Hermann Speck von Sternburg

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Bob Satterfield: von Sternburg, sketch, 1904

Hermann Freiherr Speck von Sternburg (born August 21, 1852 in Leeds , † August 23, 1908 in Heidelberg ) was an Imperial German diplomat and art collector . His father was Alexander Speck von Sternburg, landlord and owner of the "Freiherrlich Sternburgschen Brewery" in Lützschena near Leipzig , his mother Martha Speck von Sternburg, née. Stocks. When Hermann's grandfather, the merchant Maximilian Speck von Sternburg, died in 1856 , the family returned to the Lützschena manor. Hermann's father took over asMajoratsherr the family property.

Hermann Speck von Sternburg embarked on the career of a diplomat. He attended the princely state school Sankt Afra in Meißen and then studied in Dresden . After his military service with the 2nd Royal Saxon Horsemen in Grimme and participation in the Franco-German War in 1870/71, he worked in the military in Hanover and Dresden. In 1884 Hermann Speck von Sternburg was appointed as a military attaché to the German legation in Washington, DC . Promoted to royal Saxon major, he was transferred to the Imperial Embassy in Beijing as a military attaché , and in 1893 appointed as legation secretary. In 1896 he came to the Imperial Embassy in Belgrade , where in 1897 he took the position of Legation Councilor. In 1898 he returned to the Imperial Embassy in Washington and became First Secretary.

During his time in Washington, Hermann Speck von Sternburg made friends with the later American President Theodore Roosevelt , who called him "Specky" on a friendly basis. In 1900 he was appointed Consul General of the German Empire for British India and Ceylon , based in Calcutta . In 1903 he returned to Washington as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, where he succeeded Ambassador Theodor von Holleben in June 1903 . Because of his poor health, he had to return to Germany several times for sick leave. In May 1908, despite medical treatment in Heidelberg and Bad Homburg vor der Höhe , he died in Heidelberg.

From 1891 to 1896, Hermann Speck von Sternburg also worked as an art collector in Beijing . He succeeded in acquiring important sculptures, paintings and ritual objects from the world of Tibetan, Mongolian and Chinese Buddhism as well as the Chinese folk religion. He himself donated part of his collection to the Museum für Völkerkunde in Leipzig . The museum acquired another part in 1909 from his widow Lilian May Langham.

literature

  • Claus Deimel et al .: The Yunnan album Diansheng Yixi Yinan Yiren Tushuo: Illustrated description of the Yi tribes in the west and south of the Dian province from the Hermann Freiherr Speck von Sternburg collection from Lützschena. In collaboration with Wolf-Dietrich Freiherr Speck von Sternburg . Museum für Völkerkunde Leipzig, Leipzig, 2003, ISBN 3-910031-30-7 .
  • Buddha's lights & emperor's splendor. Inventory catalog of the collection of Freiherr Speck von Sternburg, Grassi Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig, Leipzig 2008. ISBN 3-910031-40-4 .
  • Raimund Lammersdorf: Beginnings of a World Power. Theodore Roosevelt and US Transatlantic Relations, 1901-1909. Berlin, 1994. ISBN 3-05-002490-9 .

Web links

Wikisource: Trade Agreement between the German Empire and the United States of America (1907)  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Angela Schwarz: Review of: Brechtken, Magnus: Scharnierzeit 1895-1907. Personality Networks and International Politics in German-British-American Relations before the First World War. Mainz 2006, in: H-Soz-u-Kult, March 13, 2007
personal data
SURNAME Bacon from Sternburg, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Speck von Sternburg, Hermann Freiherr
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German diplomat and art collector
DATE OF BIRTH August 21, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH Leeds
DATE OF DEATH August 23, 1908
Place of death Heidelberg