Max von der Goltz


Otto Ferdinand Maximilian Leopold Freiherr von der Goltz was an Admiral of the Imperial German Navy.

Biography

Born into Von der Goltz noble family, he was born in Königsberg, Prussia as the son of Amadeus Bogislaw Ferdinand von der Goltz and his wife, Louise Hampel. He joined the Prussian Navy in 1853, and became an Fähnrich zur See in 1859, and Kapitänleutnant in 1865, and Korvettenkapitän in 1870. He was then at the Navy Ministry.
As captain, he made several trips as the commander of the corvette to South America and West Indies. Between 1877 and 1882 he was the senior director of the shipyard in Kiel and reorganized the yard. He was then chief of the Mediterranean Squadron during the conflict in Egypt and in 1883 briefly became commander of the East Asia Squadron before being appointed as the Konteradmiral and chief of the German Imperial Admiralty. Five years later he was made Vizeadmiral and appointed commander of the North Sea Naval Station at Wilhelmshaven. In 1889 he became commanding admiral of the Kaiserliches Oberkommando der Marine and in 1892 Goltz finally became a full Admiral.
On 13 May 1895 von der Goltz resigned from his position for health reasons. He died on 20 December 1906 in Potsdam.

Honours