Virtual Sightseeing Tour "Kiel Mutiny" Nov. 1918

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Nr. 06: Negotiations with the gouverneur in the marine station Ostsee 4 11 1918 in the afternoon and evening

The Marinestation Ostsee was situated at the crossing Lornsenstraße/Adolfstraße. While the barracks were widely destroyed during WW II the complex of Intendantur and Marinestation survived. Nowadays the regional tax office operates in these buildings. The marine station moved shortly after WW I to the Marineakademie (nowadays harbouring the Land parliament, Landeshaus).

 

Present day map Former map

Größere Kartenansicht
Stadtplan historisch
  The Marinestation Ostsee is located at the upper part at the corner Lornsenstr./Adolfstr.
Present day view Former view
Foto Marinestation 2009 Postkarte historisch
Above the main entrance is the meeting room, where the negotiations took place. Photo K. Kuhl, 2009 Historical post card

Descriptions and reports of the negotiations:

15:00 hrs: Initial negotiations between the governor and the sailors and representatives of the SPD and USPD. Artelt wrote about it in 1958:

"As we entered the room of the governor, I realised that he had to force himself to negotiate with us. ... He came towards us and said, "Thank you, that you have had the courage to come here." Before we entered into negotiations with him, I asked him if he achnowledges us as the elected representatives of the soldiers and would negotiate on an equal basis with us. Given the real facts, he replied with a forced "yes". I told him then that we must first clarify the issuees that lie within his sphere of influence. At the same time I warned him, .... not to deploy land forces against the revolutionary sailors. In this case, the III. Squadron was instructed to take the officers' villa quarter Düsternbrook under fire, and put it in ruins. ... he issued a statement immediately in my presence that no outside troops would be called and that troops already on the way ... be sent back."

The demands of the sailors were communicated to all navy units in Kiel at around 17 hrs. by the Governor. After a triumphal procession from Kiel-Wik to the military prison in the Feldstreet several thousand sailors receive their released comrades.

In the evening renewed negotiations take place (Noske and Haussmann had meanwhile arrived from Berlin and participated in the negotiations). Lothar Popp, chairman of the USPD in Kiel later reported:

"During the session, now and then a sailor came to me and told me that they have occupied this and that they have occupied that ... While the officers and Noske and Haussmann still discussed what reforms, return on board without punishment, bread and things like that (could be offered against the end of the uprising, Kuhl), the same sailor came back and said to me 'So now we have occupied the station!' That was the building where we held our negotiations! There were some 80-man infantry, who were disarmed and the revolutionary sailors took over the building. Then I said: 'I also want to say something. But above all I would like to correct an error. You always talk of a sailors' revolt. That it was maybe yesterday and the day before, but no longer today. We are now here at the beginning of the German revolution'."

The virtual sightseeing tour at a glance:

  1. Holtenau viaduct and locks >>
  2. Large drillground (Großer Exerzierplatz) >>
  3. Karlstraße / Langer Segen >>
  4. Torpedo workshop Friedrichsort, Germania shipyard Kiel-Gaarden >>
  5. Barracks (Kasernen) in Kiel-Wik >>
  6. Marinestation Ostsee >>
  7. Arrestanstalt (military prison >>
  8. Trade union house (Gewerkschaftshaus) >>
  9. Town hall (Rathaus) >>
  10. "Schloßhof" >>
  11. Station (Bahnhof) >>
  12. Graves of the killed revolutionaries and soldiers >>

Real, guided tours on this subject are offered by:
- Geo-Step-by-Step >>
- Ernst Mühlenbrink, via Society for Kiel's Town History (Gesellschaft für Kieler Stadtgeschichte) >>
- AKENS, Asche Arbeitskreis >>

 

Last modified: 13 Nov. 2011

 

Sailors' Revolt / Kiel Mutiny November 1918 - here you'll find the following further information:

  • Interview with one of the leaders of the mutiny: Lothar Popp >>
  • CV Lothar Popp >>
  • Recollection of the other leader of the mutiny: Karl Artelt >>
  • CV Karl Artelt >>
  • Additional contemporary witnesses (Riedl, Bredenbek, Preßler, Pump; diary of an engineer, Jung, Völcker, ...) >>
  • Videofilm with contemporary witnesses: "Kiel schreibt Geschichte - Matrosenaufstand im November 1918" >>
  • Evaluations of the incidents in Kiel (Dähnhardt, Wette, ...) >>
  • Detailed timeline with documents >>
  • Virtual sightseeing tour >>
  • Commentary >>