Paul Wever

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Paul Wever (born January 28, 1893 in Langenberg near Wörth am Rhein , † August 11, 1944 in Aix-en-Provence ) was a German Vice Admiral in the Navy during World War II .

Career

Imperial Navy and First World War

Wever joined the Imperial Navy ( Crew 12 ) on April 1, 1912 as a midshipman . He completed basic training and then basic training until March 11, 1913 on the heavy cruiser Hansa used as a training ship . On April 12, 1913, he was appointed ensign at sea . He then went to the naval school in Flensburg - Mürwik for further training and, from April 1, 1914, completed special courses in artillery, infantry and torpedo. The training courses were canceled when the First World War broke out and Wever was on duty on the small cruiser Stuttgart from August 2, 1914 . On March 25, 1915, he was promoted to lieutenant at sea and from December 16, 1916 was used on the small cruiser Emden , which was still being tested at that time. In September 1917, he then took the submarine training at the submarine school in Neustadt in Holstein part before in December 1917 as a deck officer on the submarine UC 52 was added. On December 25, 1917 he was promoted to first lieutenant . Wever remained in this position until October 1918. After that, he served as an instructor for depth charges on submerged submarines on the auxiliary ship Meteor .

Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine

Wever stayed on the Meteor after the end of the war until December 1918 and was then given leave of absence. From June 3, 1920 to March 31, 1922 he was then used as a flag lieutenant in the staff of the Commander in Chief of the Baltic Sea Forces. During this period of service he was promoted to lieutenant captain on September 1, 1922. He then served as a torpedo officer on the small cruiser Thetis until December 22, 1923 and was then adjutant and consultant at the inspection of the torpedo until October 5, 1927 and mining. Then followed the admiral staff training until March 23, 1929. Then Wever was briefly made available to the chief of the naval station of the Baltic Sea . From April 17, 1929, he served as a navigational officer on the light cruiser Königsberg and was promoted to Corvette Captain on October 1, 1930 . On October 28, 1930 Wever became chief of the naval department of the naval command . After that, from January 17, 1933, he was sent to the German diplomatic missions in Paris , Lisbon and Madrid with headquarters in Paris as a naval attaché . Since 1920, he was the first naval attaché on site at all three embassies. Above all, it was important that Wever had to establish suitable working conditions and working contacts for the respective office of the Marine Attaché in the individual countries in a very short time. In 1933, especially in France and Portugal, there were very strong concerns and uncertainties about how to politically deal with the system of National Socialism established in Germany. Only in Spain were the ruling circles around General Franco aware, through military cooperation with Germany in the defeat of the Spanish republic from 1936, that a possible ally in the future redivision of Europe had emerged in the form of the new system of rule in Germany. On January 1, 1936, he was promoted to frigate captain . When the mandatory three-year service period as a naval attaché expired, Wever was replaced on March 18, 1936 by his successor Joachim Lietzmann (1894–1959) at all three locations.

After his return to Germany, Wever served as first officer on the ironclad Admiral Graf Spee and was appointed captain at sea on April 1, 1937 . From May 31, 1937, he served again as chief of staff in the inspection of torpedoes and mines, and between July 19 and August 17, 1937 he was also deputy inspector of the inspection of education. From June 15, 1938, Wever took command of the light cruiser Emden and was then at the disposal of the commanding admiral of the North Sea naval station from May 6, 1939 .

From August 23, beyond the beginning of World War II, to December 4, 1939, Wever was Chief of Staff of the Marine Group Command West . He then worked from January 1 to June 21, 1940 as head of the naval intelligence evaluation department (3 / Skl) in the naval high command and from June 22, 1940 to January 15, 1943, he was naval chief of the German Armistice Commission for France in Wiesbaden . On September 1, 1941, he was promoted to Rear Admiral. From January 16, Wever was made available to the commander of the Marine Group West and finally appointed on September 2, 1943, commanding admiral of the French south coast . In this position on October 1, 1943, he was promoted to Vice Admiral. On August 11, 1944, Wever died of a heart attack in Aix-en-Provence, on the French Atlantic coast.

literature

  • Dermot Bradley (Ed.), Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernst 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 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Hildebrand, formation history and staffing of the German armed forces 1915-1945, Volume 2 Marine, Biblio Verlag Osnabrück, 2000, p. 35ff.
  2. ^ Klaus-Volker Giessler: The institution of the naval attaché in the empire. Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1976, p. 35 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Wever, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Vice Admiral
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Langenberg near Wörth on the Rhine
DATE OF DEATH August 11, 1944
Place of death Aix-en-Provence