Ludwig von Schröder (17 July 1854 Hintzenkamp near

Eggesin Eggesin (; csb, Chëczëno) is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Uecker, 7 km southeast of Ueckermünde, and 42 km northwest of Szczecin. Tran ...

– 23 July 1933 in

Berlin-Halensee Halensee () is a ''locality'' (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the district (''Bezirk'') of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Halensee was established as a villa and tenement settlement in about 1880, in the suburb of Wilmersdorf, which became part of Great ...

) was an

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and a recipient of the ''

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...

'' with Oak Leaves. Schröder entered the newly organized Imperial Naval Service in May 1871 as cadet after passing his examinations. He was assigned for eight months to the sail training ship SMS ''Niobe'' before being posted to Naval School Kiel. After graduation he was initially assigned as subaltern to naval infantry, followed by service on several ships, then as commanding officer of the aviso SMS ''Blitz'', the training vessel SMS ''Moltke'' and the cruiser SMS ''Vineta''. With his promotion to admiral in January 1911 he functioned as chief of the Cruiser Division of the West Indies Station. In February 1912 Schröder was elevated to the hereditary Prussian nobility by Kaiser

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

. Admiral Ludwig von Schröder retired from active duty in 1913. One of his final assignments was commander of Baltic Sea Naval Command. With the outbreak of war in August 1914, Schröder was recalled to active service and named commanding Admiral in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, placed in charge of both the seagoing forces and the 1st Marine Division. By mid-November 1914 additional naval infantry formations were raised and added to his command to form '' Marinekorps Flandern''. He was in command during the 1916 Battle of Dover Strait, the successful German attack on the

Dover Barrage Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidston ...

. Schröder’s leadership earned him the sobriquet “Lion of Flanders” in Germany.''Hamburger Nachrichten'', 24 July 1933. Obituary Admiral Ludwig von Schröder After transfer to the Baltic near the end of the war, Schröder was ordered by Wilhelm II to take action against mutineering German sailors at

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

. The government of

Reichskanzler The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

Max von Baden Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (''Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm''; 10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929),Almanach de Gotha. ''Haus Baden (Maison de Bade)''. Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1944, p. 18, (French). also known as Max von Baden, was a Ger ...

was opposed to these measures and the orders were thus not carried out. Ludwig von Schröder retired a second time on 12 December 1918. He died in Berlin-Halensee on 23 July 1933, age 79, and was buried at the

Invalidenfriedhof The Invalids' Cemetery (german: Invalidenfriedhof) is one of the oldest cemeteries in Berlin. It was the traditional resting place of the Prussian Army, and is regarded as particularly important as a memorial to the German Wars of Liberation ...

cemetery, Berlin, with son Joachim (1885-1929) who preceded him in death. Son Ludwig Karl (1884-1941) was a

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

general during the Second World War.

Awards

Albert Order The Albert Order (german: link=no, Albrechts-Orden or Albrechtsorden) was created on 31 December 1850 by King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to commemorate Albert III, Duke of Saxony (known as Albert the Bold). It was to be awarded to anyone wh ...

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

1st and 2rd Class *

(20 October 1915) with Oak Leaves (23 December 1917) *

Bavarian Military Merit Order Bavarian is the adjective form of the German state of Bavaria, and refers to people of ancestry from Bavaria. Bavarian may also refer to: * Bavarii, a Germanic tribe * Bavarians, a nation and ethnographic group of Germans * Bavarian, Iran, a vill ...

* Order of the Crown *

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle (german: Roter Adlerorden) was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful se ...

Bibliography

* Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: ''Die Ritter des Ordens Pour le Mérite des I. Weltkriegs'', Band 3: P–Z, Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2011, , S. 451-453 * * Hanns Möller: ''Geschichte der Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite im Weltkrieg'', Band II: M–Z, Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, S. 442-444

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schroder, Ludwig von 1854 births 1933 deaths Imperial German Navy admirals of World War I Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Grand Crosses of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria) Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery People from Vorpommern-Greifswald People from the Province of Pomerania Admirals of the Imperial German Navy