Ernst Wilhelm Eduard von Knorr (8 March 1840 – 17 February 1920) was a German admiral of the Kaiserliche Marine who helped establish the German colonial empire.
Born in Saarlouis, Rhenish Prussia, Knorr entered the Prussian Navy in 1856. While serving on the paddle steamer , he fought at the Battle of Tres Forcas against pirates off the coast of Morocco later that year. In 1859 he was promoted to (sub-lieutenant). From 1859 to 1862, he sailed with the transport ship Elbe on the Eulenburg expedition to the Far East. He was promoted to (lieutenant) in 1862 and during the Second Schleswig War, he captained the gunboat . He was promoted to (captain lieutenant) in 1865.
On 12 November 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Knorr commanded the gunboat in a battle with the French aviso Bouvet near Havana, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. In 1871 he was promoted to (corvette captain).
Beginning in 1874, Knorr took part in a voyage through the Pacific Ocean as captain of the screw frigate to discuss trade negotiations with Tonga on behalf of the German Empire. He was promoted to (captain at sea) in 1876, made Chief of Staff of the Admiralty in 1881, and promoted to (rear admiral) in 1883.
As commander of the West African Squadron in December 1884, Knorr intervened in disputes between rival clans in Douala, Cameroon, imposing German sovereignty over the Cameroon estuary. He was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle for this success. From 1 April to 4 July 1885, Knorr was of the German colony of Kamerun. He then commanded a cruiser squadron travelling to Zanzibar and negotiated with its sultan for the acquisition of a strip of German colonial territory in what would become German East Africa.
In 1886, Knorr commanded a cruiser squadron at Samoa. He was promoted to (vice admiral) in 1889, Admiral in 1893, and Commanding Admiral in 1895. Raised to the German nobility on 18 January 1896, he received the Order of the Black Eagle on 15 June 1898. He retired in 1899 and was appointed an admiral ÃÂ la suite of the .
Knorr died in Berlin. Admiral-Knorr-StraÃÂe, a street in Saarlouis, is named after him.