Prisenhöfe - More info please

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

Hallo, does someone have any more info about the Prisenhöfe [Prize Courts] during WW2? What were their tasks? And where could I find more info about them (online, books)?

This is what I found so far:

Oberprisenhof Berlin

Reichskommissar
Admiral z.V. Walter Gladisch (13 Sep 1939-30 Jun 1943)
Admiral Hermann Densch (01 Jul 1943-21 Apr 1945)

stellv. Reichskommissar
Admiral z.V. Ernst Freiherr von Gagern (13 Sep 1939-03 Oct 1942)

Richter
Konteradmiral z.V. Erich Heyden (00 Sep 1939-26 Apr 1940)
Vizeadmiral z.V. Adolf Pfeiffer (27 Apr 1940-02 Oct 1942)
Vizeadmiral z.V. Adalbert Schüssler (03 Oct 1942-31 Mar 1945)

Prisenhof Berlin

Reichskommissar
Konteradmiral z.V. Walther Koehler (01 Apr 1942-28 Feb 1943)

Richter
Vizeadmiral z.V. Ernst Junkermann (01 Apr 1942-00 Aug 1942)
Konteradmiral z.V. Friedrich Braune (01 Sep 1942-30 Apr 1945)

Prisenhof Berlin-Riga

Reichskommissar
Konteradmiral z.V. Walther Koehler (23 Jun 1941-31 Mar 1942)

Richter
Kapitän zur See z.V. Max Kühne (00 Apr 1941-31 Mar 1942)

Prisenhof Berlin-Südost

Reichskommissar
Vizeadmiral z.V. Ernst Junkermann (01 Mar 1941-00 Aug 1941)
Konteradmiral z.V. Wilhelm Friedrich Starke (00 Aug 1941-24 Oct 1941)
Konteradmiral z.V. Walther Koehler (m.W.d.G.b.) (01 Nov 1941-31 Mar 1942)

Richter
Kapitän zur See z.V. Max Kühne (00 Apr 1941-31 Mar 1942)

Prisenhof Hamburg

Reichskommissar
Vizeadmiral z.V. Alexander Werth (03 Sep 1939-20 Apr 1942)
Konteradmiral z.V. Max Kühne (21 Apr 1942-01 Oct 1942)
Vizeadmiral z.V. Ernst Wolf (01 Oct 1942-28 Feb 1945)


stellv. Reichskommissar
Konteradmiral z.V. Heinrich Kehrhahn (04 Sep 1939-20 Jan 1940)
Vizeadmiral z.V. Eugen Lindau (21 Jan 1940-25 May 1940)
Vizeadmiral z.V. Ernst Junkermann (26 May 1940-28 Feb 1941)

Richter
Konteradmiral z.V. Siegfried Claassen (03 Sep 1939-16 Feb 1943)
Konteradmiral z.V. Carl August Claussen (17 Feb 1943-09 May 1943)
Konteradmiral z.V. Walther Koehler (01 Mar 1943-31 Dec 1944)
Vizeadmiral Kurt Slevogt (10 May 1943-03 May 1945)
Konteradmiral Helmuth Kienast (10 Feb 1945-02 May 1945)

I am also aware there existed a Prisenhof in Wilhelmshaven. The Reichskommissar of this Prisenhof from 03 Sep 1939 until 28 Sep 1941 was Vizeadmiral Walther Franz.
Temporary-Prize-Judge with the Prize-Court Berlin (21 Aug 1940-31 Mar 1943) was Konteradmiral Hans Erler (but I don't know if with the Oberprisenhof Berlin or Prisenhof Berlin?). By looking at the dates it seems the Prisenhof Berlin was founded on 01 April 1942?

Danke

[TD]

Hallo Admiral KM,

eine schöne genaue Auflistung der Besetzung.
Wilhelmshaven hatte keinen Prisenhof, Kiel war auch nur eine kurze Planung.


Auf jeden Fall sind tausende Akten in Freiburg von der kleinen Segelyacht bis zum großen Walfangmutterschiff zu finden.
Ebenso zu Hamburg in Berlin Lichterfelde.
Nach Kriegsende war noch zum Prisenhof Berlin Süd auf der damaligen DDR Seite der Elbe sehr viel Material gelagert.
Vermutlich haben später die Russen alles mitgenommen zumal ja viele Schiffe im Schwarzen Meer 1941/42 russisch waren.



