331 Prächtiges Schreibtisch - Set des Großadmirals Alfred v. Tirpitz (1849 - 1930).

The ensemble consists of Grand Admiral v. Tirpitz's personal petschaft and a letter opener made en suite.
The petschaft with original grip of an officer's dagger of the Imperial Navy. The gilded pommel in the shape of the imperial crown, ivory grip with gilded wire winding. The petschaft with engraved family coat of arms of Alfred v. Tirpitz. Accompanied by an imprint of the seal.
150 x 85 mm.

The letter opener also in the form of the Imperial Naval Dagger with original gilt grip with ivory handle and blade made of ivory. The obverse with engraved anchor of the Imperial Navy surmounted by the imperial crown. On the reverse side the intertwined initials "AT" of Grand Admiral Alfred v. Tirpitz.
Length: 30 cm.

Both pieces together in a beautiful original case covered with gold embossed green linen. 35 x 22 x 4,5 cm.

Alfred Peter Friedrich Tirpitz, from 1900 von Tirpitz (* 19 March 1849 in Küstrin; † 6 March 1930 in Ebenhausen in Upper Bavaria), was a German Grand Admiral, from 1897 to 1916 Secretary of State of the Reichsmarineamt and later a politician of the German Nationalists.

Alfred Tirpitz began his military career on 24 April 1865 in the Prussian Navy with the rank of cadet, on 24 June 1866 he was appointed a naval cadet, and on 1 August 1866 he began his seamanship training on the sail training ship SMS Musquito, returning in June 1867 after a voyage from Kiel to the western Mediterranean. After joining the navy of the North German Confederation on 24 June 1869, Tirpitz was promoted to sub-lieutenant at sea on 22 September 1869; this was followed by lieutenant at sea on 25 May 1872, lieutenant captain on 18 November 1875, corvette captain on 17 September 1881 and finally captain at sea on 24 November 1888. On 13 May 1895, he reached the rank of Contreadmiral; this title corresponded to Rear Admiral after the Germanisation at the beginning of 1899. On 5 December 1899, he was appointed Vice-Admiral, and on 14 November 1903, he was promoted to Admiral.

By Allerhöchster Kabinettsorder (AKO), Alfred von Tirpitz was awarded the rank and title of Grand Admiral on 27 January 1911, although he was not awarded a Grand Admiral's baton and was not allowed to wear the crossed marshal's staffs on his shoulder boards, but instead four rank stars. The permission to use the rank of "Grand Admiral" was intended as an award for his services in building up the navy; the full insignia of a Grand Admiral, however, was denied him due to the fact that he had never led a naval command as commander of the fleet. He ended his military career on 15 March 1916 when he retired.

Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz is considered the founder of the German High Seas Fleet. The aim was to create a fleet that, although it would not reach the strength of the British fleet, would at least pose a risk threat to the naval power Great Britain in the event of a war against the German Empire. This led to the Anglo-German arms race. The fleet thus created is sometimes referred to as the Risk Fleet, whose existence in the imperialist rivalry in the run-up to the First World War was nevertheless perceived as a threat by Great Britain.

Disagreements with Wilhelm II over the use of the fleet in the war led to the Grand Admiral's retirement from military service. Wilhelm II himself, on the other hand, reported that the Reich Chancellor von Bethmann had demanded the dismissal of the Grand Admiral, since all the state secretaries were subordinate to him and he, as Chancellor, was in charge.

"Tirpitz Plan"

 Together with the appointment of Bernhard von Bülow as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Alfred Tirpitz was appointed Secretary of State of the Imperial Navy Office in 1897 as successor to Friedrich von Hollmann, in order to help realise Wilhelm II's pet project, the expansion of the German High Seas Fleet, as a decision-maker in the field of German foreign policy. This project is called the "Tirpitz Plan". Tirpitz's propaganda chief became Ernst Levy von Halle.

The naval build-up was not a specifically German affair. Britain had massively reinforced its fleet with large ships after the Naval Defence Act 1889. The new paradigm of the two-power standard went back to Alfred Thayer Mahan and his epoch-making book The Influence of Sea Power upon History of 1890. The "thinking in battleships" began.

In order to be able to implement this project, for which Tirpitz had estimated 20 years, in the long run, Bülow initially relied throughout on the preservation of peace. For the time being, peace seemed to be necessary for the construction of the fleet. For it was important "to cross a world political danger zone as undisturbed as possible until Germany could emerge with the sword sharpened in silence in her hand". Bülow ensured that the framework conditions were created so that Tirpitz's For

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