Alexander Böker

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Robert Alexander Böker (born April 13, 1912 in Heidelberg , † May 23, 1997 in Munich ) was a German journalist and diplomat .

Life

After attending school, the son of an officer completed a degree in law , political science , philosophy and economics at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich , the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin and the Albertina . Due to the situation in the Third Reich and his own experiences during the Sudeten crisis and the November pogroms in 1938 , he went to the USA and studied on a Rhodes scholarship from 1939 to 1943 at the University of Oxford and Harvard University , completing these studies with a bachelor's degree of Arts (BA) and Master of Arts (MA).

After receiving his doctorate to become a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) at Professor Heinrich Brüning's chair for administrative science there with a dissertation on "The Food Industry in the German Empire during the First World War ", he was an assistant at universities in the USA and a journalist . Due to his refusal of US citizenship and military service in the United States Army , he was not allowed to return to Germany until 1948 after the end of World War II . Initially he continued to work as a journalist and also worked for the German Peace Office.

In May 1949, Böker returned to Germany and worked on the Administrative Council of the United Economic Area in Frankfurt until October 1949 . In October 1949 he was appointed employee of the liaison office to the chambers of foreign trade in the Federal Chancellery in Bonn . On October 25th, Böker joined the diplomatic service of the Foreign Office and was initially employed in the political department. From 1953 to 1956 he worked as a first class councilor at the embassy in France . In 1956 he returned to the Foreign Office and remained there in various positions until 1958. He then worked between 1958 and 1963 as Political Director at the NATO General Secretariat in Paris.

Most recently, from 1963 to 1968, he was the general commissioner for the handling of German aid to refugees from Palestine with the rank of ministerial director in the Foreign Office and from 1968 to 1971 as successor to Sigismund von Braun observer with the rank of ambassador to the United Nations in New York City .

He was then accredited as ambassador to the Holy See in Rome . He held this office until his age-related retirement and his replacement by Walter Gehlhoff in 1977.

For his services he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class in 1969 and the Great Federal Cross of Merit in 1975.

On his 85th birthday in 1997, shortly before his death, a commemorative publication with the “Pforten zur Freiheit. Festschrift for the 85th birthday of Alexander Boker, "by Lothar Bossle published was.

literature

  • Hans-Peter Schwarz, Frank-Lothar Kroll, Manfred Nebelin and others: files on the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany. Volume 2: Adenauer and the High Commissioners 1952. Oldenbourg, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-486-55201-5 , p. 367 ( digitized version )
  • Andrea Wiegeshoff: "We all have to relearn something": on the internationalization of the Foreign Service of the Federal Republic of Germany (1945/51 - 1969) . Göttingen: Wallstein, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8353-1257-9 , p. 424.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Elisabeth Kraus: The University of Munich in the Third Reich: Essays. Volume 1, Utz, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-8316-0639-0 ( digitized version )
  2. ↑ Rainer Achim Blasius, Ilse Dorothee Pautsch: files on the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany. 1967. Volume 3, Oldenbourg, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-486-56322-X , p. 1591 ( digitized version )
  3. ↑ Former permanent representatives and observers of the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.new-york-un.diplo.de  
  4. ↑ The Diplomatic Corps at the Holy See.
predecessor Office successor
Sigismund von Braun Permanent representative of Germany to the United Nations
1968–1971 		Walter Gehlhoff
Hans Berger German ambassador to the Holy See
1971–1977 		Walter Gehlhoff
personal data
SURNAME Böker, Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Böker, Robert Alexander (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Heidelberg
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1997
Place of death Munich