Kurt von dem Borne (admiral)

Kurt von dem Borne
Birth name	Kurt Gotthelf Kreuzwendedich von dem Borne
Birth date	24 November 1885(1885-11-24)
Place of birth	Bromberg, Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	31 December 1945 (aged 60) or 31 January 1946 (aged 60)
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1904––1945
Rank	Admiral
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross German Cross in Silver
Relations	∞ 1917 Ruth von Lewinski
Other work	Merchant

Kurt Gotthelf Kreuzwendedich von dem Borne (24 November 1885 – 31 December 1945 / 31 January 1946) was a German naval officer of the Kaiserliche Marine, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine, finally Vice Admiral in WWII.

Life

After attending elementary school in Magdeburg and Hanover, Kurt attended Gymnasium in Hanover, Frankfurt am Main and Danzig, where he achieved his Abitur in March 1904. On 6 April 1904, he joined the Imperial German Navy. After basic training, he received on board training on the Bismarck-class corvette and now school ship (since 20 September 1888) SMS Stosch. She began another cruise to the Mediterranean on 16 July 1904, stopping first in Stockholm, Sweden and Bergen, where Kaiser Wilhelm II visited the ship. From Bergen, she sailed to Cueta and then to Constantinople, where her commander made an official visit to Abdul Hamid II. She arrived back in Kiel on 18 March 1905.

• 1 April 1905 Naval School and special courses
• 1 October 1906 Pre-dreadnought battleship SMS Lothringen
• 1 October 1907 School Ship SMS König Wilhelm
• 1 April 1908 School Ship SMS Charlotte
• 1 April 1909 Watch Officer (W.O) on board protected cruiser and now school ship SMS Hansa
• 1 April 1910 Shipyard officer (1st Shipyard Division)
• 21 April 1910 Watch Officer (W.O) on board armored cruiser SMS Blücher
• 1 October 1913 Shipyard officer (1st Shipyard Division)
• 15 January 1914 Artillery officer on board light cruiser SMS Karlsruhe
  • While en route to attack the shipping lanes to Barbados on 4 November 1914, a spontaneous internal explosion destroyed the ship and killed the majority of the crew. The SMS Karlsruhe sank in just 27 minutes. 263 men, including the commander, lost their lives; many who were thrown overboard – the crew were in the bow below deck at the time – burned to death in the water. The 146 survivors used one of Karlsruhe's colliers, the Hamburg Süd liner SS Rio Negro, to return to Germany in December 1914.
• 5 November to 21 November 1914 Returned home on the Rio Negro
• 22 December 1914 to 25 January 1915 Artillery officer on board the auxiliary cruiser Vineta
• 9 February to 3 March 1915 Placed at disposal of the 1st Naval Inspection
• 7 March 1915 to 28 May 1917 Watch Officer (W.O) on board light cruiser SMS Regensburg
• 29 May 1917 to 14 July 1917 Artillery instructor on board protected cruiser SMS Kaiserin Augusta
• 15 July 1917 to 16 January 1918 Staff officer on board light cruiser SMS Cöln
  • 5 to 21 September 1917 I. Artillery Officer (I.A.O.) on board light cruiser SMS Karlsruhe
  • 28 September to 14 October 1917 Flak Command Flanders
• 21 October 1918 III. Admiral Staff Officer in the staff of the Commander of the Torpedo Boat Forces
• 17 February 1919 Detached for service to the Admiral Staff of the Navy
• 6 March 1919 In the War Science Department of the Admiral Staff (Kriegswissenschaftlichen Abteilung des Admiralstabs)
• Department head in the Central Department of the Admiralty (Dezernent in der Zentralabteilung der Admiralität)
  • 1 October 1919 at the same time, Adjutant of the Chief of the Admiralty
• 9 September with effect from 30 September 1920 Discharged from military service
  • the next years he was a merchant (import/export)
• 1 March 1925 Civilian employee (employee in national security affairs) of the Imperial Navy
  • administrative assistant / consultant (Sachbearbeiter) in the Economic Department of the Naval Command
• 1 October 1933 Territorial or state protection officer (Landesschutz-Offizier) of the Reichsmarine
  • still administrative assistant / consultant (Sachbearbeiter) in the Economic Department of the Naval Command
• 5 March 1935 Supplementary officer (Ergänzungsoffizier) of the Reichsmarine
  • after the transformation of the Reichsmarine into the Kriegsmarine, the Economic Department was renamed the Defense Economic Department in March 1936.
• 1 April 1936 Delegated with the leadership of the Defense Economic Department/OKM (Naval High Command)
• 1 June 1936 Appointed head of the Defense Economic Department/OKM (Naval High Command)
• 20 November 1939 Head of the Defense Economics Department Group (consisting of several departments) of the Kriegsmarine
• 1 July 1940 Transferred to the active officer corps
• 1 November 1942 Appointed head of the "Armaments and Defense Economy" office at the Naval High Command
• 9 June with effect from 31 July 1944 Placed at disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy (Großadmiral Karl Dönitz)
• 30 September 1944 Retired
  • 1 August 1944 succeeded by Rear Admiral (Ing.), later Vice Admiral Dr. rer. pol. Gustav Adolf Lüttge (1890–1964)

Death

Vice Admiral (Ret.) Kurt von dem Borne was illegally abducted by the Russians on 9 September 1945 and was considered missing for many years. Eventually, his family lost all hope, and by order of the Berlin-Tempelhof District Court on 12 December 1952, he was declared dead, effective 31 December 1945. Later, presumably after German reunification, the German Red Cross (DRK) reportedly discovered, based on Soviet documents, that Kurt von dem Borne actually died on 31 January 1946 in Soviet captivity, or was likely executed by firing squad.

