The Marinestation der Nordsee (North Sea Naval Station) of the German Imperial Navy Kaiserliche Marine at Wilhelmshaven, Germany came out of the efforts of the navy of the North German Confederation. The land was obtained for the Confederation from the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg by Prince Adalbert of Prussia through the Jade Treaty of 1853. The naval station was established on 19 May 1870, and became the ‘Imperial’ station with the proclamation of the German Empire in 1871. There was also a Marinestation der Ostsee in Kiel and five less formally established foreign stations.