Friedrich von Prittwitz and Gaffron

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Friedrich von Prittwitz and Gaffron (1931)

Karl Maximilian Friedrich-Wilhelm von Prittwitz and Gaffron (born September 1, 1884 in Stuttgart , Württemberg ; †  September 1, 1955 in Tutzing , district of Starnberg , Bavaria ) was a German diplomat (including ambassador to the USA (1927–1933)) and from 1946 to 1954 a member of the Bavarian State Parliament .

family

Von Prittwitz came from the old, widely branched Silesian noble family von Prittwitz and was the son of the royal Prussian Colonel Arwed von Prittwitz and Gaffron and Sarah nee. Freiin Schott von Schottenstein .

He married on December 21, 1920 in Berlin Marieluise Countess von Strachwitz and Groß-Zauche (House Camminetz) (born January 14, 1892 in Ohlau , Lower Silesia ; † June 9, 1986 in Tutzing), the daughter of the royal Prussian cavalry master of the Landwehr - Cavalry Adalbert Graf von Strachwitz and Groß-Zauche and Maria Freiin von Saurma and the Jeltsch.

His younger brother was Erich von Prittwitz and Gaffron .

Life

Von Prittwitz studied law at the University of Bonn and became a member of the Corps Borussia Bonn in 1903 . In 1907 he was at the Law Faculty of the University of Leipzig to Dr. jur. PhD .

In 1908 he entered the diplomatic service . At the beginning he was employed as an attaché at the German Embassy in Washington until 1910 . Stations in the political department of the Foreign Office and at the German Embassy in Saint Petersburg followed. At the beginning of the war in 1914 he was deployed as a lieutenant in the reserve, but returned slightly wounded in November 1914 and remained in the Foreign Office until the end of the war .

On November 17, 1918, von Prittwitz was one of the signatories of the appeal to Germany's Youth, printed in the Berliner Tageblatt . In it was u. a. propagated a new state unity of Germany with a bicameral system of “Volkshaus” and “Staatshaus” as well as a foreign policy without “the spirit of violence”, and predicted a “tough fight for our rights by the means of the law”.

Most of the people who signed the appeal came from the Foreign Office, like von Prittwitz; they were all in service. Among them were Count Harry Kessler and the diplomat Count Albrecht von Bernstorff and Bernhard Wilhelm von Bulow . From this group of signatories the " Society of November 16 " was formed, which anchored in the statutes as the goal of "actively helping in the reorganization of the German Reich and the renewal of the people's spirit in a democratic sense". The society was the publisher of the monthly magazine from 1919 to 1925 “ The German Nation ”, which campaigned for a social people's state and against the idea of class struggle . Von Prittwitz took an active part in the editorial team. After von Prittwitz had joined the German Democratic Party like all members of society , he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the first Reichstag of the Weimar Republic .

After this domestic political failure, von Prittwitz applied for a post abroad. At the end of 1920 he was sent to Trieste as consul , but only four months later he was appointed deputy counselor at the German embassy in Rome and later promoted to counselor there. During his time in Rome he saw the fascists under Mussolini take power in Italy and was able to observe the first years of the development of the fascist state up close.

In 1927 von Prittwitz, only 43 years old, was surprisingly appointed German ambassador to the USA by Gustav Stresemann against the concerns of Reich President Paul von Hindenburg and the conservative parties in the Reichstag . He was considered cosmopolitan and close to the Democrats. He rejected the caste spirit of the prewar period and wanted to represent the German people with the American people, diplomacy should serve world peace . He promoted economic ties, of course, but he attached particular importance to the cultural ties between the two countries. He was often a guest at Adolph Ochs , the owner of the New York Times . He also referred to the revolution of 1848 as the link between Germany and the USA, as it was not only the birth of democracy in Germany, but also led to many German democrats emigrating to the USA .

On April 15, 1933, von Prittwitz ended his activity as ambassador to Washington after he had made his office available. He handed it over to the former Chancellor and Finance Minister Hans Luther . He was retired on July 18, 1933 and resigned from the diplomatic service . His democratic- republican convictions stood in opposition to the new rulers in Germany, the National Socialists . He hoped some other ambassadors would join but was the only one.

After the Third Reich he was politically active, but no longer held a high post. He was one of the founding members of the CSU . From 1946 to 1954 he was a member of the Bavarian State Parliament, directly elected in 1950 in the constituency of Würzburg. Von Prittwitz advocated international understanding and the reunification of Germany.

Awards

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich von Prittwitz and Gaffron  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 9 , 859
  2. ↑ Dissertation: Armed neutrality, its theoretical and practical significance
  3. ^ Friedrich von Prittwitz and Gaffron: Between Petersburg and Washington. A diplomatic life . Munich, Isar Verlag 1952, p. 126.
  4. ↑ As an upright alone on a wide corridor in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of March 16, 2013, p. 9. ( online )
personal data
SURNAME Prittwitz and Gaffron, Friedrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prittwitz and Gaffron, Friedrich-Wilhelm von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German diplomat and politician (CSU), MdL
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart , Baden-Wuerttemberg
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1955
Place of death Tutzing , District of Starnberg , Bavaria