Walter Lohmann

Walter Lohmann (born 30 December 1878 in Bremen; died 29 April 1930 in Rome) was a German captain at sea of the Reichsmarine. Lohmann ran a secret rearmament and research program on behalf of the Weimar Ministry of Defense in an attempt to circumvent the Versailles restrictions. When it was discovered in 1927, the event became known as the a major scandal in Germany and led to the resignation of Reichswehr Minister Otto Gessler in January 1928.

Life

Lohmann was the youngest son of Johann Georg Lohmann (1830–1892), who was a director of the German shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd and Clarissa Lohmann, née Frost (1838–1920), an English woman. His older brother was Alfred Lohmann (born 1870), who was president of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce.

Career

After attending school, Lohmann joined the Imperial Navy as a naval cadet on 7 April 1897. After his officer training, he was deployed to the Far East, first in 1903 to the gunboat SMS Tiger, and then from 1910 as company commander in the German colony of Jiaozhou Bay, Tsingtau. With the outbreak of World War I, he was appointed to the rank of Korvettenkapitän I artillery officer aboard SMS Prinzregent Luitpold, Prinzregent Luitpold where he worked as a non-combat logistics officer. In March 1918, he was transferred to the German Imperial Naval Office, Imperial Naval Office (Reichsmarineamt), where he worked in the Sea Transport Department from December 1918.

As a representative of the Sea Transport Department in the General Naval Office, Lohmann took part in the maritime armistice negotiations in 1919 in England. When he returned, he was appointed head of the Sea Transport Department (BS) on 28 October 1920. He was on very good terms with Chief of Naval Headquarters, Admiral Paul Behncke and this further consolidated his position, receiving significant promotion of himself and the field of work. At the time, Behncke required an overview of the merchant marine as he believed it still had a role even under the Treaty of Versailles. Behncke sent Lohnmann to the Ministry for Reconstruction on 21 December 1920 with a request that he attend all meetings where commercial shipping was discussed.

The Occupation of the Ruhr began in 11 January 1923. The Reichsbank provided 100 million deutsche marks to the Reichswehr for the possible escalation of hostilities, although that never occurred. At the end of the occupation, the monies were returned, instead what remained was shared amongst the services. The Reichsmarine's share, amounting to 10million marks, was assigned to Lohmann to administer. In early 1923, as he was fully trusted by Behncke, Lohmann was given access to the funds that the Reichsmarine was using to rearm.

Lohmann's position involved executing procedures for the repatriation of German warships and the repatriation of German prisoners of war. His access to naval offices in Königsberg, Lübeck, Stettin, Hamburg, and Bremen gave him access to specialized information and financial resources. Favoured by the interests of Behncke, it led to uncontrolled legal violations, criminal activity and high-handed action by individuals developed within the Maritime Transport Department, over the next three years.

Death

During a business trip to Italy, Lohmann died of a heart attack in Rome on 29 April 1930, at the age of 52.

Archives

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See also

* Lohmann Affair

Citations

References

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Further reading

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lohmann, Walter
1878 births
1930 deaths
People from Bremen (city)