Karl Spindler | |
---|---|
Born | May 29, 1887 Königswinter, German Empire |
Died | November 29, 1951 Bismarck, North Dakota, United States |
Allegiance | German Empire |
Service/ | Imperial German Navy |
Karl Spindler (1887-1951) was a German naval officer who was involved in an arms smuggling operation intended to equip Irish rebels as part of the Easter Rising of 1916.[1]
Spindler was born in the small town of Königswinter, near Cologne, Germany on 29 May 1887, the son of a quarry owner, Hubert Spindler, and his wife Elise (née Fuchs). At an early age Spindler decided to go to sea rather than to join the family business, serving for a period as a watch officer on a Lloyd Line steamship. He subsequently enlisted in the marine school in Bremen and the naval academy in Sonderburg (now in Denmark, but then in Germany). He served on several ships of the German Imperial Navy and at the outbreak of the Great War, he was commanding the Polarstern, a guardship for the port of Wilhelmshaven.
In 1921 Spindler published a book on his involvement in the smuggling plot which was translated into English as "The mystery of the Casement ship" or "The Mystery Ship".[3]
In 1931, in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the Easter Rising, Spindler was asked by the president of the Irish committee in New York to give a lecture tour in several major US cities. His tour was organised by Irish-American groups (including IRA and other revolutionary and republican members) to demonstrate a purported bond between the Irish and Germans. He was awarded a gold medal in a commemoration ceremony in Mecca Temple, where he gave the first speech of the tour to about 4,000 people.[4]
In California, both San Francisco and Los Angeles hosted parades for Spindler, and he was given the key to the state of California. In Boston he was given the key to the city.[5] An example of a commemorative medal from this tour can be found here.
Although he made several returns to Germany to see his family, Spindler remained in the United States for the rest of his life. During World War II he was detained in an internment camp as an enemy alien, as he failed to get permanent residency or naturalization in the US. He was released in poor health at the end of the war.
Karl Spindler died on 29 November 1951 in Bismarck, North Dakota.[6]