Hellmuth von Mücke
Encyclopedia
Hellmuth von Mücke was an Officer in the German Kaiserliche Marine
in the early 20th Century and World War I
.
, Saxony
. He was a son of an Army Captain who later joined the Imperial Civil Service. At the age of 18, von Mücke became a naval cadet and served on the schoolship Charlotte and later then the battleship Kaiser Friedrich III
. He became Leutnant zur See in September 1903 and was posted to the light cruiser Nymphe. In 1907, he became first officer of the 3rd Torpedo Boat Reserve Half-Flotilla and a year later a flag lieutenant to the Commander of Scouting Forces. He received command of the torpedo boat S.149 in 1910, while simultaneously acting as flag lieutenant for the First Torpedo Boat Flotilla.
The Emden was a vessel in the German East Asia Squadron
based at Tsingtao. The squadron's commander detached it to raid commerce in the Indian Ocean
while he attempted to bring the rest of the squadron back to Germany around Cape Horn
.
The Emden intercepted dozens of merchant as well as British, French and Russian military vessels in the Pacific Ocean
and Indian Ocean
over the next four months. But finally, on November 9, 1914, she encountered and was severely damaged by the larger, faster, and more heavily armed Australian light cruiser, HMAS Sydney. Emden ran aground to avoid sinking.
On November 09, 1914, Karl von Müller
, the Emden's captain dispatched von Mücke to lead a 53-man landing party onto Direction Island, one of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
northwest of Australia in the Indian Ocean. Von Mücke's task was to destroy the wireless station and the shore facilities of the important intercontinental communications cable
.
Prior to the Emden's arrival, the British wireless operators spotted her smoke on the horizon and sent a wireless message stating an unknown ship was approaching. heard the alert and proceeded to Cocos, where she encountered and disabled the Emden.
Von Mücke and his landing party witnessed the destruction of the Emden from just 17 miles away, and realized they had no hope of relief. They seized a derelict, 97-ton, three-masted schooner
, the Ayesha, quickly made her seaworthy, and escaped when the Sydney sailed away to capture the Emden's collier
, the Buresk. In addition to small arms and 29 rifles, the landing party was equipped with four heavy machine guns. Over the next six months, von Mücke led his small command on one of the longest escapes recorded - over 11,000 km by sea and land - losing only one man to disease and three to enemy action, a remarkable achievement for the times.
Initially, von Mücke sailed his small command (numbering five officers, one surgeon, and 47 petty officers and men) to the Dutch port of Padang
on the west coast of Sumatra
. There he arranged a rendezvous with a German freighter in port, the Choising, which transported them to the Ottoman Empire
's city of Hodeida in Yemen
. Once on the Arabian Peninsula
, von Mücke and his men experienced months of delay securing the assistance of local Turkish officials to return to Germany. At last he decided to lead his men on an over-water voyage up the east coast of the Red Sea
to Djidda, and thence to Medina
, then the southern terminus of the Hejaz Railway. However, one of his small vessels sunk on a reef, and they commenced a dangerous overland journey along the Red Sea. Approaching Djidda they were beset by hundreds of armed Bedouin
s in a three-day battle that claimed one officer and two enlisted men killed. They were eventually relieved by the Emir
of Mecca
, and von Mücke believed the Bedouins had been hired by the British, based on weapons captured from killed Bedouins. Finally in May, 1915, von Mücke and 48 other survivors boarded the railroad at Al Ula Oasis, and eventually reached Constantinople
, the capital of Germany's ally, Turkey, from which they returned to Germany.
Also in 1915, he married an American orphan who had been adopted by a German mercantile family in Baltimore, and who was then living in Germany, and between 1918 and 1938 had three daughters and three sons. In 1922, he traveled to the United States to promote his books and was well received by American audiences.
The effects of World War I and the Versailles Treaty on his homeland jaded him considerably. Like many of his fellow officers, he joined conservative political movements after the war. In 1918, he joined the German National People's Party DNVP, but moved to the DAP (German Workers' Party
) in 1919. The DAP became the NSDAP or Nazi Party in 1920, and von Mücke served as a Representative in the Saxony
Landtag
, or state parliament, from 1926-1929. However, by 1929, he had reconsidered his position regarding re-armament, and he left the Party, embraced pacifism, and lectured and wrote extensively on the subject.
