Edward Wegener

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Edward Wegener (1974)

Edward Wegener (born December 17, 1904 in Kiel ; † December 30, 1981 ) was a German Rear Admiral in the Federal Navy and most recently from 1963 to 1965 as Vice Admiral Commander of the Naval Forces in NATO's Baltic Sea Access Command . He was a son of Vice Admiral Wolfgang Wegener (1875-1956).

Military career

Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine

After graduating from high school in Wilhelmshaven , Wegener joined the Reichsmarine as an officer candidate in 1923 . He served on ships of the line , cruisers and torpedo boats . At the beginning of the 1930s he received an artillery technical training at the Technical University of Charlottenburg and in 1936 became the commandant of the torpedo boat Kondor . In 1938 he became a consultant in the High Command of the Navy .

During the Second World War , Wegener initially served as an artillery officer on the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper , and later as an admiral staff officer in the Naval Group Command West and in the fleet command .

Post-war period and the German Navy

After the end of the war, Wegener initially worked as a department head in the management of the German mine clearance service. He then became an assistant director in an industrial company.

In 1956 he joined the German navy and was a sea captain , the first German naval attache in postwar Washington, DC In 1960 he returned to Germany and became a Rear Admiral Deputy Director General guidance in the Joint Staff of the Navy . During this use he was responsible for the first design of the Navy, which was enacted by the Inspector of the Navy in late December 1962 . He summarized the underlying threat assumptions in a document entitled "Ostseelage Marine". Building on this, Wegener dealt with Soviet naval planning after his retirement and published his thoughts in the book "Moscow's Offensive at Sea".

In 1963 he became Vice Admiral NATO Commander in Chief of the Naval Forces Baltic Sea Approaches. He retired from this post in 1965.

Retired as Rear Admiral a. As an expression of his political convictions, he ran for the CDU for the 5th German Bundestag . He narrowly missed the mandate, but continued his political activity for several years as an honorary city ​​councilor in Kiel.

Awards

Among the numerous awards are the German Cross in Gold, the US Legion of Merit and the Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Military theoretical activity

In the years of his retirement he developed a lively historical, maritime strategy and military political publication activity. He also took part in the affairs of the Federal Navy, in numerous advisory functions, as a co-founder of the German Marine Institute and re-establishment of the Marine-Rundschau etc.

Throughout his life his interests were, far beyond the technical area, strategic and historical contexts, with questions of sea power and the relationship between sea power and foreign policy (especially when applied to German fate) in the foreground. He developed a modern "marine strategic concept system", to which he placed a "concept system of maritime power" for the effect of naval forces in non-war situations. From his father, Admiral Wolfgang Wegener, he took on the insight into the rank of "maritime strategic position" for maritime domination, the central task of securing sea routes as a condition for the survival of modern states, and the importance of sea-based thinking, especially in a country shaped by continental thinking Germany. His analysis of the importance of naval forces in the nuclear age was felt to be groundbreaking, especially in the USA - where he has published frequently; he has been apostrophized by the US Naval Institute as "the finest naval strategic thinker born in the 20th century". In the founding phase of the German Navy and in favor of a conceptual foundation of its mandate, it made a significant contribution, which is now recognized in its theoretical premises and in the navies of other NATO partners.

Works

  • Moscow's offensive at sea. MOV-Verlag, Bonn-Bad Godesberg 1972 (with curriculum vitae).
  • Self-image and historical awareness of the German Navy , Marine-Rundschau 67 (1970), p. 321
  • The elements of sea power and maritime power , in: Sea power and foreign policy, ed. By D. Mahncke and HP Schwarz, Frankfurt 1974
  • Theory of Naval Strategy in the Nuclear Age , Naval Review 1977, US Naval Institute
  • The power play of the alliances and nations at sea today , symposium of the German Marine Institute
  • The maritime interests of the Federal Republic of Germany , 1979
  • German-British Relations before the World Wars , Marine-Forum 12-1980
  • Epilogues (as editor) z. B. on Paul M. Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of British Maritime Power , MOV-Verlag 1978

literature

  • Johannes Berthold Sander-Nagashima: The Federal Navy 1950 to 1972: Concept and construction. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-486-57972-7

Web links

Commons : Edward Wegener  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sander-Nagashima: The Federal Navy 1955 to 1972 , p. 237 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Wegener, Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer and rear admiral
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiel
DATE OF DEATH December 30, 1981