Karl August Nerger

Infobox Military Person
name= Karl August Nerger
lived=birth date|1875|2|25|df=y — death date and age|1947|1|12|1875|2|25|df=y


placeofbirth=Rostock, Mecklenburg-Schwerin
placeofdeath=Speziallager Nr. 7 Sachsenhausen concentration camp, DDR
nickname=
allegiance=Imperial Germany
serviceyears=1893–1919
rank=Kapitän zur See
commands="SMS Wolf"
unit=
battles=
awards=Pour le Mérite,
Military Order of Max Joseph
laterwork=

Karl August Nerger (25 February 1875 – 12 January 1947) was a naval officer of the Imperial German Navy in World War I, who achieved fame and recognition during the war for his command of the auxiliary cruiser "SMS Wolf".

Nerger was born in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Nerger had entered the Navy as a cadet in April 1893, and as a junior officer participated in the China Relief Expedition during the Boxer Rebellion, where he had also been decorated for bravery and intrepidity. In Summer 1914, then-Korvettenkapitän Nerger had taken command of the light cruiser SMS "Stettin", which he commanded until taking over SMS "Wolf" in March 1916. As captain of the "Wolf", he led the commerce raider on a 451-day expedition, the longest voyage of a warship during World War I, until May 1918, and was promoted to Fregattenkapitän on January 13, 1917. In May 1918, he became commander of minesweeper units of the High Seas Fleet, a command he held until war's end. He retired on July 25, 1919, characterized as a Kapitän zur See.

For his exploits, Nerger was awarded the highest military decorations of the five main states of the German Empire, a feat achieved only by Kaiser Wilhelm II himself, Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary, Field Marshals Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke Albrecht of Württemberg, and Paul von Hindenburg, the Kaiser's son General Crown Prince Wilhelm, Nerger, and one other commerce raider captain, Nikolaus Burggraf und Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien.

Nerger received Prussia's Pour le Mérite on February 24, 1918, the day SMS Wolf returned home. This was followed by Bavaria's Military Order of Max Joseph, Saxony's Military Order of St. Henry, Württemberg's Military Merit Order, and Baden's Military Karl Friedrich Merit Order. In addition to these highest awards of the major states, he also received the 1914 Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, the Knight's Cross with Swords of Prussia's Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, the Military Merit Cross 1st and 2nd Class of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Friedrich August Cross 1st and 2nd Class of Oldenburg, and the Hanseatic Crosses of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck.

Nerger was named an honorary citizen of Rostock in 1919 and received an honorary degree in medicine from the University of Rostock. In 1920 he began working for Siemens-Schuckert.

On 15 August 1945, Nerger was interned by the Soviet Union as a political prisoner at Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he died two years later.

External links

* [http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/MaraudersWW1/Wolf.html Report on the voyage of the "Wolf"]
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* [http://www.pourlemerite.org/wwi/navy/nerger.html Bio on Karl August Nerger]