Ralf von der Marwitz

Ralf von der Marwitz (born October 29, 1888 in Oldenburg in Oldenburg ; † September 29, 1966 in Wiesbaden ) was a German Vice Admiral in World War II and from 1937 to 1944 a naval attaché at various embassies .

Life

origin

He came from the noble family of Marwitz and was the son of a Prussian country stable master .

Military career

Cover letter from Marwitz to Ambassador Franz von Papen in Ankara on Lechi's proposal about collaboration with Nazi Germany, January 11, 1941

On April 1, 1906, Marwitz joined the Imperial Navy as a midshipman and completed his ship training on the cruiser frigate SMS Stosch . He then went to the naval school and was appointed ensign at sea on April 6, 1907 . After successfully completing school, he was transferred to the station cruiser SMS Bremen in October 1908 , whose area of ​​operation was on the South American coast. Marwitz remained on board the small cruiser from November 16, 1908 to June 15, 1910 and was promoted to lieutenant at sea on September 30, 1909. After his return to Germany, he was assigned to the I. Marine Inspection until September 28, 1910 and then transferred as a company officer to the I. Torpedo Division. There Marwitz was used as an officer on watch on various torpedo boats and promoted to lieutenant at sea on September 19, 1912 . On October 20, 1913 he was transferred and appointed chief of the 1st minesweeping semi-flotilla in Kiel .

When the First World War broke out , Marwitz was still the head of this association. He was promoted to lieutenant captain on March 10, 1917 and on July 12, 1917 was entrusted with the leadership of the 3rd minesweeping semi-flotilla in Wilhelmshaven . For his achievements, Marwitz was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross , the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords, the Hanseatic Cross Hamburg and the Friedrich August Cross First Class.

After the end of the war he was accepted into the Reichsmarine and on October 1, 1921 he was appointed company commander in the 2nd division of the ship master division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund . From March 1, 1922 to October 2, 1923 he had the same position in the I. Department of the ship master division of the North Sea in Wilhelmshaven. He was then first officer on the small cruiser Hamburg until March 31, 1925 . Then he was employed as a consultant for the inspection of torpedoes and mines. On August 1, 1925, Marwitz was promoted to Korvettenkapitän and on September 30, 1927 appointed commander of the 1st Marine Artillery Division. At the same time as his promotion to frigate captain on October 1, 1930, Marwitz returned to the inspection of torpedoes and mines as chief of staff. On September 28, 1932 he became commander of the fortifications at the mouth of the Ems, and in this position he was promoted to captain at sea on January 1, 1933 . From October 7, 1935 to July 9, 1937 he was in command of the Wesermünde fortifications.

Marine attaché

On July 10, 1937, Marwitz was transferred to the German embassy in Paris as a naval attaché . From then until October 13, 1938, he was also a naval attaché at the embassy in Lisbon . Due to the strategic location of Portugal, during the operation of the Condor Legion to defeat the Spanish Republic from 1936 onwards, he was included in the safeguarding of the intensive transport of weapons, materials and personnel to Spain by sea and air. His direct superior at the embassy in France was Chargé d'affaires Johannes von Welczeck (1878–1972). On April 11, he handed over the official business to his successor Hans Henning (1895–1948). On May 19, 1939, he became a naval attaché at the German embassy in Ankara , where he was promoted to rear admiral on November 1, 1939 . Chargé d'affaires of the German embassy in Turkey at that time was Franz von Papen (1879–1969), who was very keen to integrate Turkey into a solid political and military alliance with Germany. As a result of these efforts, a German-Turkish friendship treaty was signed on July 18, 1940. At the same time from 1939 Marwitz was also responsible for the function of naval attaché from Ankara at the German embassies in Athens (until April 6, 1941), in Bucharest (until August 23, 1944) and in Sofia (until August 31, 1944). Another activity in his function as naval attaché was the activation of the radical underground organization of Palestine - called Lechi - under its leader Avraham Stern. The main aim was to make these forces strong for actions against the British occupying forces. On February 1, 1942, Marwitz was promoted to Vice Admiral. The rather intense efforts of the German embassy in Ankara to pull Turkey over to Germany, Italy and Japan during the Second World War were unsuccessful. She sided with the Allies and broke off diplomatic relations with the German Reich on August 1, 1944. Nevertheless Marwitz still remained briefly as Charge d'Affaires until the end of the month at his post. Here he was interned . After his release, he returned to Germany on November 1, 1946.

Marwitz died on September 29, 1966 in Wiesbaden.

literature

• 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 2: HO. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1989, ISBN 3-7648-1499-3 , pp. 441-442.
• Manfred Kehring: The re-establishment of the German military attaché service after the First World War (1919–1933). Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1966.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reinhard Stumpf : The Wehrmacht Elite. Structure of rank and origin of the German generals and admirals 1933–1945. (Military history studies), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1982, ISBN 3-7646-1815-9 , p. 264.
2. ^ Reichswehr Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsmarine. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1929, p. 42.