Ich suche ja immer noch Hinweise zu den britischen Prisenhöfen in den damaligen Kolonien von Gibraltar über Malta bis hin zu Neufundland und Palästina.
Ich habe durch Zufall in den britischen Akten etwas zum Prisenhof Lagos
gefunden und recht teuer gekauft.
Ergebnis waren allerdings auch ca. 120 bis 140 Schiffe (von Eisenkanus der Lindenauwerft über Handelsschnellboote und Bananenleichter.
Sogar ein Flugzeug wurde vom Prisenhof eingezogen.

Gruß
]
Theo

[Hubertus]

http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/KRIEGSMARINE/Konteradmiral_A-B_list.html

[Hubertus]

Kapitän zur See (Ing.) Dr.jur. Max Kühne
Born: 24 Jun 1894 in Kiel-Friedrichsort.
Promotion Date: 01 Jul 1942.
im OKW/Wstb - 00 Jul 1939-00 Sep 1939
Gruppenleiter Marine bei der Wehrwirtschaftsstelle Gleiwitz bzw. Sonderbeauftragter, Wirtschaftsinspektion VIII - 00 Sep 1939-00 Apr 1940
Abteilungleiter Marine, Verbindungsstab der OKW/WiRüAmt Kopenhagen - 00 May 1940-00 Jul 1940
Abteilungleiter Marine, Rüstungsinspektion B Südwestfrankreich - 00 Jul 1940-00 Aug 1941
Abteilungleiter Marine, Rüstungsinspektion III - 00 Aug 19541-00 Aug 1942
Kommandeur, Rüstungskommando Kiel - 00 Aug 1942-00 Apr 1943
Chef der Organisations-und Fabrikationsabteilung für Industrielle Rüstung (RüWi IV), OKM - 00 Apr 1943-00 May 1945

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

The info I have says Walther Franz was the Reichskommissar of this Prisenhof in Wilhelmshaven from 03 Sep 1939 until 28 Sep 1941 (souce Hildebrand/Henriot: Deutschlands Admirale).

Can you please explain in more detail what did the Prisenhöfe do? They were courts. I know it's something about international maritime laws and the seizure of ships and it's cargo in international waters. But the information avaliable online is not that extensive.

I also know about a book called "Völkerrecht und deutsche Prisenrechtsprechung im Zweiten Weltkrieg". Would you recommend this book for a further research of this subject? Are there any other books about German Prisenhöfe during World War 2, preferably in english? My German is not so good.

Danke

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

Can you please answer on my questions I asked above?
Danke

Hallo Admiral KM,

eine schöne genaue Auflistung der Besetzung.
Wilhelmshaven hatte keinen Prisenhof, Kiel war auch nur eine kurze Planung.


Auf jeden Fall sind tausende Akten in Freiburg von der kleinen Segelyacht bis zum großen Walfangmutterschiff zu finden.
Ebenso zu Hamburg in Berlin Lichterfelde.
Nach Kriegsende war noch zum Prisenhof Berlin Süd auf der damaligen DDR Seite der Elbe sehr viel Material gelagert.
Vermutlich haben später die Russen alles mitgenommen zumal ja viele Schiffe im Schwarzen Meer 1941/42 russisch waren.



Ich suche ja immer noch Hinweise zu den britischen Prisenhöfen in den damaligen Kolonien von Gibraltar über Malta bis hin zu Neufundland und Palästina.
Ich habe durch Zufall in den britischen Akten etwas zum Prisenhof Lagos
gefunden und recht teuer gekauft.
Ergebnis waren allerdings auch ca. 120 bis 140 Schiffe (von Eisenkanus der Lindenauwerft über Handelsschnellboote und Bananenleichter.
Sogar ein Flugzeug wurde vom Prisenhof eingezogen.

Gruß
]
Theo

[ufo]

The info I have says Walther Franz was the Reichskommissar of this Prisenhof in Wilhelmshaven from 03 Sep 1939 until 28 Sep 1941 (souce Hildebrand/Henriot: Deutschlands Admirale).

Can you please explain in more detail what did the Prisenhöfe do? They were courts. I know it's something about international maritime laws and the seizure of ships and it's cargo in international waters. But the information avaliable online is not that extensive.

