Kurt Graßhoff

Kurt Graßhoff (born May 29, 1869 in Templin ; † July 3, 1952 in Bonn ) was a German rear admiral .

Life

He was the son of the lawyer and notary Otto Graßhoff and studied law at the Friedrichs-Universität Halle and the Philipps-Universität Marburg . He became active in the Corps Teutonia Marburg in 1887 and received it on January 24, 1888. As inactive , Graßhoff joined the Imperial Navy on April 13, 1888 . After his basic training on land and on the training ship SMS Niobe , he completed the naval school and was promoted to sub-lieutenant at sea on October 17, 1892 with a patent from May 12, 1891 . After various on-board and land commands, promotion to lieutenant at sea (1894) and graduation from the naval academy, Graßhoff was transferred to the liner SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm on April 1, 1900 . Here he was employed as a torpedo officer and promoted to lieutenant captain on August 10, 1900 . This was followed by uses on various ships of the line until Graßhoff was finally transferred to the Admiral's staff on October 1, 1902 . From April 1, 1905, he was first officer on the coastal armored ship SMS Frithjof for five months and then in the same function on the liner SMS Kaiser Friedrich III. active. From July 1, 1906 to September 30, 1909, Graßhoff was back in the Admiral's staff , then emigrated to East Asia , where he acted as chief of the staff of the East Asia Squadron .

After his return to Germany, he joined the Admiral's staff as head of department on November 4, 1911 and was promoted to sea captain on November 11 . He remained in this position after the outbreak of the First World War . From June 11 to July 24, 1917, Graßhoff acted as a substitute in command of the large liner SMS Friedrich der Große . He then became the commandant of the large-scale ship SMS Kaiserin , with which he participated in the naval battle near Heligoland on November 17, 1917 . After Graßhoff had to give up command of the ship on January 5, 1918 because of his wrong decisions on November 17, he was assigned to the submarine school until August 28, 1918 and then appointed as the successor to Commodore Theodor Püllen as " Leader of Submarines in the Mediterranean ". Graßhoff was released from this post due to illness on October 9, 1918, and Püllen took this position again.

Graßhoff was only usable again after the end of the war and was at the disposal of the chief of the naval station of the North and Baltic Sea from December 5, 1918 to November 4, 1919 . Then he was commanded to serve with the Admiralty and received the character of Rear Admiral on November 29, 1919 . To March 4, 1920 Graßhoff was finally out of the military service adopted .

Graßhoff has received several awards for his achievements in peace and war. He received both classes of the Iron Cross , the Order of the Red Eagle III. Class with bow and crown, the Order of the Crown II. Class with swords, the Hanseatic Cross of the City of Hamburg and the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Griffin .

He retired as a farmer in Steinfeld (Schleswig) .

The marriage with Alice Elmenhorst in 1899 resulted in a daughter and two sons.

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 1: A-G. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1988, ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 , pp. 452-453.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1930, 104/700.
2. ^ Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy for 1918. Ed .: Marine-Kabinett . Mittler & Sohn publishing house . Berlin 1918. p. 9.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Blue Book of the Corps Teutonia in Marburg 1825 to 2000. P. 160f.