Hans-Georg von Friedeburg
Encyclopedia
Hans-Georg von Friedeburg (15 July 1895 – 23 May 1945) was the deputy commander of the U-Boat
Forces of Nazi Germany
and the last Commanding Admiral of the Kriegsmarine
.
In spite of having a Jewish grandmother, Friedeburg was an ardent supporter of Nazi regime and was shielded by Heinrich Himmler
from anti-Jewish persecutions. (Bryan Mark Rigg
, Hitler's Jewish Soldiers.) A prominent German naval officer of the post-World War I
period, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the German U-boat fleet in September 1941. Overseeing German U-Boat
training and deployment of the U-boat bases in France, he later organised U-boat picket lines in the mid-Atlantic to find and attack Allied convoy
s. Promoted to Rear Admiral in 1942, Friedeburg assumed command of the German U-boat fleet in February of the following year. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuzes mit Schwertern
on 17 January 1945. He succeeded Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz
as Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine when Dönitz became Reich President upon Hitler's suicide (and per Hitler's last will), and was promoted to Generaladmiral on 1 May 1945.
In early May 1945, Friedeburg was ordered by Dönitz to negotiate a truce with the Western Allied forces. Arriving at Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's headquarters in Lüneburg
, Germany
he was informed that an unconditional surrender to all Allied forces was necessary and not negotiable. Nevertheless, he signed an instrument of surrender of all German armed forces in Holland, northwest Germany and Denmark on 4 May 1945.
Friedeburg was later present, on behalf of the German Navy, when the document declaring the official surrender of the German armed forces in Northern Europe, including Germany, taking effect at midnight of 8/9 May 1945, was signed on behalf of the German High Command by Colonel General
Alfred Jodl
at Reims
, France
. He later signed on behalf of the Kriegsmarine
, in Berlin
on 8 May 1945, along with Colonel General
Hans-Jürgen Stumpff
for the Luftwaffe
and Generalfeldmarschall
Wilhelm Keitel
for the Wehrmacht
, an instrument of surrender in the presence of Marshal
Georgy Zhukov
for the Red Army
and other Allied representatives. Doing so, he became the only German representative who signed both official surrender declarations. Two weeks later, on 23 May 1945, the day when the members of the Flensburg government
were arrested, Friedeburg became a prisoner of war
of the British in Plön
. Unable to endure the defeat of his country, and having made up his mind back in 1944 about this perspective, he took poison the same day. He was interred in the Adelby cemetery near Flensburg
.
His son Ludwig von Friedeburg
(1924–2010) was a well-known sociologist and politician (SPD
) and served between 1969 and 1974 as minister for culture in the state of Hesse
.
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
Forces of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the last Commanding Admiral of the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
.
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
from anti-Jewish persecutions. (Bryan Mark Rigg
Bryan Mark Rigg
Bryan Mark Rigg born 1971, is an American author and speaker who received his PhD from Cambridge University. He is based at Southern Methodist University in Dallas....
, Hitler's Jewish Soldiers.) A prominent German naval officer of the post-World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
period, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the German U-boat fleet in September 1941. Overseeing German U-Boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
training and deployment of the U-boat bases in France, he later organised U-boat picket lines in the mid-Atlantic to find and attack Allied convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
s. Promoted to Rear Admiral in 1942, Friedeburg assumed command of the German U-boat fleet in February of the following year. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuzes mit Schwertern
War Merit Cross
The War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel...
on 17 January 1945. He succeeded Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy during World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of , the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner...
as Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine when Dönitz became Reich President upon Hitler's suicide (and per Hitler's last will), and was promoted to Generaladmiral on 1 May 1945.
In early May 1945, Friedeburg was ordered by Dönitz to negotiate a truce with the Western Allied forces. Arriving at Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's headquarters in Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
he was informed that an unconditional surrender to all Allied forces was necessary and not negotiable. Nevertheless, he signed an instrument of surrender of all German armed forces in Holland, northwest Germany and Denmark on 4 May 1945.
Friedeburg was later present, on behalf of the German Navy, when the document declaring the official surrender of the German armed forces in Northern Europe, including Germany, taking effect at midnight of 8/9 May 1945, was signed on behalf of the German High Command by Colonel General
Colonel General
Colonel General is a senior rank of General. North Korea and Russia are two countries which have used the rank extensively throughout their histories...
Alfred Jodl
Alfred Jodl
Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl was a German military commander, attaining the position of Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command during World War II, acting as deputy to Wilhelm Keitel...
at Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He later signed on behalf of the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
, in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
on 8 May 1945, along with Colonel General
Colonel General
Colonel General is a senior rank of General. North Korea and Russia are two countries which have used the rank extensively throughout their histories...
Hans-Jürgen Stumpff
Hans-Jürgen Stumpff
Hans-Jürgen Stumpff , was a German general of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.-Early life:Born in Kolberg, Stumpff entered the Brandenburgisches Grenadierregiment Nr. 12 "Prinz Karl von Preußen" as an ensign in 1907. Promoted to lieutenant in 1908, by the start of the First World War,...
for the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
and Generalfeldmarschall
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...
Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal . As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II...
for the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
, an instrument of surrender in the presence of Marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
for the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and other Allied representatives. Doing so, he became the only German representative who signed both official surrender declarations. Two weeks later, on 23 May 1945, the day when the members of the Flensburg government
Flensburg government
The Flensburg Government , also known as the Flensburg Cabinet and the Dönitz Government , was the short-lived administration that attempted to rule the Third Reich during most of May 1945 at the end of World War II in Europe...
were arrested, Friedeburg became a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
of the British in Plön
Plön
Plön is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 13,000 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on several smaller lakes, touching the town on virtually all sides...
. Unable to endure the defeat of his country, and having made up his mind back in 1944 about this perspective, he took poison the same day. He was interred in the Adelby cemetery near Flensburg
Flensburg
Flensburg is an independent town in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region of Southern Schleswig...
.
His son Ludwig von Friedeburg
Ludwig von Friedeburg
Ludwig von Friedeburg was a German politician and sociologist. He served as Minister for Education for the state of Hesse from 1969 until 1974. During that period he forced the installation of Comprehensive Schools in the state of Hesse, heavily opposed by the Christian Democratic Union...
(1924–2010) was a well-known sociologist and politician (SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) and served between 1969 and 1974 as minister for culture in the state of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
.
Awards
- German CrossGerman CrossThe German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in Silver on 6 June 1942 as Kapitän zur See and 2nd admiral of the U-boats