The German Imperial Admiralty (german: Kaiserliche Admiralität) was an imperial naval authority in the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. By order of Kaiser Wilhelm I the Northern German Federal Navy Department of the North German Confederation (1866–71), which had been formed from the

Prussian Navy Department The Prussian Ministry of the Navy (Marineministerium) (1861 to 1871) grew out of that established by the Frankfurt National Assembly (1848-1849) for its ‘Imperial Fleet' Reichsflotte. From 1866 it served additionally as the Navy Department of t ...

(Marineministerium), became on 1 January 1872 the German Imperial Admiralty (''Kaiserliche Admiralität''). The head of the Admiralty (Chef der Admiralität) administered the Imperial Navy under the authority of the imperial chancellor and the supreme command of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

(''Kaiserliche Kommandogewalt''). It lasted until 1889, undergoing several reorganizations, but proved an impractical arrangement given the constant growth and the expansion of the Imperial Navy. Finally it was abolished in April 1889 and its duties divided among three new entities:

German Imperial Naval High Command The German Imperial Naval High Command () was an office of the German Empire which existed from 1 April 1889 until 14 March 1899 to command the German Imperial Navy. A similarly named office existed in the Prussian Navy and the '' Kriegsmarine'' ...

(''Kaiserliches Oberkommando der Marine''), the Imperial Naval Office (''Reichsmarineamt''), and the Imperial Naval Cabinet (''Kaiserliches Marinekabinett''). The Imperial Naval High Command was, on 14 March 1899, replaced by the

German Imperial Admiralty Staff The German Imperial Admiralty Staff (german: Admiralstab) was one of four Command (military formation), command agencies for the administration of the Imperial German Navy from 1899 to 1918. While the German Emperor Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Wil ...

, which simply transferred over most of the personnel of the Admiral Staff detachment of the former Naval High Command.Terrell D. Gottschall, ''By order of the Kaiser: Otto von Diederichs and the rise of the Imperial German Navy, 1865-1902'' (Institute Press, 2003, 337 pages), p. 231

Heads of the Admiralty (''Chef der Admiralität'')

References

{{wikisource, Allerhöchster Erlaß, betreffend die oberste Marinebehörde, Allerhöchster Erlaß, betreffend die oberste Marinebehörde. Vom 1. Januar 1872. Imperial German Navy