Carl Richard Gneist

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Carl Richard Gneist (also: Karl Richard Gneist ; born September 4, 1868 in Carlsruhe / Oppeln , † October 4, 1939 in Bad Nauheim ) was a German diplomat .

Life

Carl Gneist was born the son of the court preacher Carl Gneist and his wife Susan, née Plimmer-Goold, in Carlsruhe near Oppeln. He attended the high school in Sagan in Lower Silesia and passed his Abitur here at Easter 1887. He then studied at the universities of Jena, Munich and Berlin law . He passed the legal traineeship exam on November 3, 1890 and then worked in the Prussian judicial service as a trainee lawyer in Berlin , Landsberg in Upper Silesia and in Breslau . In October 1891 he went to Prussian military service as a one-year volunteer. He was promoted to second lieutenant on January 27, 1895. He passed his assessor examination in June of the following year.

In April 1897, Carl Gneist was drafted into the Foreign Service and began his consular career in the Foreign Office in Berlin in Department II (Trade Policy). A year later, in May, he moved to Division III (Law). His first assignment abroad took him to the German Consulate General in Constantinople in June 1899 . Returned to Germany in March 1900, he was briefly reassigned to the Foreign Office in Department III and in August was given the status of Vice Consul. On December 31, 1902, he became a permanent laborer of the office and on July 1, 1903, he was appointed Legation Councilor . His next assignment abroad took him from May 28, 1904 as a consul to the Consulate General in New York . The port of New York was part of his area of ​​responsibility. During his tenure, the paddle steamer General Slocum caught fire . On January 28, 1905, he was promoted to lieutenant in the reserve. His assignment in New York lasted until October 2, 1909. From New York he moved to Rotterdam and from November 16, 1909 took over the provisional management of the consulate. From March 1910 he was then employed as permanent consul of the German Reich in Rotterdam .

During his time in Rotterdam until May 1916, Carl Gneist was called several times for temporary employment in the Foreign Office in Departments III (Law) and Department IB (Personnel and Administration). As of May 14, 1915, he was appointed Real Legation Councilor and Lecturing Council. During his consular activity, Gneist was unofficially active as a command officer of the naval intelligence service in the Rotterdam area, in addition to his consular activity. However, the Dutch authorities had exposed his conspiratorial activities and issued calls to various places to stop the non-consensual activities. Therefore, in September 1915, he first moved to the embassy in The Hague and when further facts became known he had to give up consular activities due to pressure from the state authorities. Regardless of the allegations and requests, he continued his intelligence activities and switched to the area of ​​commercial attaché in order to remain in the country. In this way, in the summer of 1915, he replaced the commercial attaché von Hartogensis in the embassy in The Hague . Until 1919 he was now primarily responsible for the processing of goods exchange transactions for war supplies in Germany and in this context managed part of the economic business of the consulate in Rotterdam under the ongoing war conditions. On May 1, 1916, he was appointed to the trade advisory board.

Taken into the diplomatic service of the Weimar Republic , Carl Gneist took up a position in the Foreign Office in Weimar on July 31, 1919, while the government was outside the government because of the ongoing fighting in Berlin. From here he was transferred back to Berlin in late summer and began his service as a consultant in the IB department (personnel and administration) on September 24, 1919. From then on he carried the title of secret legation councilor. A year later, on October 11, 1920, he took over the provisional management of Department I. During this time, he took part in several cabinet and ministerial meetings of the Reich government. On July 2, 1921, he was appointed ministerial director and was given primary responsibility for heading Department I. From the position of head of the human resources department in the Foreign Office, he switched again to the diplomatic service in 1924. He arrived at the German embassy in Buenos Aires on May 9, 1924. With the title of extraordinary envoy and authorized minister, he replaced the previous chargé d'affaires Adolf Pauli (1860–1947) on October 14, 1924 . On January 3, 1925, he was appointed envoy 1st class. After 4 years in office, he was put into temporary retirement on March 8, 1928. Friedrich von Keller took over his post in Buenos Aires . He finally retired on July 18, 1933. He then worked as a lawyer in Berlin. After 1933 he became a member of the NSDAP.

family

Carl Gneist married Charlotte, nee Uelsmann, on June 15, 1905. The marriage had two children, Carl * October 21, 1906 and Hans * December 18, 1914.

Carl Gneist died on October 4, 1939 in Bad Nauheim. His wife died in 1952.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The New York Times : steamer General Slocum (PDF) of April 25, 1905
  2. ↑ Biographical Handbook of the German Foreign Service 1871–1945, Ed. Foreign Office, Schöningh Verlag 2005, Volume 2, pp. 48f.
  3. ^ Samuel F. Kruizinga: Economische politiek: de Nederlandsche Overzee Trustmaatschappij (1914-1919) en de Eerste Wereldoorlog. University publication, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2011.
  4. ^ Marc Frey : The First World War and the Netherlands. Akademie Verlag, 1998 ( digitized version )
  5. ^ Samuel F. Kruizinga: Economische politiek: de Nederlandsche Overzee Trustmaatschappij (1914-1919) en de Eerste Wereldoorlog. University publication, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2011, p. 170ff.
  6. ↑ Files of the Reich Chancellery, biographical sketch and minutes of selected activities by Carl Gneist, in: https: www.Bundesarchiv.de/aktenreichskanzlei/1919-1933/0001/adr/adrag/Kapt._7/para2_88.html
  7. ↑ Biographical Handbook of the German Foreign Service 1871–1945, Ed. Foreign Office, Schöningh Verlag 2005, Volume 2, pp. 48f.

literature

  • Files of the Reich Chancellery, biographical sketch and minutes of selected activities by Carl Gneist, in: https: www.Bundesarchiv.de/aktenreichskanzlei/1919-1933/0001/adr/adrag/Kapt._7/para2_88.html
  • Biographical Handbook of the German Foreign Service 1871–1945, Ed. Foreign Office, Schöningh Verlag 2005, Volume 2, pp. 48f.
  • Samuel F. Kruizinga, Economische politiek: de Nederlandsche Overzee Trustmaatschappig (1814–1919) en de Eerste Wereldoorlog, Academisch Proefschrift, University of Amsterdam, 2011
  • Reinhold Zilch (edit.): The minutes of the Prussian State Ministry 1817–1934 / 38. Volume 10. Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim 1999, ISBN 3-487-11007-5 , p. 384f. ( Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Ed.): Acta Borussica . New series. Digitized volume 10 ; PDF; 2.9 MB)

Web links
predecessor Office successor
Adolf Pauli (1860-1947) Envoy of the German Reich in Buenos Aires
1924–1928 		Friedrich von Keller (1873–1960)
personal data
SURNAME Gneist, Carl Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gneist, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH September 4, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Carlsruhe / Opole
DATE OF DEATH October 4, 1939
Place of death Bad Nauheim