Friedrich Carl von Erckert

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Friedrich Carl von Erckert (born March 17, 1869 in Berlin ; † February 7, 1923 in Lanín / Chile ) was an Imperial German diplomat , officer and lawyer. He was deployed in the legations / embassies in Brazil, Chile, Great Britain, Guatemala, Italy, Japan and Portugal.

Life

On the left Friedrich Karl von Erckert, in the center of the picture captainleutnant Heinrich von Tyszka and on the right a chaperone of Prince Heinrich's wife Irene , April 1914 in Santiago de Chile

Friedrich Carl von Erckert attended Sillig's educational institution for boys from Vevey in Switzerland during his school education. He passed his Abitur on September 3, 1887 at the French Gymnasium in Berlin . Because after he took a law degree from the University of Berlin on. From April 3, 1888, he briefly interrupted his studies to do his military service in the Prussian army. He completed this in November 1888 with the officer's examination and was then promoted to Rittmeister. On October 3, 1891, he was posted as an officer to the legation in Rome . Here he was presumably in support of the military attaché Karl von Engelbrecht (1846–1917) who worked there. With the end of this mission on April 29, 1893, Erckert was then, also as an officer, deployed to the German embassy in London . On May 29, 1895, he finished his military service and returned to Germany.

When he arrived in Berlin, Friedrich Carl von Erckert passed the diplomatic service exams and worked briefly in the Foreign Office on Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin. From here he was deployed to the German embassy in Rio de Janeiro in 1895 . Chargé d'affaires of the embassy at that time was Friedrich Richard Krauel (1848–1918). Three years later he moved to the Embassy in Guatemala. This stay lasted only one year and an activity from 1899 on at the embassy in Lisbon followed. This mission in Portugal ended in 1901

In Japan

The next assignment abroad took Friedrich Carl von Erckert to Japan. On April 25, 1902, he began working as 1st Secretary of the German legation in Tokyo . Chargé d'affaires at that time was Count Emmerich von Arco-Valley (1852–1909). In the years before the turn of the century, relations between Japan and Germany had developed very well. There was quite intensive cooperation in several areas. For example, Germany had given support in setting up the legal system in Japan. In the area of ​​industrialization, the development of a processing industry, the effective use of scientific knowledge and engineering-technical achievements, German specialists worked in Japan for several years. But also in the field of education, European art and the military, joint activities made up for Japan's deficits from the time of its isolation. At the time of Erckert's arrival in Tokyo, this development was still at its peak. But, as became clear in the wake of the Japanese-Russian war of 1904/1905 , it had passed its peak. In the first few years of his activity in Japan, Erckert dealt with the economic and cultural conditions on site and, above all, sought contact with various sections of the country's population. As a result, he published around 1905 an article on the subject of "The economic conditions of Hokkaido" in the journal of the German Society for Nature and Ethnology of East Asia (OAG) This work referred to the situation and conditions on the northernmost island of Japan. In general, the German Society for Natural History and Ethnology of East Asia (OAG), which at that time already had branch offices in several main locations in the country, formed an important basis for his work. He benefited from the knowledge, experience and networks of society. And he was open to a trusting relationship between the foreigners working in Japan, just as he tried to create such a mutual give and take with the Japanese people with whom he came into contact through his work. In 1906 he was proposed to become chairman of the OAG. He accepted this proposal and held this office until 1907. When the Ambassador of Arco-Valley gave up his office in Tokyo in March 1906 to return to Germany, Erckert was appointed to the Counselor on February 28th. However, this only affected a transitional period that he acted as chargé d'affaires until Alfons Mumm von Schwarzenstein (1859-1924) took over the official duties of the German embassy on May 22, 1906 . One year later, in April 1907, Erckert stopped working in Tokyo. As a member and current board member, he was ceremoniously bid farewell from Japan on March 23, 1907, before he started his journey home.

In Latin America

When Friedrich Carl von Erckert returned to Germany in 1907, he was reintegrated into the Foreign Office. But just two years later he received a new assignment for a foreign assignment. From August 30, 1910 he became the German ambassador in Santiago de Chile . He replaced Hans Philipp von und zu Bodmann in Santiago de Chile. He held this task until 1919, i.e. also during the First World War. During the transition to the Weimar Republic, the diplomats and attachés in the German embassies were temporarily ordered back to Germany. Erckert also returned to Berlin in 1920. Here he was in the Foreign Office in Department VI. - responsible for the countries South America, Spain and Portugal - deployed. For a certain transitional period, Otto Gemprecht therefore worked as acting head of the embassy in Santiago. But as early as 1921 Erckert's trip led back to Chile . Here he took over the business of the ambassador for Germany again. Friedrich Carl von Erckert died of a heart attack on February 7, 1923 while climbing the Lanín volcano on the border between Chile and Argentina.

publication

  • "The economic conditions of Hokkaido", series of publications of the German Society for Natural and Ethnographic East Asia (OAG), year 1904/1906, Volume X, Part 1

literature

  • Archive of the OAG, journal of the German Society for Natural and Ethnic Studies of East Asia, year 1904/1906 Volume X. Part I
  • Biographical data about Friedrich Carl von Erckert, in the Meiji project; in: http://www.meiji-Portrait.de/partraits_z.html#20090527093236181_1_2_3_39_1
  • Biographical information about Friedrich Carl von Erckert, Edition Luisenstadt Berlin, 1998, in: www.luise-Berlin.de

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Biographical data on Friedrich Carl von Erckert, in the Meiji project; in: http://www.meiji-Portrait.de/partraits_z.html#20090527093236181_1_2_3_39_1
  2. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Hayer, Manfred Pohl, (Ed.), Country Report Japan, Wissenschaftliche Buchgemeinschaft Darmstadt, 1995, pp. 60ff.
  3. ↑ Year 1904/1906, Volume X, Part I. in: Archives of the OAG https://oag.jp/
  4. ↑ Documentation, personal data in the archive of the German Society for Natural History and Ethnology of East Asia, in: https://oag.jp/haben
  5. ↑ Biographical information about Friedrich Carl von Erckert, Edition Luisenstadt Berlin, 1998, in: www.luise-Berlin.de
  6. ^ Biographical data on Friedrich Carl von Erckert, in the Meiji project; in: http://www.meiji-Portrait.de/partraits_z.html#20090527093236181_1_2_3_39_1
personal data
SURNAME Erckert, Friedrich Carl von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH March 17, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1923
Place of death Lanin , Chile