Paul Behncke

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Fritz and Paul Behncke (2nd from left) with Ludwig von Schröder (1st from left with dog);
Photo by Alfred Grohs

Paul Leo Gustav Behncke (born August 13, 1866 in Süsel ; † January 4, 1937 in Berlin ) was a German admiral and chief of the Imperial Navy from September 1, 1920 to September 30, 1924.

Life

Paul Behncke was born near Lübeck on the estate of his father Friedrich Johann Behncke, who came from a Lübeck merchant family . His mother Mathilde was born by Cossel . His brothers were the Rear Admiral Fritz Behncke (1869–1957) and the art historian Wilhelm Behncke (1871–1938).

Behncke joined the Imperial Navy as a cadet on April 16, 1883 and received his basic training on the training ship SMS Niobe . He then served on the cruiser frigate SMS Elisabeth until April 13, 1886 and was promoted to second lieutenant on April 17. For two years he was commanded on the gunboat SMS Wolf , which was stationed in East Asia. There Behncke was promoted to lieutenant on February 18, 1890 . After his journey home, he was employed as a watch officer on SMS Princess Wilhelm until March 24, 1892. He was then briefly deployed as the first watch officer on SMS Brummer and SMS Bremse , before he was assigned to SMS Germany on October 4, 1892 . On November 1, 1894, he moved to the Second Shipyard Division as an adjutant and then came to the Navy High Command. There he was promoted to lieutenant captain on April 13, 1896 . From October 1897 to June 29, 1899 he was at the Naval Academy for further training, which was only interrupted by a two-month on-board command as a navigation officer on SMS Heimdall . He then came as an artillery officer on the ironclad SMS Bayern and the liner SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II. Behncke spent the next seven years in the military department of the Reichsmarinamt in Berlin. At the same time he was in command of the small cruiser SMS Falke from October 31, 1903 to November 3, 1905 and promoted to Corvette Captain on July 15, 1902 . On September 12, 1908 he became a sea ​​captain and on September 12, 1908 he was appointed to the head of the military department. He gave this command on September 19, 1909 after taking over as commander of the liner SMS Wettin . In the same function, he then took over the liner SMS Westfalen on September 15, 1910 . On October 1, 1911, he changed as a department head to the Admiralty's staff and was promoted to Rear Admiral on July 14, 1914 .

With the beginning of the First World War he became Deputy Chief of the Admiralty's Staff of the Navy and on January 24, 1916 Chief of the III. Squadron. With this he took part in the Skagerrak Battle , where he was badly wounded in the head by shrapnel. On November 25, 1916, Behncke was promoted to Vice Admiral and as such took part in the Albion company on board his flagship SMS König on October 12, 1917 in the bombardment of Cape Ninnast on Ösel and on October 17, 1917 in the Battle of the Moon -Sound part. He was relieved of his command on August 11, 1918. He was initially entrusted with the duties of State Secretary of the Reichsmarinamt on August 28, 1918, before he was appointed on September 18, 1918. On September 28th, he was released from his duties and placed at the disposal of the chief of the high seas.

He could no longer take up a new command as head of the North Sea naval station, which was intended for him , and he was retired on February 12, 1919. As a German representative in the military commission for the disarmament of the Aaland Islands , he was active until November 5, 1919.

On August 31, 1920 he was reactivated and until September 14, 1920, as successor to Adolf von Trothas or William Michaelis , appointed head of the Admiralty . He received his appointment as chief of the naval command on September 15, 1920 and shortly afterwards on December 20, 1920 his promotion to admiral . Behncke was responsible for the consolidation and rebuilding of the navy, which was severely demoralized by the terms of the Versailles Treaty and the turmoil of the revolution in 1918/1919. The first new building programs after the First World War fall during his term of office. Behncke resigned from his post on September 25, 1924 and was finally dismissed on September 30, 1924.

After the DC circuit of the German-Japanese Society by the Nazis was Paul Behncke on 4 October 1933 the President as successor to Wilhelm Haas . In this function, he spoke to the NSDAP's Office of Racial Policy in order not to discriminate against marriages between Germans and Japanese people who were then called “non-Aryan” and children from these marriages.

Awards

Florian Behncke, descendant of the Lübeck merchant family Behncke, visiting the coat of arms in the Lübeck Ratskeller 2018.
Florian Behncke, descendant of the Lübeck merchant family Behncke, visiting the coat of arms in the Lübeck Ratskeller 2018.

Behncke's coat of arms hangs in the Admiral's room in the Ratskeller in Lübeck .

literature

Web links

Commons : Paul Behncke  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e f g h Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy for 1918. Ed .: Marine-Kabinett. Mittler & Sohn publishing house. Berlin 1918. p. 7.
personal data
SURNAME Behncke, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Behncke, Paul Leo Gustav (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German admiral
DATE OF BIRTH August 13, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Süsel
DATE OF DEATH January 4, 1937
Place of death Berlin