German Imperial Admiralty

The German Imperial Admiralty (Kaiserliche Admiralität) was an imperial naval authority in the German Empire. 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 (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 (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 on April 1889 and its duties divided among three new entities: German Imperial Naval High Command (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, 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