Graf E. (Ernst) Reventlow

Born in Husum in 1869, Ernst Graf zu Reventlow came from a noble Schleswig-Holstein family. He entered the Imperial German Navy in 1888, reached the rank of Oberleutnant zur See, and left active service in 1899. After a period in Central America, he returned to Germany in 1905 and began to make his name as a political writer and journalist.

Reventlow wrote on foreign policy, naval affairs, and German politics for major newspapers and nationalist publications. Deutsche Biographie notes that his 1906 book Kaiser Wilhelm II. und die Byzantiner attracted attention for its sharp portrayal of Kaiser Wilhelm II., and that he later worked closely with strongly nationalist and antisemitic circles, including the Pan-German movement. He also edited the weekly Reichswart, which he launched in 1920.

His later career moved further into politics as well as publishing. Sources including Wikipedia and Deutsche Biographie describe him as a Reichstag deputy and a figure associated first with völkisch nationalism and later with the Nazi Party. He died in Munich in 1943. Because his public life was deeply tied to extremist politics, he is remembered as much for that role as for his writing.