Oswald von Richthofen

Oswald Freiherr von Richthofen ( born October 13, 1847 in Jassy, † January 17, 1906 in Berlin) was a German diplomat and Secretary of State in the Foreign Office of the German Empire.

Diplomatic career

As the son of the diplomat Emil von Richthofen (1810-1895), he was born during its use as a general in Jassy. Then his parents moved to Mexico, where he attended a Spanish school. The age of ten he entered Potsdam into the cadet corps and then graduated in Hamburg, where his father had been transferred, the gymnasium. He entered the diplomatic service after graduation in 1875. In the meantime, he was employed as a reserve officer in the German - Prussian War of 1870 to 1871. 1881 he was appointed lecturer Legationsrat the Foreign Office. From 1885 to 1896 he was the German representative at the Debt Management Office of Egypt in Cairo. In this role, he also took the German interests to the 1882 occupied by British troops land was.

From 15 October 1896 to 31 March 1898, he served as colonial director director of Colonial Department of the Foreign Office. During his tenure, the construction of the South West African railway Swakopmund - Windhoek in the German colony of German South-West Africa (now Namibia ) is being pursued. Later a post office in the colony was named after him. In 1897 he was Under-Secretary in 1900 and Secretary of State in the Foreign Office.

In December 1897, he was also Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office.

Foreign Secretary

Richthofen was was on 23 October 1900 as the successor to Bernhard von Bülow, the Imperial Chancellor, Secretary of State at the Foreign Office. This office he held until his death on 17 January 1906. In 1901 he received the character as a Privy Council. In 1905, he was also Minister of State of Prussia. Successor as Secretary of State in the Foreign Office was on January 24, 1906 Heinrich Leonhard Tschirschky and Bögendorff.

In 1904, the Grand Cross of the British Royal Victorian Order ( GCVO ), he was awarded.

Web links, and background literature

  • Biography
  • Biography in Nordisk Familjebok of 1916 ( Swedish)
  • Richthofen, Patrick of " Hour of Decision - The Imperial German Foreign Secretary Oswald Freiherr von Richthofen, 1847-1906 ", Paris 2007, ISBN 0-9764509-2-5
  • Schöfert, Arne: " Colonial Department, Imperial Colonial Office, Reich Colonial Office 1890-1920 ", 2004
German Reich Diplomacy Hermann von Thile Hermann Ludwig von Balan Joseph Maria von Radowitz, Jr. Friedrich zu Limburg-Stirum Wilhelm von Schoen Arthur Zimmermann Paul von Hintze Hermann von Stengel Name Authority File
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