Curt von Zedtwitz

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Curt von Zedtwitz

Curt von Zedtwitz (* 1851 ; † August 18, 1896 in Spithead , England ) was a German diplomat.

Life

Tomb Curt Freiherr von Zedtwitz on the Johannisfriedhof Dresden

Kurt von Zedtwitz attended the grammar school in Zwickau . After graduating from high school in March 1869, he served as a one-year volunteer in the Saxon Army . Student of law at the University of Leipzig since 1870 , he took part in the Franco-German War . In February 1871 he became Second Lieutenant of the Reserve , in October 1878 Premier Lieutenant d. R. and promoted to Rittmeister in June 1885 . After the war he moved to the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin . After he had passed the First State Examination on July 20, 1874, he entered the judicial service of the Kingdom of Saxony . On March 9, 1878, he passed the assessor examination.

On April 1, 1878, he was drafted into the Foreign Service (consular career). He came to Division II (commercial, legal and consular matters) as an auxiliary expedition. Admitted to the diplomatic career on April 23, 1879, he was at the embassy in Saint Petersburg from May 1879 to January 1881 . In July 1879 he passed the diplomatic examination. He came  to the legation in Tokyo in May 1881 - at the time of Karl von Eisendecher - as legation secretary . He dealt with Japanese music and published a collection of Japanese music in 1885. In April 1885 he was transferred to the embassy in Stockholm and in April 1886 to the embassy in Washington, DC . On March 5, 1886 he was awarded the character as Counselor. In the "era of Bleichröder" he was sent to Mexico City on July 2, 1888 as envoy . The credentials were handed over on October 22, 1886. On March 28, 1893, he was released from service in the Reich.

Private

Kurt v. Zedtwitz was since 1872 corps bow bearer of the Misnia III . He was married to Mary Elizabeth Breckenridge Caldwell since 1890 . He had known the daughter of William Shakespeare Caldwell and granddaughter of James H. Caldwell since 1874. The son Waldemar Conrad von Zedtwitz emerged from the connection .

Chartreuse Castle

In January 1896 the couple bought Chartreuse Castle in Hünibach for 400,000 Swiss francs . The first Chartreuse Palace once belonged to the mayor Niklaus Friedrich von Mülinen and housed the most comprehensive private library in Switzerland. After that it belonged to the banker Rudolf Emil Adolf de Rougemont, whose widow married the Baron Albert Emil Otto von Parpart and with him built and moved into Hünegg Castle in 1861 . Chartreuse Castle then changed hands several times, the von Zedtwitz couple bought it from the widow Mathilde Flachs Gerber and used it as a construction office to build a larger castle. After the accidental death of Baron von Zedtwitz in 1896, work on the new Chartreuse Castle was suspended until 1900. In 1901 the old castle was blown up and in 1902 the new one was completed. In 1910 the owner died at the age of only 45 and bequeathed the building to 15-year-old Waldemar von Zedtwitz, who was raised in Germany. He sold the property in 1933 to a real estate company, which gradually took the castle down.

Average in the Solent

In the summer of 1896 Kurt von Zedtwitz took part in the regatta of the Royal Albert Yacht Club in the Solent with his yacht Isolde . On a boat that was anchored off Southsea, both its boat class and a higher boat class, which also included the German Emperor's Meteor II , should change direction. The leading boats of the two classes happened to arrive here at the same time around noon. In the higher class, the Britannia led , closely followed by the Meteor II . Isolde , sailed by William Miles and the Baron von Zedwitz, had The Saint between her and the Britannia and the American boat Niagra behind her; when luffing up, however, The Saint touched Isolde's tree , which got caught in her rigging. As a result, the smaller yacht was thrown off course and turned towards the Britannia . William Miles tried to prevent a collision with the Britannia , but the bow of the yacht rammed the Britannia . In the meantime, however, the Meteor II had luffed and hit the Isolde's mainsail with her bowsprit , whereupon the entire rig collapsed and fell on the deck. The crew including the Baron Zedwitz ran across the boat while Captain Miles jumped overboard. He was rescued by Arthur Payne, who was aboard the Penitent . Zedwitz was meanwhile busy with the rubble on board, moved across the deck at a call from the crew and was hit on the head by a spar or the like. Two sailors tried to free him from the remains of the rig, which they only managed with the help of the captain who had returned on board. Zedtwitz was apparently unconscious at this point. A little later, help came from numerous boats and yachts. On board the White Lady was the doctor Dr. W. Dawson, who wanted to take care of the baron but could only determine death.

The accident was later investigated in Flensburg ; It was found that Captain Robert Gomes had made no mistake on the Meteor II : If the The Saint had not taken the Isolde off course, he could have passed between the Britannia and the Isolde with the Meteor II without any problems .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karl von Eisendecher in Japan during the Meiji period
  2. ↑ Peter Revers : The foreign and the familiar. Studies on the music-theoretical and music-dramatic reception of East Asia (= archive for musicology . ) Supplement 41. Steiner, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-515-07133-4 , p. 62 ff.
  3. ^ Fritz Stern: Gold and Iron. Bismarck and his banker Bleichröder. Beck, 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-56847-3 , pp. 592 f.
  4. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1930, 94/225.
  5. ^ According to Edward T. James et al. (Ed.): Notable American Women. A Biographical Dictionary. Volumes 1-3: 1607-1950. Harvard University Press 1974, ISBN 978-0-674-62734-5 , p. 278, the wedding took place as early as 1890, in other sources the year 1895 is mentioned.
  6. ↑ James L. Yarnall: John La Farge's Windows for the Caldwell Sisters of Newport. (PDF; 4.5 MB)
  7. ↑ Report on the life and tomb of the wife on thehighlanderonline.com
  8. ↑ Chartreuse Castle
  9. ↑ John Leather: Sailing with the Kaiser 2.
  10. ↑ Report on the accident in the New York Times
personal data
SURNAME Zedtwitz, Curt von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zedtwitz, Moritz Curt Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH 1851
DATE OF DEATH August 18, 1896
Place of death Spithead , Solent , England , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland