The Büchsel family is connected to the Pomeranian region in many ways. The paintings of the painter Elisabeth Büchsel seem almost omnipresent here as images of a beautiful, strong life. Her uncle Wilhelm - also born in Stralsund - was to reach the rank of Chief of the Admiral's Staff in the Imperial Navy.
No naval officer held the position of Admiral Chief of Staff of the Imperial Navy for as long as Wilhelm Büchsel from Stralsund, which deserves special mention in view of the special role of the German naval forces and their confusing command structure under Kaiser Wilhelm II. The reserved and extremely loyal admiral was naturally involved in the maritime armament plans of the first German nation state due to his profound military expertise and position, but Büchsel's operational plans were more defensive in recognition of the realities. In this he differed from his colleague, the well-known Alfred (von) Tirpitz. The combination of both personalities - they began their training as sea cadets together in Crew 65 - shows how strongly character traits could influence political and military decisions in the Empire, which is also evident in the fact that Büchsel, unlike Tirpitz, never received a letter of nobility.
Following Dorina Kasten's biography of the painter Elisabeth Büchsel, Eudora-Verlag Leipzig has now also published a biography of the admiral, written by Dr. Wilhelm H. Pantenius. In his book, the author once again traces historical baselines, this time those of Prussian-German naval history up to the end of the First World War.
The event at the Vorpommern-Rügen District Adult Education Center is the first presentation of this work.
