Paul Wülfing from Ditten

Paul Wülfing von Ditten (born September 13, 1880 in Mönchengladbach , † November 1, 1953 in Berlin-Schlachtensee ) was a German naval officer , most recently in the rank of Vice Admiral in the Navy . As a result of adoption in 1922, his surname changed from Wülfing to Wülfing von Ditten , making him a member of the von Ditten family .

Career

Imperial Navy and First World War

Wülfing joined the Imperial Navy as a cadet on April 12, 1898 . He graduated from basic training and then the basic training until April 6, 1899 of a training ship used cruiser frigate SMS Charlotte . Then he came for further training from April 7, 1899 at the naval school in Kiel . On April 18, 1899, he was appointed ensign at sea . He then went to China from October 22 to December 7, 1900 , where he arrived at the end of the Boxer Rebellion . From December 8th he served there on the large cruiser SMS Hertha belonging to the East Asia Squadron . During this period of service he was promoted to lieutenant on September 13, 1901 . From June 17, 1902, Wülfing was on his way back to Germany from Tsingtau , where he served as a watch officer from August 1902, first on the ironclad SMS Weißenburg and then from October 1, 1902 on the liner SMS Wettin . On March 28, 1903, he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea . He was then employed as a site officer in Wilhelmshaven from April 1, 1904 to March 19, 1905 . This was followed by a job as a watch and midshipman officer on the training ship SMS Stein until March 22, 1907 and then a period of service as a company officer in the ship boys division until September 30, 1907. Wülfing then became a watch officer again, this time on the liner SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm . This period of service ended on September 30, 1908, before he had been promoted to lieutenant captain on December 7, 1907 .

From October 1, 1908 to June 30, 1909, Wülfing was then sent to his first course at the Naval Academy. The second part followed from October 1, 1909 to June 30, 1910, between and afterwards it was put to use by the II Marine Inspection. From September 15, 1910, Wülfing was then employed as pay and provisions master on the large liner SMS Posen , then served as a company officer in the 2nd shipyard division from April 14, 1911, and was an advisor and first officer on the from October 1, 1911 Mine ship SMS Pelikan . After that, Wülfing was from April 1, 1914 site officer and commander of the Friedrichsort naval site . Wülfing then became an admiral staff officer with the staff of the commander of the fortifications in Kiel from August 2nd, i.e. immediately at the beginning of the First World War . During this period of service he was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on January 27, 1915 . In August 1916, Wülfing then switched to the large-line ship SMS König Albert as a navigation officer and from March 2, 1918, took part in the German Finland intervention as an admiral staff officer on the staff of the transport fleet . From April 17, 1918 he was still part of the German Ukraine Commission in Kiev and experienced the end of the war in this role.

Imperial Navy

Wülfing was from January 20, 1919 department head in the Reichsmarineamt , and from July 15, 1920 in the Admiralty and was promoted to frigate captain on March 8, 1920 during this service . In parallel to this use, Wülfing was also acting head of the central department of the Admiralty from August 7th. He took full responsibility for this position on August 28, 1920. From February 10, he was chief of staff of the naval command, which emerged from the Admiralty, and was promoted to sea captain on June 1, 1922 . In his function as Chief of Staff of the Naval Office, he stayed in Moscow from February 1923, together with the delegation led by Otto Hasse (1871–1942), for talks about German-Soviet cooperation in the military field. This initiated the cooperation between the Red Army and the Reichswehr, and initially also the Navy. This was followed by two on-board commands as commander of the small cruisers Berlin (from October 1, 1923) and Hamburg (from July 19, 1925) as well as the assignment as commander of the Mürwik naval school from September 28, 1925. July to July 31, 1927 also acting as a substitute inspector of the naval education system . From October 12, 1927, he took full responsibility for this function and was temporarily also acting inspector for torpedo and mine matters. On January 1, 1928, Wülfing was promoted to Rear Admiral. Probably at the instigation of the Reichswehr Minister Wilhelm Groener , Wülfing was then placed on October 1, 1928, initially for the use of the chief of the naval command and retired on February 28, 1929 . The background was the accusation that Wülfing had allowed Prince Heinrich to visit the Kleiner Kreuzer Berlin on November 24, 1927 . This visit caused a public sensation and stood in contrast to the republic-friendly, non-partisan orientation of the Reichswehr under Groener. After leaving the Navy, Wülfing became politically active and was a member of the German National People's Party from 1930 to 1933 . From 1933 to 1939 he served as a military advisor in Turkey .

Navy

On January 25, 1937 Wülfing received the character of a Vice Admiral.

After the outbreak of the Second World War , Wülfing was reactivated and initially deployed as 2nd Admiral of the North Sea Station from September 3rd . He was then put to use in the Navy until June 6, 1940. Afterwards, Wülfing was promoted to Vice-Admiral on February 1, 1941, as Undersecretary of State, Head of the Shipping Office in the Reich Ministry of Transport . He was then placed at the disposal of the Chief of the Navy on May 30, 1942 and retired from naval service on February 28, 1943. Wülfing was then made available to the Navy from March 1, 1943, but was no longer used for active service.

family

Wülfing was adopted by Carl Heinrich Ludwig Friedrich Robert von Ditten in 1922. He then carried the name Wülfing von Ditten and a combined coat of arms of his two families, without objection under nobility law since 1930 .

Publications

• Thoughts on building a modern merchant fleet . Published in the periodical Nauticus . 25th year. Ed .: Gottfried Hansen (Admiral zV) on behalf of the High Command of the Navy. Published in November 1941. Publisher: ES Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1942. pp. 249-258. On-line

Web links

• Short biography of Paul Wülfing von Ditten (in English). In: Axis Biographical Research. Retrieved July 26, 2016 . 
• Short biography of Paul Wülfing von Ditten. In: The Federal Archives - digitization project of the files of the Reich Chancellery. Retrieved August 5, 2016 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Johannes Hürter: “Wilhelm Groener. Reichswehr Minister at the end of the Weimar Republic (1928–1932) ”. R. Oldenbourg Publishing House. 1993. ISBN 3-486-55978-8 . Page 203
2. ↑ No. 381 Cabinet meeting on December 20, 1927, 11.30 a.m. - 7. Off the agenda: Message from the Reichswehr Minister about a visit by Prince Heinrich of Prussia on the cruiser “Berlin”. In: The Federal Archives - digitization project of the files of the Reich Chancellery. Retrieved August 5, 2016 . 
3. ^ Adelslexikon Volume XVI, Volume 137 of the complete series, p. 405, Limburg (Lahn) 2005