German admiral of the Kaiserliche Marine who helped establish the German colonial empire. Voyage through the Pacific Ocean to discuss trade negotiations with Tonga on behalf of the German Empire.
Born in
Saarlouis,
Rhenish Prussia, Knorr entered the
Prussian Navy in 1856. While serving on the corvette Danzig, he fought against pirates off the coast of
Morocco later that year. In 1859 he was promoted to
Unterleutnant. From 1859 to 1862, he sailed with the Elbe on an expedition to the
Far East. He was promoted to
Leutnant in 1862 and
Kapitänleutnant in 1865.
Beginning in 1874, Knorr took part in a voyage through the
Pacific Ocean to discuss trade negotiations with
Tonga on behalf of the
German Empire. He was named
Kapitän zur See in 1876, Chief of Staff of the Admiralty in 1881, and
Konteradmiral in 1883.
As commander of the West African Squadron in December 1884, Knorr intervened in disputes between rival clans in
Douala, Cameroon, imposing German sovereignty over the
Cameroon estuary. He was awarded the
Order of the Red Eagle for this success. From 1 April to 4 July 1885, Knorr was
Reichskommissar of the German colony of
Kamerun. He then commanded a cruiser squadron travelling to
Zanzibar and negotiated with its sultan for the acquisition of a strip of German colonial territory.
In 1886 Knorr commanded a cruiser squadron at
Samoa. He was promoted to
Vizeadmiral in 1889, Admiral in 1893, and Commanding Admiral in 1895. Raised to the
German nobility on 18 January 1896, he received the
Order of the Black Eagle on 15 June 1898. He retired in 1899 and was appointed an admiral
à la suite of the
Seeoffizierkorps.
Knorr died in
Berlin. Admiral-Knorr-Straße, a street in Saarlouis, is named after him.
Knight of the
Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves and Swords, 1885; with Crown, 1894; Grand Cross with Swords on Ring, 27 January 1897 (Prussia)[2]
Hildebrand, Hans; Henriot, Ernest (1988). H — O (in German). Vol. 2. Osnabrück: Biblio-Verl.
ISBN3764814993. {{
cite book}}: |work= ignored (
help)
Further reading
G.Beckmann, K.U. Keubke (Hrsg.): Alltag in der Kaiserlichen Marine um 1890.ISBN3-89488-051-1, S.102–103 (in German)
Cord Eberspächer/Gerhard Wiechmann: Admiral Eduard von Knorr (1840–1920). Eine Karriere in der neuen Elite der Seeoffiziere in Preußen-Deutschland. In: Karl Christian Führer/Karen Hagemann/Birthe Kundrus (Hg.): Eliten im Wandel. Gesellschaftliche Führungsschichten im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Für Klaus Saul zum 65. Geburtstag, Münster 2004, S. 239–258 (in German)
References
^
abHandbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat fur das jahr 1908,
p. 135
^"Rother Adler-orden", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (in German), Berlin, 1895, p.
7{{
citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
^Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1912) [1st pub.:1801].
Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1912 [State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1912] (PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 30 April 2020 – via
da:DIS Danmark.
^Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1890, p. 391