Hans Georg von Friedeburg
| Hans-Georg von Friedeburg | |
|---|---|
Reims, 7 May 1945: Friedeburg (right) witnessing the surrender being signed by Generaloberst Alfred Jodl with Major Wilhelm Oxenius to the left
|
|
| Born |
15 July 1895 Straßburg, Alsace-Lorraine |
| Died | 23 May 1945 (aged 49) Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
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| Service/branch |
 Kaiserliche Marine Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
|
| Years of service | 1914–45 |
| Rank | Generaladmiral |
| Commands held |
|
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross |
Hans-Georg von Friedeburg (15 July 1895 – 23 May 1945) was a German admiral, the deputy commander of the U-boat Forces of Nazi Germany and the last Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine. He was the only representative of the armed forces to be present at the signing of the German instruments of surrender both in Reims on 7 May and in Berlin on 8 May 1945. Generaladmiral von Friedeburg committed suicide shortly afterwards, upon the dissolution of the Flensburg Government.
Hans-Georg von Friedeburg was born in Strassburg in the German Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine, the son of Prussian officer Karl von Friedeburg (1862–1924). On 1 April 1914 he joined the Imperial Navy as a Seekadett. After the outbreak of World War I, von Friedeburg, promoted to the rank of Fähnrich zur See (Officer Aspirant) served on the dreadnought Kronprinz and took part in the 1916 Battle of Jutland against the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. Elevated to Leutnant zur See, he joined the U-boat forces as naval officer on SM U-114 from June to November 1918.
A prominent German naval officer of the post-war period, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the German U-boat fleet in September 1941. Overseeing German U-boat training and deployment of the U-boat bases in France, he later organised U-boat picket lines in the mid-Atlantic to find and attack Allied convoys. Promoted to Rear Admiral in 1942, von Friedeburg assumed command of the German U-boat fleet in February of the following year. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuzes mit Schwertern on 17 January 1945. He succeeded Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine when Dönitz became Reich President upon Hitler's suicide (and per Hitler's last will), and was promoted to general admiral on 1 May 1945.
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