The academy was opened 1 October 1910. At the start of World War I in August 1914, the academy was temporarily closed. The Germans thought the war would be short. It reopened in January 1915. Cadets would spend three months training then go to sea to train aboard cruisers. At the end of World War II, after Adolf Hitler committed suicide, Admiral Karl Dönitz set up the last Nazi government at Flensburg-Mürwik academy. A few days later Germany surrendered. 