I also know about a book called "Völkerrecht und deutsche Prisenrechtsprechung im Zweiten Weltkrieg". Would you recommend this book for a further research of this subject? Are there any other books about German Prisenhöfe during World War 2, preferably in english? My German is not so good.

Danke

Hej,

The subject is well described in a handful of German publications; all of which give a good overview on the legal background and the mechanisms of German Prize Law.

"Die Deutsche Prisenrechtsprechung im Zweiten Weltkrieg", Gerald Kretschmer, dissertation for Dr Law, 305 pages, University of Bonn, 1967. This book gives a good overview and traces the evolution of the German prize law up to the Second World War. The literature register is excellent. The bood described the formalities of taking a prize in great detail.

"Die Entwicklung des Prisenrechts durch den Zweiten Weltkrieg", Knut Neuss, dissertation for Dr Law, 236 pages, University of Wuerzburg, 1966. Here the focus is much more on the evolution of prize law during the Second World War. The author traces various amendments to the legal framework during 1939 – 1945.

"Handelsschiffahrt und Prisenrecht", Dietrich Steinicke, Werkheft No. 20, Forschungsstelle fuer Voelkerrecht und auslaendisches Recht der Universitaet Hamburg. 88 pages, 1973. This is a brief but useful booklet describing the legal background and process of the German prize law in WWII.

... and the one you mentioned:

"Voelkerrecht und deutsche Prisenrechtsprechung im Zweiten Weltkrieg", Heinrich Dietz, Das geltende Seevoelkerrecht in Einzeldarstellungen, Institut fuer Internationale Angelengenheiten der Universitaet Hamburg, 424 pages, 1979. This is a very in depth study on the evolution of the German prize law and the actual process in WWII. Here you also get a  very extensive list of references. 

As for English sources ... much fewer I know of but there is a good article showing you the evolution of German prize law into and during WWI. Now what happened during the Second World War is then of course extrapolation but the article gives a good intro:

"The Development of German Prize Law", Charles Henry Huberich & Richard King, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 18, No. 6 (Jun., 1918), pp. 503-558

That should be available online: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1112252?seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents

There is also an article looking into the evolution of prize law during WWII. I think the author does reference also to German practice:

"Prize Law reconsidered", Arnold W Knauth, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Jan., 1946), pp. 69-93

I do not know if this is accessible without some sort of institutional login:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1118265

Hope this helps a bit. Any of the German sources should help to get you a good list of references to search further.

Ufo       

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

Thank you very much!

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

The info I have says Walther Franz was the Reichskommissar of this Prisenhof in Wilhelmshaven from 03 Sep 1939 until 28 Sep 1941 (souce Hildebrand/Henriot: Deutschlands Admirale).

Can you please explain in more detail what did the Prisenhöfe do? They were courts. I know it's something about international maritime laws and the seizure of ships and it's cargo in international waters. But the information avaliable online is not that extensive.

I also know about a book called "Völkerrecht und deutsche Prisenrechtsprechung im Zweiten Weltkrieg". Would you recommend this book for a further research of this subject? Are there any other books about German Prisenhöfe during World War 2, preferably in english? My German is not so good.

Danke

Hej,

The subject is well described in a handful of German publications; all of which give a good overview on the legal background and the mechanisms of German Prize Law.

"Die Deutsche Prisenrechtsprechung im Zweiten Weltkrieg", Gerald Kretschmer, dissertation for Dr Law, 305 pages, University of Bonn, 1967. This book gives a good overview and traces the evolution of the German prize law up to the Second World War. The literature register is excellent. The bood described the formalities of taking a prize in great detail.

"Die Entwicklung des Prisenrechts durch den Zweiten Weltkrieg", Knut Neuss, dissertation for Dr Law, 236 pages, University of Wuerzburg, 1966. Here the focus is much more on the evolution of prize law during the Second World War. The author traces various amendments to the legal framework during 1939 – 1945.

"Handelsschiffahrt und Prisenrecht", Dietrich Steinicke, Werkheft No. 20, Forschungsstelle fuer Voelkerrecht und auslaendisches Recht der Universitaet Hamburg. 88 pages, 1973. This is a brief but useful booklet describing the legal background and process of the German prize law in WWII.

