Gustav von Senden-Bibran

Who was Gustav von Senden-Bibran?

Gustav Freiherr von Senden-Bibran was an admiral of the German Imperial Navy. His father was a Silesian landowner who had served in the Austro-Hungarian Cavalry. He entered the Prussian Navy at age 15, never married, and dedicated his life to building a strong German Navy.

After service in the Franco-Prussian War, from 1871 to 1874 he attended the post-graduate Naval War College, the Marineakademie, along with the future admiral and colleague Otto von Diederichs.

He was stationed in China, Japan and the South Pacific, the Mediterranean and Constantinople. After a cruise around the world he was given more important commands at home.

He became Naval Adjutant or aide to Kaiser Wilhelm II 1888, and, in 1889, Chief of the German Imperial Naval Cabinet. In both positions he was very valuable for his ability to explain technical matters in a manner that the Kaiser could understand. In 1892, he became Rear Admiral and 1899, finally, Vice Admiral.

He often came into strong conflict with army and civilian leaders over his naval building plans, but he often won his goals with the support of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who "had nothing but the navy in his head." He made no secret of his goal of building a navy which would wrest world economic and political power from the British. He was accused of having "delusions of grandeur" and little knowledge of the realities of world politics and power. His period of greatest influence was in the 1890, lessening after the triumph of Tirpitz. He was something of a "naval Éminence grise" to the Kaiser, with whom he had a standing appointment to meet on Tuesday mornings, either in Berlin or Potsdam.