Following the appointment of Adolf Hitler
as Chancellor of Germany
in 1933, von Mücke became a much more vocal opponent of the regime. The Party banned his writings as subversive, and in 1936 he was imprisoned briefly in Konzentrationslager Kiel a concentration camp near Kiel
, Germany for political dissent, as a warning to cease his opposition. Although he volunteered to rejoin the German Navy as World War II approached, he was considered politically unreliable, and was ordered back to the camps for the duration of the war by Hitler himself in 1939. He was sent to Konzentrationslager Fuhlsbüttel
in Hamburg
. However, the Reichsstatthalter
of Hamburg, Karl Kaufmann
, considered von Mücke a national hero for his service in World War I, ignored Hitler's directive, and released von Mücke after several months, citing that he was too ill for imprisonment. The family was moved from their home on the island of Föhr
during this unstable period, and was finally settled inland, in Ahrensburg
, Schleswig-Holstein
, where von Mücke lived from 1940 until his death.
Von Mücke's oldest son and name-sake was killed on the Russian Front in 1943.
After the war, von Mücke continued peace activism, opposing rearmament in 1950s West Germany
. He died of a heart attack on July 30, 1957.
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
in the early 20th Century and 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...
.
Early life
Von Mücke was born in on June 21, 1881 in ZwickauZwickau
Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. He was a son of an Army Captain who later joined the Imperial Civil Service. At the age of 18, von Mücke became a naval cadet and served on the schoolship Charlotte and later then the battleship Kaiser Friedrich III
SMS Kaiser Friedrich III
SMS Kaiser Friedrich III was the lead ship of the Kaiser Friedrich III class of pre-dreadnought battleships. She was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven in 1895, and finished in October 1898...
. He became Leutnant zur See in September 1903 and was posted to the light cruiser Nymphe. In 1907, he became first officer of the 3rd Torpedo Boat Reserve Half-Flotilla and a year later a flag lieutenant to the Commander of Scouting Forces. He received command of the torpedo boat S.149 in 1910, while simultaneously acting as flag lieutenant for the First Torpedo Boat Flotilla.
World War I
Von Mücke was the Executive Officer and First Lieutenant of the German Light Cruiser SMS Emden of the Imperial German Navy during her successful career as a commerce raider in the autumn of 1914.The Emden was a vessel in the German East Asia Squadron
German East Asia Squadron
The German East Asia Squadron was a German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the 1870s and 1914...
based at Tsingtao. The squadron's commander detached it to raid commerce in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
while he attempted to bring the rest of the squadron back to Germany around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
.
The Emden intercepted dozens of merchant as well as British, French and Russian military vessels in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
over the next four months. But finally, on November 9, 1914, she encountered and was severely damaged by the larger, faster, and more heavily armed Australian light cruiser, HMAS Sydney. Emden ran aground to avoid sinking.
On November 09, 1914, Karl von Müller
Karl von Müller
Karl Friedrich Max von Müller was Captain of the famous German commerce raider, the light cruiser SMS Emden during World War I.- Early life and career :The son of a cracking Colonel, he was born in Hanover...
, the Emden's captain dispatched von Mücke to lead a 53-man landing party onto Direction Island, one of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
The Territory of the Cocos Islands, also called Cocos Islands and Keeling Islands, is a territory of Australia, located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Christmas Island and approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka....
northwest of Australia in the Indian Ocean. Von Mücke's task was to destroy the wireless station and the shore facilities of the important intercontinental communications cable
Submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....
.
Prior to the Emden's arrival, the British wireless operators spotted her smoke on the horizon and sent a wireless message stating an unknown ship was approaching. heard the alert and proceeded to Cocos, where she encountered and disabled the Emden.
Von Mücke and his landing party witnessed the destruction of the Emden from just 17 miles away, and realized they had no hope of relief. They seized a derelict, 97-ton, three-masted schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
, the Ayesha, quickly made her seaworthy, and escaped when the Sydney sailed away to capture the Emden's collier
Collier (ship type)
Collier is a historical term used to describe a bulk cargo ship designed to carry coal, especially for naval use by coal-fired warships. In the late 18th century a number of wooden-hulled sailing colliers gained fame after being adapted for use in voyages of exploration in the South Pacific, for...
, the Buresk. In addition to small arms and 29 rifles, the landing party was equipped with four heavy machine guns. Over the next six months, von Mücke led his small command on one of the longest escapes recorded - over 11,000 km by sea and land - losing only one man to disease and three to enemy action, a remarkable achievement for the times.
