Karl Rudolf Brommy

A skilled sea commander, Brommy also made significant contributions to German naval education and shore infrastructure.

In 1818, the youth received permission from his guardian to become a sailor; he studied at the navigational school in Hamburg and made his first sea voyage on the brig Heinrich.

Cochrane undertook the education of young Brommy, so that the youth was soon fit to take on his first command: the 18-gun brigantine Maypo[citation needed].

In the squadron of Greek admiral Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Brommy took part in the battles in the Gulf of Arta, and participated in the recapture of Missolonghi.

In a letter of July 23, 1848 to Heinrich von Gagern, President of the Frankfurt National Assembly, Brommy offered his help in building up a German fleet.

In a reply of November 4, 1848, he was directed by Commerce Minister Duckwitz to come to Frankfurt am Main, where Brommy arrived at the end of the year.

In 1849, in Berlin, Brommy published his “Naval Handbook” (Lehrbuch der Marine) – an easy-to-understand manual for educating all levels of seamen.

Due to a shortage of native personnel, Brommy was forced to fill the ranks of the higher officers largely with Britons and Belgians.

On November 23, 1849, the "Provisional Central Authorities" established by the Frankfurt Parliament appointed Brommy to flag rank, as a Rear Admiral.

At this difficult time in his life, Brommy found personal happiness with his marriage to Caroline Gross, the daughter of a merchant and hotel owner of Brake.

Covered with the black-red-gold flag of his flagship Barbarossa, Brommy's coffin was carried on the steamship Merkur to the cemetery of the village Kirchhammelwarden (today a district of Brake) for burial.