Hermann Ludwig von Balan
Hermann Ludwig von Balan ( born March 7, 1812 in Berlin, † March 16, 1874 in Brussels ) was a German diplomat and Secretary of State in the Foreign Office of the German Empire.
Diplomatic career
The son of the Prussian diplomat Joseph Wilhelm Balan graduated first from 1829 to 1832 to study law at the University of Berlin and the Ruprecht -Karls- University of Heidelberg. After a brief period as a clerk in the judicial service of Prussia in 1833, he joined the diplomatic service of Prussia.
Between 1837 and 1841 he was Secretary of Legation in Brussels. After that, he was a laborer in the State Department before he became in 1842 counselor of legation. As such, he joined in 1843 as many nobles of his time in the lawless society to Berlin. In 1845 he was appointed Consul General in Warsaw. In 1846 he became a resident at the former free city of Frankfurt am Main. In 1848, his appeal was made to the charge d'affaires in Darmstadt.
1851 he was appointed lecturer Legationsrat the Foreign Ministry. As such, he was in 1854 head of the First Division and Chairman of the Diplomatic Examiners. In 1858 he was for almost a year envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in Stuttgart. In 1859 he was raised to the peerage.
After that, he was 1859-1864 Prussian envoy in Copenhagen. In this capacity he participated in the negotiations of the Peace of Vienna on October 30, 1864, which ended the German -Danish War.
From 1864 to January 1, 1871, he was Associate Minister Plenipotentiary ( ambassador ) in Brussels.
Foreign Secretary
After the founding of the German Empire on January 1, 1871, he remained as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Brussels.
On 3 October 1872 he was recalled to Berlin, where he became the successor of Hermann von Thile Acting Secretary of State in the Foreign Office. Nearly a year later, on October 9, 1873, Bernhard Ernst von Bülow followed him in this office. At this time he was appointed member of the Prussian House of Lords and thus took an active policy on the constitutional development of Prussia in the liberal sense part.
After his retirement he returned to his post as ambassador in Brussels, where he died a few months later.