Initially, von Mücke sailed his small command (numbering five officers, one surgeon, and 47 petty officers and men) to the Dutch port of Padang
Padang, Indonesia
Padang is the capital and largest city of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is located on the western coast of Sumatra at . It has an area of and a population of over 833,000 people at the 2010 Census.-History:...
on the west coast of Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
. There he arranged a rendezvous with a German freighter in port, the Choising, which transported them to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
's city of Hodeida in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. Once on the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
, von Mücke and his men experienced months of delay securing the assistance of local Turkish officials to return to Germany. At last he decided to lead his men on an over-water voyage up the east coast of the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
to Djidda, and thence to Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
, then the southern terminus of the Hejaz Railway. However, one of his small vessels sunk on a reef, and they commenced a dangerous overland journey along the Red Sea. Approaching Djidda they were beset by hundreds of armed Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
s in a three-day battle that claimed one officer and two enlisted men killed. They were eventually relieved by the Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
of Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, and von Mücke believed the Bedouins had been hired by the British, based on weapons captured from killed Bedouins. Finally in May, 1915, von Mücke and 48 other survivors boarded the railroad at Al Ula Oasis, and eventually reached Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, the capital of Germany's ally, Turkey, from which they returned to Germany.
Post-war career
The arrival of von Mücke and his men back in Germany, after their successful commerce raiding cruise, and long and arduous return voyage, was greeted with widespread acclaim. In 1915, von Mücke wrote two books about his adventures - "The Emden" and "The Ayesha" both of which were translated into English for American readers, where they became best-sellers prior to the American entry into the war.Also in 1915, he married an American orphan who had been adopted by a German mercantile family in Baltimore, and who was then living in Germany, and between 1918 and 1938 had three daughters and three sons. In 1922, he traveled to the United States to promote his books and was well received by American audiences.
The effects of World War I and the Versailles Treaty on his homeland jaded him considerably. Like many of his fellow officers, he joined conservative political movements after the war. In 1918, he joined the German National People's Party DNVP, but moved to the DAP (German Workers' Party
German Workers' Party
The German Workers' Party was the short-lived predecessor of the Nazi Party .-Origins:The DAP was founded in Munich in the hotel "Fürstenfelder Hof" on January 5, 1919 by Anton Drexler, a member of the occultist Thule Society. It developed out of the "Freien Arbeiterausschuss für einen guten...
) in 1919. The DAP became the NSDAP or Nazi Party in 1920, and von Mücke served as a Representative in the Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
, or state parliament, from 1926-1929. However, by 1929, he had reconsidered his position regarding re-armament, and he left the Party, embraced pacifism, and lectured and wrote extensively on the subject.
Following the appointment of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
as Chancellor of Germany
Chancellor of Germany
The Chancellor of Germany is, under the German 1949 constitution, the head of government of Germany...
in 1933, von Mücke became a much more vocal opponent of the regime. The Party banned his writings as subversive, and in 1936 he was imprisoned briefly in Konzentrationslager Kiel a concentration camp near Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, Germany for political dissent, as a warning to cease his opposition. Although he volunteered to rejoin the German Navy as World War II approached, he was considered politically unreliable, and was ordered back to the camps for the duration of the war by Hitler himself in 1939. He was sent to Konzentrationslager Fuhlsbüttel
Fuhlsbüttel
Fuhlsbüttel is an urban quarter in the north of Hamburg, Germany in the district Hamburg-Nord. It is known as the site of Hamburg's international airport, and as the location of a prison which served as a concentration camp in the Nazi system of repression....
in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. However, the Reichsstatthalter
Reichsstatthalter
The term Reichsstatthalter was used twice for different offices, in the imperial Hohenzollern dynasty's German Empire and the single-party Nazi Third Reich.- "Statthalter des Reiches" 1879-1918 in Alsace-Lorraine :...
of Hamburg, Karl Kaufmann
Karl Kaufmann
- External links :* in Der Deutsche Reichstag, Wahlperiode nach d. 30. Jan. 1933, Bd.: 1938, Berlin, 1938...
, considered von Mücke a national hero for his service in World War I, ignored Hitler's directive, and released von Mücke after several months, citing that he was too ill for imprisonment. The family was moved from their home on the island of Föhr
Föhr
Föhr is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest North Sea island of Germany....
during this unstable period, and was finally settled inland, in Ahrensburg
Ahrensburg
Ahrensburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, situated in Stormarn. Its population around 31,700 . Its outstanding sight is the Renaissance castle dating from 1595....
, Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, where von Mücke lived from 1940 until his death.
Von Mücke's oldest son and name-sake was killed on the Russian Front in 1943.
After the war, von Mücke continued peace activism, opposing rearmament in 1950s West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. He died of a heart attack on July 30, 1957.