Burchardi was born in Homberg. He entered the Kaiserliche Marine on 1 April 1911 as a sea cadet and was trained on the Large cruiser
SMS Hansa. During his attendance at Marineschule he was promoted on 15. April 1912 to Midshipman (
Fähnrich zur See) and was transferred on 1. October 1913 to the large cruiser
SMS Seydlitz. Just after the start of World War I he was promoted on 3. August 1914 to Lieutenant (
Leutnant zur See). On 3. January 1915 he was transferred to the large cruiser
SMS Moltke and from 6. May to 15. June 1915 he attended an artillery course on SMS
Kaiserin Augusta. After that he was transferred to Torpedo boats half flottile as a watch officer. After his promotion to Lieutenant 1st grade (
Oberleutnant zur See) 26. April 1917 Burchardi took over Torpedo boat
G 39 as his first command, that he continued until end 1918. After his promotion to Captain (
Kapitän zur See) on January 1, 1937, he was given command of the light cruiser on October 15, and commanded it in patrols off the Spanish coast during the
Spanish Civil War. At the beginning of the Second World War,
Köln was in the Baltic Sea. Burchardi relinquished command of
Köln on January 14, 1940 and was appointed chief of staff of the
Kriegsmarine shipyard in
Kiel. On January 1, 1941, he was promoted to Rear Admiral. In preparation for
Operation Barbarossa, Burchardi was appointed as
Marinebefehlshaber D (Naval Commander D). On November 6, 1941 Burchardi was appointed as Commanding Admiral in
Ostland. On February 1, 1943 he was promoted to Vice Admiral. On June 17, 1944, Burchardi was appointed as Commanding Admiral of the Eastern Baltic Sea and was promoted to Admiral on January 1, 1945. Burchardi commanded the naval units involved in
Operation Aster, the evacuation of German troops and civilians from Estonia. In the final months of the war, Burchardi commanded naval units in
Operation Hannibal, he was responsible for organizing the evacuation of 2 million people from
Courland and
East Prussia. He died in Gluecksburg. ==Awards==