Adolf von Trotha (1 March 1868 – 11 October 1940) was a German admiral in the Kaiserliche Marine. After the German revolution he briefly served as the first Chef der Admiralität, which replaced the imperial Reichsmarineamt. After supporting the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch of March 1920 he resigned his post. He later held several political and maritime posts in the Third Reich.

Family
Trotha was born 1 March 1868 at Koblenz, at the time part of the Rhine Province of the Kingdom of Prussia. Trotha was the third son of Karl von Trotha (1834–1870), who was killed in the Franco-Prussian War, when his son was only two years old. Trotha married Anna von Veltheim (15 January 1877 – 8 August 1964) on 4 June 1902, the daughter of Fritz von Veltheim and Elizabeth von Krosigk.

Naval career
Trotha entered the Imperial Navy in 1886 as an officer candidate and was promoted to Leutnant zur See in 1891. He served as a commander of the torpedo boat D3 and as a navigations officer on the small cruiser SMS Seeadler. In 1900 he was a staff officer at Tianjin. From 1914 to 1918, Trotha served in World War I. In 1916 he became Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet.

As Chef der Admiralität from March 1919 Trotha was a (non-voting) ex-officio member of the first two cabinets of the Weimar Republic, the Scheidemann cabinet and the Bauer cabinet from March 1919 until March 1920.

In March 1920, he supported the failed Kapp Putsch and resigned his post. He retired from the navy in October 1920 with the rank of Vizeadmiral.

Career under the Third Reich
After retirement, Trotha took over the management of the Grossdeutscher Jugendbund (Greater German Youth League) in 1921. In October 1931 he was one of the participants in the Harzburg Front march of Nazis and other anti-democratic right-wing nationalists. After the Nazi seizure of power he became a Provincial Councillor for the Province of Brandenburg and Posen-West Prussia. Prussian Minister President Hermann Göring also appointed him to the Prussian State Council on 13 September 1933. 

On 23 March 1934, the Reich Federation of German Seafaring was founded under Trotha's chairmanship; this was the successor organization to the Navy League. Trotha was made honorary leader of the Marine Hitler Youth on 15 February 1935. On 1 March 1938, he was awarded the Golden Party Badge. From 4 March 1939, he also served as the honorary chairman of the German High Seas Sport Federation. In August 1939, he was granted the title of Admiral. After his death on 11 October 1940 a state funeral was held in Berlin.

Honours and awards

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1868 births
1940 deaths
Admirals of the Kriegsmarine
Counter admirals of the Imperial German Navy
German National People's Party politicians
Imperial German Navy admirals of World War I
Members of the Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)
Military personnel from Koblenz
Officers Crosses of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria)
People from the Kingdom of Prussia
Military personnel from Rhine Province
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
Recipients of the Military Merit Cross (Mecklenburg-Schwerin), 1st class
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)
Vice admirals of the Reichsmarine