Ludwig von Schröder

Who was Ludwig von Schröder?

Ludwig von Schröder was a Prussian officer and Admiral during World War I. Also, he was a recipient of the Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves.

Ludwig von Schröder was a German mariner and Pour le Merite recipient who rose to the rank of admiral. Schröder entered the newly established Imperial Naval Service in May 1871. Prior to World War I, he served on several different ships and commanded the Blitz, as well as the training vessel the Moltke. He additionally functioned as the Chief of the Cruiser-Class Division in the West Indies. Von Schröder retired from active duty in 1913.

As the war broke out on both fronts, von Schröder was reactivated and named commanding Admiral in Flanders, where he was in charge of both the seagoing forces and most of the naval infantry, which by mid-December 1915 became officially known as the Marinekorps Flandern. After transfer to the Baltic and near the war's end, von Schröder was ordered by the Kaiser to take action against mutineering German sailors in Kiel. He advised Reichskanzler Max von Baden that the proposed measures were too harsh, and the orders were thus not carried out.