Franz von Holleben

Franz von Holleben (born February 25, 1863 in Königsee , † February 28, 1938 in Berlin ) was a German vice admiral .

Frank von Holleben (1907)

Life

origin

Franz was a son of the board of directors of the finance department of the Schwarzburg Ministry of Albert von Holleben (1825–1898) and his wife Anna, née von Roeder (* 1839).

Military career

After attending elementary school, Holleben joined the Imperial Navy on April 15, 1880 and completed his basic seamanship training from October 1, 1880 to March 2, 1881 at the naval school . After brief on-board assignments, he returned to the naval school in 1883 and completed his basic training here on September 30, 1884. After graduation, he was called on to various on-board activities as a naval officer in the same year. At the end of May 1886 he emigrated to Sydney on the steamer Hohenzollern and was an officer on watch on the cruiser frigate Bismarck from July 1886 until his decommissioning in September 1888 . After being assigned to the military gymnastics institute, Holleben worked for six months as a watch officer on the Aviso Greif and then as a company officer in the II Torpedo Department. On April 1, 1890, he was transferred to the imperial yacht Hohenzollern , of which he was to belong until mid-October 1893.

In 1894, Holleben published the experiences of a sea cadet in war and peace as part of the publication series Deutsches Flottenbuch . The book was probably written during a long stay abroad, from which he returned to Germany on August 19, 1895 from Apia with Darmstadt . In the same year he attended the First Coetus at the Naval Academy. This was followed immediately by participation in the 2nd Coetus until 1897. From then on, on-board deployments followed on various ships until Holleben was appointed as a member of the ship inspection commission in September 1904. During this time he got to know the German shipyards, the supply industry for naval armaments and the areas connected with the approval and order processing up to the maiden voyage of a built or modernized warship.

Holleben then expected new tasks from April 4, 1905, when he was transferred to the Reichsmarineamt as head of the news office (N). In this position, he replaced Lieutenant Job von Witzleben. The main task of this institution was to promote the organization of intensive propaganda work in the implementation of the enacted naval laws and the increased expansion of the imperial navy in order to steer the main focus of politics and the public from the army to the navy. In 1905, however, the news center (N) was already past its peak. In 1905 there were only two officers and a few auxiliary staff. These included Waldemar Vollerthun (1869–1928) and Karl Boy-Ed (1872–1930). The greatest expenditure was required by the existing reading service. This was primarily to be ensured through the ongoing review of current publications from 163 newspaper and magazine publishers as well as other news agencies and the analysis of marine-related topics. That was the real basic work of the news bureau. The results of this information research were then passed on in the form of marine-related short messages, bulletins or summaries in written form to newspaper publishers, journalists, press offices of companies and occasionally also to Reich ministries. The latter was made more difficult because within the Prussian ministries, the Federal Foreign Office was responsible for press releases. But the news bureau had already started issuing its own publications, maritime literature and its own magazine. That was the nauticus . Yearbook for Germany's marine interests , which was still hesitantly compiled, printed and distributed from the 1900 vintage onwards in 1899. During his tenure, von Holleben also wrote the book Sea Heroes and Sea Battles in Modern and Modern Times . In total, he held the post of board member in the news office for two years. His successor was in March 1906 Lieutenant Captain Karl Boy-Ed.

For Holleben, further uses on board followed from 1906. On March 31, he took command of the Stosch training ship for a year . Subsequently he was in command of the great cruiser Freya and the ships of the line Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein . On September 15, 1910, Holleben was initially entrusted with the management of the business of the chief shipyard director of the Imperial Shipyard Danzig and was finally appointed chief shipyard director on November 19, 1910. He held this position at the outbreak of the First World War and was thus fully involved in the immensely costly arms race between the navies of Great Britain and Germany. However, since the shipyard had no capacity for the construction of larger steam turbines and the slipway systems were not suitable for the construction of large ships, the shipyard concentrated on the construction of auxiliary ships, repair work and the completion of a total of 23 submarines. After the Holleben on 13 October 1914 character had as a Vice Admiral, he was available the Chief of from 1 September to 14 October 1917 naval base of the Baltic Sea then and was charged with the statutory board for disposition made.

Franz von Holleben died on February 28, 1938, a few days after completing his 75th birthday in Berlin.

family

Holleben had married Klara von Motz (* 1876) on June 10, 1896 in Rudolstadt . The daughter Elisabeth (* 1897) and the sons Horst (* 1898), Heinz (* 1901) and Ulrich (* 1911) emerged from the marriage.

literature

• Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the noble houses. German nobility. 1922. Twenty-third year, Justus Perthes, Gotha 1921, p. 351.
• 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 3-7648-1499-3 , pp. 131-132.
• Wilhelm Deist: Fleet Policy and Fleet Propaganda. Stuttgart 1976.
• Marcus König: Agitation-Censorship-Propaganda. The submarine war and the German public in the First World War. ibidem Verlag, Munich 2014.
• Günter Stavornius: The history of the royal / imperial shipyard Danzig 1844-1918. Publications of the Preussischer Kulturbesitz archive, Volume 27, Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 1990.

Web links

Commons : Franz von Holleben  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Documentation and search aid from the German State Library “Preußischer Kulturbesitz” Berlin.
2. ^ Oswald Flamm: Deutscher Schiffbau 1913. Verlag Carl Marfels AG, Berlin 1913.
3. ^ Wilhelm Deist: Fleet Policy and Naval Propaganda. Stuttgart 1976.
4. ↑ Marcus König: Agitation-Censorship-Propaganda. The submarine war and the German public in the First World War. ibidem Verlag, Munich 2014, p. 46 ff .; Wilhelm Deist: Fleet Policy and Fleet Propaganda. Stuttgart 1976, SA. 81ff.
5. ↑ Günter Stavornius: The story of the royal / imperial shipyard Gdansk 1844-1918. Publications of the Preussischer Kulturbesitz archive, Volume 27, Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 1990.