefields. War literature in the Weimar Republic - a literature-sociological investigation . Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin 2003 (Chapter 4, p. 67, fn. 219) online edition
  15. ↑ Cf. Jörg Friedrich Vollmer: Imaginary battlefields. War literature in the Weimar Republic - a literature-sociological investigation . Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin 2003 (Chapter 5, p. 91) online edition
  16. ↑ Cf. Jörg Friedrich Vollmer: Imaginary battlefields. War literature in the Weimar Republic - a literature-sociological investigation . Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin 2003 (Chapter 5, p. 94) online edition
  17. ↑ Cf. Jörg Friedrich Vollmer: Imaginary battlefields. War literature in the Weimar Republic - a literature-sociological investigation . Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin 2003 (Chapter 5, p. 95) online edition
  18. ↑ Cf. Jörg Friedrich Vollmer: Imaginary battlefields. War literature in the Weimar Republic - a literature-sociological investigation . Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin 2003 (Chapter 5, pp. 113–116) online edition
  19. ↑ http://www.polunbi.de/bibliothek/1953-nslit-s.html
personal data
SURNAME Spiegel von and zu Peckelsheim, Edgar von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peckelsheim, Edgar Spiegel from and to; Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim, E. von; Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim, Edgar von; Spiegel, Edgar von; Spiegel, E. von; Spiegel, Baron von; Spiegel, E. Baron v.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German submarine commander in World War I, Consul General of New Orleans and Marseille in World War II and writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Padrojen, Insterburg district
DATE OF DEATH May 15, 1965
Place of death Bremen