Jan Staudenmaier

Jan Staudenmaier (1804 - 1875) was a German admiral, politician and industrialist. During his lifetime he was a member of several political parties, including the Liberal Faction, the Freikonservative Partei and the Partei für wirtschaftlichen und kolonialen Wohlstand und Entwicklung. Jan Staudenmaier died in 1875 died from old age in his home.

Biography
Jan Staudenmaier was born into an upper-middle class family, Jan was able to experience an easy upbringing thanks to his family’s history as noteable Baltic traders. With such a respectable lineage of commerce behind him, Jan developed a quick love for the sea and the matters of trade. Unfortunately, the Staudenmaiers’ eventually fell on hard times when Jan’s father was dragged down to the deep alongside a large investment in his ship’s cargo hold. Financially wounded, Jan spent several years rebuilding what was lost as a result of his father’s unfortunate sinking.

In time, Jan was able to successfully do so, regaining much of the capital his family had lost. In 1842, Jan's first and only son, Felix Staudenmaier, would be born. That same year, he built a cement factory in the Eastern Rhineland, along with Alexander Hartmann. As the winds of change continue to blow, Jan did what he could to ensure he maintained a safe course, lest he suffered the same fate as his late father. One of the ways to achieve this goal was to enlist in the naval academy in Danzig. In 1845, he formally finished his education there and promoted to Oberleutnant zur See to serve as first officer to Kapitänsleutnant Andreas Niemeyer on board of one of the clippers of the I. Klipperflotte. That same year, Staudenmaier was elected into the Landtag and joined the Liberal Faction.

In 1850, Staudenmaier was promoted to Kapitän zur See. That same year, he joined the Freikonservative Partei in the months leading up to the 1850 elections. Shortly thereafter he was sent to Egypt on the HMS Trafalgar as a naval attaché to learn from the British about their naval strategies during the Second Anglo-Egyptian War. This granted him enough experience to become the biggest expert in naval affairs in Prussia at the time. As a result, he was promoted to Konteradmiral and appointed to lead the I. Flotte in 1852. In 1855, his experience in Africa and his desire to expand the Prussian fleet led him to join the PKW.

In 1855, he was briefly Minister for Military Procurement and Construction, before assuming the position of Minister of War, a position he would hold until 1860. The fact that the German navy was rarely deployed allowed Staudenmaier to hold such positions. In 1860, Staudenmaier saw his first action in the Moroccan Barbary War. The successes of the navy during that war resulted in Staudenmaier's promotion to Admiral that same year. In the following years, the German navy would be greatly expanded and would mostly be deployed in Africa to allow for colonial expansion in the region.

In 1872, after Minister of Foreign Affairs Karl Jürgen von Krieger failed to make a desirable deal with the British Prime Minister William Gladstone concerning British Western Egypt, von Krieger was sacked by the Kaiser and replaced by Staudenmaier, who was forced to abandon his precious navy as a result. However, his return to Germany also allowed Staudenmaier to continue his investments in industry, as that same year he constructed a steamer factory in East Friesland with the profits his cement factory had earned him over the decades.

In 1875, Jan Staudenmaier died in his home in the presence of his son and after a brief visit of Karl Jürgen von Krieger. His legacy mostly consists on the impact he has had on the expansion of the German navy.