Erich Raeder
Erich Johann Albert Raeder (24 April 1876 in Wandsbek - 6 November 1960 in Kiel) was a naval leader in Germany before and during the Second World War serving as a Navy Admiral in the Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine under the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht military from 1922-1945 In 1939 he was made a "Großadmiral", the highest rank in the navy. (In English, this title means "Grand Admiral" and is equal to Admiral of the Fleet).
Born in 1876 in Hamburg, Germany, Raeder joined the Imperial German Navy in 1894, rising through the ranks. He played a significant part in planning naval strategy during World War I.After the war, he advocated for a powerful German navy and for submarine warfare. He played a key role in the buildup of the Kriegsmarine for the Wehrmacht .Raeder fell out of favor with Adolf Hitler later in World War II. In 1943 he was replaced by Karl Dönitz in his position as head of the German Navy.
Trial and imprisonment
Raeder was arrested by the Allies in 1945 and was convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials. He was sentenced to life in prison, but this sentence was reduced to 10 years.Raeder was released in 1955 for health reasons and died in 1960.
Erich Raeder Media
Erich Raeder (second from left) and the staff of Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper (center), 1916
- For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme.
Raeder and Paul von Hindenburg in Kiel, 1931
Erhard Milch, Wilhelm Keitel, Walther von Brauchitsch, Raeder and Maximilian von Weichs at the 1938 Nuremberg Rally
Raeder with Otto Kretschmer (left), August 1940
Raeder with Adolf Hitler, 1943
Raeder with his wife after being released from prison (September 26, 1955)
Raeder's Grave in Kiel
