Kurt Weyher

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Kurt Weyher (born August 30, 1901 in Graudenz ; † December 17, 1991 in Wilhelmshaven ) was a German naval officer , most recently rear admiral in World War II . He is the father of Hein-Peter Weyher , who was inspector of the navy from 1991 to 1995 .

career

First World War

Weyher joined the Imperial Navy on April 2, 1918 as a war volunteer with the prospect of a career as a naval officer . After completing basic training at the Mürwik naval school , he was transferred to the large cruiser Freya in July 1918 and transferred to the small cruiser Regensburg in September 1918 . After the war he was given leave of absence. From January 1919 he participated in the fighting that followed the German Revolution, first as a member of Grenadier Regiment 11 , then from January 1920 of the Loewenfeld Marine Brigade . There he was appointed ensign at sea on February 21, 1920 .

Interwar years

In June 1920 he returned to the naval service with what is now the Reichsmarine and completed his officer training at the naval school, on the sailing training ship Niobe , other on-board commands and courses. From January 1923 on board and land use alternated, the latter mainly in the training service. Weyher served as an officer on watch on the torpedo boat G 10 , the survey ship Meteor . From 1927 to 1929 he was a watch officer on the sailing training ship Niobe and then, as part of the first crew, role officer on the light cruiser Königsberg . From September 1930 to September 1932 he was in command of the torpedo boat G 11 . After another brief activity as a training officer at the naval school, he took part in the building instruction for the new sailing training ship Gorch Fock , whose first officer he became when the ship was commissioned on June 27, 1933. From December 1934 to October 1936 Weyher was company commander in the ship's trunk division Baltic Sea and then until November 1938 navigational officer on the light cruiser Nuremberg . From January to September 1939 he commanded the sailing training ship Horst Wessel .

Second World War

When the Second World War broke out , Weyher was withdrawn from Horst Wessel and on December 9, 1939, took command of the auxiliary cruiser Orion . With this ship he set out on a patrol on April 6, 1940, which he completed with the return of the ship after almost a year and a half on August 23, 1941. During this voyage to Australia and New Zealand, mines were laid and ten enemy merchant ships sunk. In addition, there were two sinkings in cooperation with other German auxiliary cruisers. For these achievements Weyher was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on August 21, 1941 .

After his return he was transferred as first admiral staff officer to Admiral Aegean , in 1942 in the same function at the naval group command south in Sofia . From January to June 1944 he was chief of the German naval command in Constana and at the same time chief of the 10th Security Division , after which he was commandant of the Crete naval defense until October 1944 . Its last use in the war was from November 2, 1944 that of the sea ​​commander Ostfriesland in Norden . In this capacity Weyher was promoted to Rear Admiral on January 1, 1945. After the end of the war he cooperated closely with the British occupying forces in disarming the German troops in his area of ​​responsibility. From July 22, 1945 to June 6, 1947 he was a British prisoner of war .

Activity outside the navy

Weyher described his experiences on the Orion in the 1953 book “Vagabonds at Sea”, which he illustrated himself. Kurt Weyher already worked as a marine painter during his service and created a large number of paintings, watercolors, sketches and ship models during the Orion's voyage and especially after his retirement. After his death, the Cuxhaven City Museum dedicated an exhibition of his works to him in the summer of 1992.

From 1967 to 1969 Weyher was President of the German Navy Federation .

Awards

literature

  • Kurt Weyher, Hans Jürgen Ehrlich: Vagabonds at sea . The war trip of the auxiliary cruiser "Orion" 1940/1941. A report. Tübingen 1953
  • 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 3: P-Z. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 , pp. 544-545.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 783.
  2. ↑ Chris Madsen: The Royal Navy and German Naval Disarmament. 1942-1947. ( Online in Google Book Search; English)
  3. ^ Kurt Weyher: naval officer, naval painter. In: Marineforum. 7 / 8-1992, p. 264.
personal data
SURNAME Weyher, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German rear admiral, commander of the auxiliary cruiser Orion
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Graudenz
DATE OF DEATH 17th December 1991
Place of death Wilhelmshaven