Nikolaus Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien

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Nikolaus Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien, portrait photo by Rudolf Dührkoop

Nikolaus Burggraf and Count zu Dohna-Schlodien (born April 5, 1879 in Mallmitz , † August 21, 1956 in Baierbach ) was a German naval officer , leader of a volunteer corps and writer .

Life before World War I.

Nikolaus Burggraf and Count zu Dohna-Schlodien came from the extensive aristocratic family of the Burgraves of Dohna . His father was the chamberlain and Rittmeister Burggraf and Count Alfred zu Dohna- Schlodien (1849–1907), state elder and district deputy of the Sprottau district ; his mother was Margarethe von der Hagen (1845–1932).

Count Nikolaus stepped to Dohna- Schlodien 1896 in the Imperial navy one was in 1899 Ensign and 1902 Lieutenant . In the period after the Boxer Rebellion , he served from 1901 to 1902 on the gunboat SMS Tiger , which was stationed in East Asia. From 1910 to 1912 Dohna-Schlodien was in command of the river gunboat SMS Tsingtau .

In 1913 he became a navigation officer on the large liner SMS Posen and was promoted to corvette captain before the start of the First World War .

First World War

Dohna-Schlodien spoke to his crew on board the Möve in Kiel in March 1917

The banana freighter Pungo of the Hamburg shipping company F. Laeisz was converted in Wilhelmshaven in 1915 as a mine-layer and auxiliary cruiser . During the conversion, the ship was given the designation HD10 for auxiliary steamer 10. It was put into service as the auxiliary cruiser SMS Möve . The first commander of the auxiliary cruiser was Korvettenkapitän Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien, who had planned the basic conversions beforehand and ordered and supervised further preparatory measures.

On the first pirate voyage from December 1915 to March 1916, the Möve sank merchant ships with 60,000 GRT and warships with 16,000 GRT. On January 15, 1916, the British passenger steamer Appam was attacked by the seagull near the Canary Islands . There were also 20 German civilians on board, including three women, eight prisoners of war from the protection force from Cameroon and gold bars from South African mines worth one million marks . A prize squad led by Leutnant zur See Hans Berg brought the Appam across the Atlantic to the United States, which was still neutral at the time .

From November 1916 to March 1917, 20 ships with a total of 120,000 GRT were sunk on a second sea voyage of the Möve in the Atlantic.

On December 10, 1916, the seagull met the British 10,077 GRT steamship Georgic (built in 1895) from the White Star Line in the Atlantic, 950 km southeast of Cape Race , Newfoundland, which was en route with 1200 horses , oil and wheat on board from Philadelphia to Brest in France . The RMS Georgic ignored the signals with the request to stop and continued her journey. The gull then opened fire, killing a crew member of the Georgic . 142 officers and men were captured, brought on board the Möve and the Georgic was then sunk. With the also hijacked British steamer Yarrowdale and a prize crew, 400 men of the crews of the previously sunk ships and 60 US citizens were brought from the Georgic to Swinoujscie .

After his return, Dohna-Schlodien was appointed wing adjutant to Kaiser Wilhelm II , who sent him the following telegram:

“I warmly welcome you and your brave crew to their homeland. In grateful appreciation of your deeds, which will forever mark the glory of my Navy, I am appointing you as my wing adjutant. Wilhelm IR "

Nikolaus Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien in front of the Esplanada Hotel in Berlin

Nikolaus Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien was one of two German officers of the First World War who received the highest military awards in the five most important German countries: the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite , the Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order , the Saxon Military Saint -Heinrichs -Orden , the Württemberg Military Merit Order and the Military Karl Friedrich Merit Order of the State of Baden. The commanders and crews of the auxiliary cruisers were given the nickname “Pirates of the Emperor”, meaning the three auxiliary cruisers SMS Möve , SMS Wolf under the command of Frigate Captain Karl August Nerger , and SMS Seeadler under Lieutenant Felix Graf von Luckner .

Life after the First World War

Nikolaus Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien formed a Freikorps (Freikorps Dohna) after the First World War and fought against Polish irregulars in Upper Silesia . In 1919 he took his leave as corvette captain and took up the trade in Hamburg ; from the mid-1930s he lived in Baierbach (today Stephanskirchen ) on the Simssee in Upper Bavaria . In 1956 he died of a heart attack there at the age of 77. He was promoted to sea captain.

reception

The sinking of the freighter Georgic with 1200 horses on board found its way into Karl Kraus ' world war drama The Last Days of Mankind (4th act, 45th scene), in the last act of which the killed horses appear (5th act, 55th scene) .

Works

  • SMS "Seagull" . Perthes, Gotha 1916
  • The seagull's second trip . Perthes, Gotha 1917
  • The "seagull" rides and adventures. Told by their commanding officer . Perthes, Stuttgart 1927 (new edition of the publications 1916 and 1917)

Literature / cinematography

  • Nikolaus Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien . In: Munzinger Archive : International Biographical Archive 43/1956 of October 15, 1956.
  • Nikolaus Burggraf and Count zu Dohna-Schlodien. On his 50th birthday on April 5, 1929 . In: Der Ansporn, the magazine for forward striving. , Hamburg 1929, issue 7
  • Count Dohna and his seagull . Documentary, 1917; 1376 m, 35 mm, b / w, silent. Production: Image and Film Office (BUFA), Berlin. World premiere: Berlin, Deutsches Opernhaus , May 2, 1917.
  • Albert Semsrott: The breakthrough of the seagull. Self-experienced deeds and journeys by Captain Albert Semsrott . Stuttgart 1928.
  • Albert Semsrott: The privateer seagull. The Bremer helmsman Albert Semsrott tells of the other acts of the auxiliary cruiser . Stuttgart 1928.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Count Dohna and His SeaGull, Ships - Georgic smsMoewe.com
  2. ^ WSL Georgic (I), Titanic and Other White Star Line Ships titanic-whitestarships.com
  3. ↑ D. Schwennicke: European family tables XIX Tf 140, Klostermann 2000
  4. ↑ Karl Kraus: From happiness. In: Die Fackel Quartalsheft 445–473, Vienna 1917.
  5. ^ Karl Kraus : The last days of mankind in the Gutenberg-DE project
  6. ^ Karl Kraus : The last days of mankind in the Gutenberg-DE project
personal data
SURNAME Dohna-Schlodien, Nikolaus Graf too
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dohna-Schlodien, Nikolaus Burggraf and Graf zu (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer
DATE OF BIRTH April 5, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Mallmitz
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1956
Place of death Baierbach