... and the one you mentioned:

"Voelkerrecht und deutsche Prisenrechtsprechung im Zweiten Weltkrieg", Heinrich Dietz, Das geltende Seevoelkerrecht in Einzeldarstellungen, Institut fuer Internationale Angelengenheiten der Universitaet Hamburg, 424 pages, 1979. This is a very in depth study on the evolution of the German prize law and the actual process in WWII. Here you also get a  very extensive list of references. 

As for English sources ... much fewer I know of but there is a good article showing you the evolution of German prize law into and during WWI. Now what happened during the Second World War is then of course extrapolation but the article gives a good intro:

"The Development of German Prize Law", Charles Henry Huberich & Richard King, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 18, No. 6 (Jun., 1918), pp. 503-558

That should be available online: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1112252?seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents

There is also an article looking into the evolution of prize law during WWII. I think the author does reference also to German practice:

"Prize Law reconsidered", Arnold W Knauth, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Jan., 1946), pp. 69-93

I do not know if this is accessible without some sort of institutional login:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1118265

Hope this helps a bit. Any of the German sources should help to get you a good list of references to search further.

Ufo       

Hello Ufo,

I recently bought the book "Völkerrecht und deutsche Prisenrechtsprechung im Zweiten Weltkrieg" by Heinrich Dietz.

It's a very detailed book like you said, but I was expecting more information about the Prisenhöfe themselves (information about the Richter, Reichskommisare, the foundation and activity of the courts) and the prize cases they had, and also the Kriegsmarine admirals that served there. Perhaps even a detailed list of all the Reichskommissare, Stellvertretende Reichskommissare, Richter and Stellvertretende Richter of the Oberprisenhof Berlin and the Prisenhöfe in Berlin, Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, Berlin-Südost and Berlin-Riga with the exact dates of tenure for each admiral that served there. The only Prisenhof mentioned in the book directly (when looking the the table of contents) is the one in Hamburg.

Can you tell me which book (if any) has the information I expected to find? I saw you said that the book ,,Die Deutsche Prisenrechtsprechung im Zweiten Weltkrieg" by Gerald Kretschmer is very good. So perhaps there I could find the information I need?

Regards

Karlo

[ufo]

Dear Karlo,
A very happy 2023 to you and my sincere apologies for having overlooked your question here this past November. Life is a bit – how to say – turbulent over the past years and my contributions to the Forum Marinearchiv are sadly a bit erratic.

You point to a rather irritating problem: the Prisenhoefe themselves are not particularly fancy and they are thus very poorly documented.
The compendium 'Die Deutsche Kriegsmarine' von Lohmann und Hildebrand dedicates but a single page to them – poignantly under 'Sonstiges'. I'll attach the page.

Practically all authors working on the topic do focus on the legal detail and intricacies. But as you picked up upon: Gerald Kretschmar's book is very good.

Alas – he also describes the actual Prisenhoefe on two and a half pages and he does never mention people who worked there at any given time.
Where it comes to cases though, Kretschmer provides an appendix of some 50 pages with 600 vessels with: Aktenzeichen, Vessel Name, Flag State, Verdict, Date and the archive where the case had been found.

Hope that helps a bit and again – very sorry for my late reply.
     

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

Dear Karlo,
A very happy 2023 to you and my sincere apologies for having overlooked your question here this past November. Life is a bit – how to say – turbulent over the past years and my contributions to the Forum Marinearchiv are sadly a bit erratic.

You point to a rather irritating problem: the Prisenhoefe themselves are not particularly fancy and they are thus very poorly documented.
The compendium 'Die Deutsche Kriegsmarine' von Lohmann und Hildebrand dedicates but a single page to them – poignantly under 'Sonstiges'. I'll attach the page.

Practically all authors working on the topic do focus on the legal detail and intricacies. But as you picked up upon: Gerald Kretschmar's book is very good.

Alas – he also describes the actual Prisenhoefe on two and a half pages and he does never mention people who worked there at any given time.
Where it comes to cases though, Kretschmer provides an appendix of some 50 pages with 600 vessels with: Aktenzeichen, Vessel Name, Flag State, Verdict, Date and the archive where the case had been found.

Hope that helps a bit and again – very sorry for my late reply.
   

Thank you very much for your answer, and a happy new year!