• 16 October 1945 Arrested by the SMERSH (Soviet counterintelligence agency ) in Berlin
• 27 December 1945 Convicted of alleged "war crimes" during a show trial by a military tribunal of the Berlin garrison and sentenced to capital punishment
• 31 January 1946 Executed by firing squad, presumably in Berlin

Whether the court records were amended accordingly or still officially state 31 December 1945, could not be verified (as of 2026).

Family

Kurt was the son of the infantry general of the same name, Kurt Gotthelf Kreuzwendedich von dem Borne, and his wife Marie Emilie Auguste Ernestine Henschel (1859–1901). He had four siblings:

• Walter Gotthelf Kreuzwendedich (b. 4 August 1883 in Kronjanten; d. 16 March 1885 in Berlin)
• Charlotte Ida Mathilde (b. 17 July 1884 in Berlin; d. 17 September 1884 ibidem)
• Annemarie (b. 15 December 1887 in Berlin); ∞ Berlin-Wannsee 27 January 1920 Dr. jur. Ludwig von Reiche
• Dietrich Gotthelf Kreuzwendedich (1891–1916), 1st Lieutenant of the Prussian Army, aerial observer of the Fliegertruppe in WWI, killed on 29 July 1916 near Gent after his plane crashed

Marriage

On 9 June 1917, Kapitänleutnant von dem Borne married his fiancée Ruth Gertrud Anna Josephine Maud von Lewinski (born 20 September 1896 in Metz, Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine), daughter of the fallen Major General Alfred Eduard August Hermann von Lewinski (1862–1914). The wartime wedding took place in Hamburg. The couple had three children:

• Dietrich Alfred Gotthelf Kreuzwendedich (1920–2005), minelayer, destroyer and finally U-Boot officer (Oberleutnant zur See) in WWII
  • of the Germans who had been aboard U 156 when she attached Aruba on 16 February 1942, only then Leutnant zur See von dem Borne would survive the war. His foot had been amputated at Martinique, and he remained there as a prisoner of war when the US Navy occupied the French West Indies. Eventually, he was taken to New York, where together with other sick and wounded prisoners, he was put aboard the Swedish liner Gripsholm. On 19 May 1944, in Barcelona, Spain, von dem Borne was exchanged and repatriated to Germany. After the war he joined the navy of the Bundeswehr of West Germany and was stationed at the Kiel naval base in 1976 as a Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain / Commander), possibly later Kapitän zur See (Captain at Sea / Captain / Colonel). Dietrich von dem Borne later owned Esso petrol stations. He advised, among others, W. C. Hochstuhl on his book "German U-boat 156 Brought War to Aruba, February 16, 1942".
• Barbara Ruth (b. 15 January 1925 in Berlin-Tempelhof)
• Sabine Ruth (b. 10 September 1930 in Berlin-Tempelhof; d. 20 December 2005 at Poitschach Estate); ∞ lord of the manor Dipl.-Ing. Dietrich Senitza (b. 10 November 1926; d. 14 April 2007)
  • son Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Eckart Josef Senitza, president of Pro Silva Austria since 2012, took over the estate (Gut Poitschach) in 1992

Promotions

• 6 April 1904 Seekadett (Officer Candidate)
• 11 April 1905 Fähnrich zur See (Officer Cadet)
  • 23 October 1906 Säbel-Fähnrich; after passing the officer cadet's examination, an officer's saber is permitted as an alternative to the naval dagger (colloquially then called "Saber Officer Cadet").
• 28 September 1907 Leutnant zur See (2nd Lieutenant)
• 27 March 1909 Oberleutnant zur See (1st Lieutenant)
• 17 June 1915 Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Captain)
• 1 March 1925 Kapitänleutnant a. D. (L)
• 1 October 1933 Fregattenkapitän (L/E; territorial/state protection, as of March 1935 supplementary Frigate Captain / Commander)
• 1 April 1936 Kapitän zur See (E; supplementary Captain at Sea / Captain / Colonel)
• 1 July 1940 Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral)
• 1 September 1942 Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral)

Awards and decorations

• Liakat Medal (Ottoman Empire) in Gold (TVM1/TL1) on 11 February 1905
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 8 December 1914
  • 1st Class on 28 June 1916
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with Swords (BMV4⚔/BM4⚔) on 23 August 1916
• Oldenburg Friedrich August Cross (Friedrich-August-Kreuz), 2nd Class (OFA2/OK2) on the ribbon for combatant on 3 September 1916
• Knight of Honour (Ehrenritter) of the Johanniter-Orden on 21 July 1917
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 23 October 1934
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class (25-year Service Cross) on 2 October 1936
• Sudetenland Medal with the “Prague Castle” clasp on 15 July 1939
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
  • 2nd Class on 30 January 1941
  • 1st Class on 1 September 1941
• Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria), II. Class (Grand Officer) with War Dekoration on 9 January 1943
• German Cross in Silver on 31 July 1944

Sources

• German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/2216