Wolfgang Wegener

Wolfgang Wegener (September 16, 1875 in Stettin – October 29, 1956 in Berlin-Zehlendorf) was an officer in the Imperial German Navy, retiring in 1926 with the rank of Vizeadmiral (vice-admiral).

The Wegener thesis is often regarded as a significant contribution to German naval strategy in the Second World War, although the extent to which this was actually the case is disputed.

Through the influence of his uncle by marriage, the future Grand-admiral Henning von Holtzendorff, he entered the service of the Imperial German navy in 1894.

From 1912 to 1917, he served as chief of staff to the Admiral commanding the First Battle Squadron, reaching the rank of Fregattenkapitän in 1917.

Not long after, he was forced into retirement by the "uniformity" policies (which included stifling of different opinions in the naval ranks) of Adm. Erich Raeder.