Karl von Eisendecher

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Karl von Eisendecher

Karl von Eisendecher (born June 23, 1841 in Oldenburg , † August 19, 1934 in Baden-Baden ) was a German vice admiral and diplomat .

Life

Karl von Eisendecher was born in Oldenburg, then part of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg . His father Wilhelm von Eisendecher was the Grand Duke's minister and secretary . His mother was Caroline Dorothea nee Hartlaub (1820-1875). The family also had a daughter, Christa, who was born in 1852. Thanks to the father's position, the family had good social and political connections, including a. to the Bismarck family . In 1851 they moved to Frankfurt am Main , where their father worked at the Reichstag .

At the age of sixteen, on June 18, 1857, Karl von Eisendecher joined the Prussian Navy . After basic seamanship training and some assignments on ships of the small Prussian Navy in the North Sea region, he made his first trip abroad to the Caribbean . From autumn 1859 he was assigned to the East Asia expedition of Count Friedrich Albrecht zu Eulenburg , with whom he was to stay for three years as a midshipman on board the SMS Arcona in China , Japan and Siam . The mission led to the first international treaty, which was concluded between a German state (Prussia) and Japan, but a so-called Unequal Treaty . He was enthusiastic about the East Asian countries, which was evident from the letters to his parents.

After returning from the Eulenburg mission, Karl von Eisendecher went to the naval school and passed his officer's examination in 1862. During this time he apparently had close contact with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck . After a few more deployments on the ships of the Prussian Navy, he was transferred to the Admiralty in 1867 and was used for service. As a corvette captain , he prepared for a further assignment abroad in 1871/72. On March 19, 1872, Karl von Eisendecher was sent to the German embassy in Washington to provide information for fifteen months . After he had made himself familiar with the requirements and the state of affairs of his future area of ​​responsibility on site, he was appointed on June 27, 1873, with a time limit, to the "naval commissioner" at the German embassy in Washington. This was the first time a naval officer was used as a naval attaché by the German admiralty. The proposal for this came from Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. At that time, Kurd von Schlözer was ambassador and plenipotentiary minister of the German Reich in Washington . This commission lasted until January 19, 1875. It was not until 1881 that the next naval attaché, Adolf Mensing , was notified in Washington .

During this time in Washington Karl von Eisendecher had received the information about his appointment as Minister-Resident and Consul General in Tokyo . Immediately after his return to Germany he dealt with the requirements for the diplomatic service. After a few months of briefing, he passed the consular examination in July 1875 and then began the journey to Japan. After his arrival in Japan, Eisendecher took over the official business from his predecessor Max von Brandt on November 5, 1875 . The credentials were handed over in an audience on December 3, 1875 in Tokyo. During the first few years of his stay in Japan, he witnessed the social, political and economic upheaval that was taking place here. He experienced the uprising of the samurai in 1877, the noticeable opening of Japan's foreign relations from 1879, the economic and commercial activity that began in the Japanese provinces and with countries from overseas. A clear highlight for him was the visit of Prince Heinrich , the younger brother of the future Emperor Wilhelm II , who stayed in Japan for a year. Negotiations about the revision of the unequal treaties with Japan and the new building of the German legation in Tokyo in April 1880. In the same month the ministerial residence of the German Reich was converted into a legation - consequently Eisendecher was appointed envoy. In recognition of his commitment to German-Japanese relations, Eisendecher became chairman of the German Society for Natural History and Ethnology of East Asia (OAG) in 1877 . During his stay in Japan in 1878 he was awarded the character of a sea ​​captain . The handover of his official duties after 8 years of diplomatic activity in Tokyo took place until April 1883. His successor was Otto Graf von Dönhoff (1835-1904).

After his return to Germany, the next assignment abroad was already waiting for Karl von Eisendecher. Again he went to Washington, this time as envoy of the German Reich , where he took over the business in early 1883. His predecessor was Kurd von Schlözer. After a stay of a little over a year in Washington, he handed the business over to Friedrich Johann Graf von Alvensleben in 1884 .

On his return to Germany, Karl von Eisendecher took over the post of Prussian ambassador in Karlsruhe , the capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden . Since in Berlin until the turn of the century "fear of a re-dissolution of the empire" ( John Röhl ) bypassed, the posts of the Prussian ambassadors in the southern German states, above all of course in the Kingdom of Bavaria , were considered extremely influential. Despite his official seat in Karlsruhe , Eisendecher, as a former envoy in Japan, continued to be an authority in matters of Japanese policy, if one could even be said of such in Wilhelmine Germany.

Eisendecher did not have a good relationship with Wilhelm II , which was not least due to Eisendecher's old connection with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. After the Chancellor's dismissal in 1890, Eisendecher deeply lamented the emperor's falling out with Bismarck and even after the Chancellor's dismissal he remained loyal to him, whereas until the First World War he repeatedly expressed himself extremely critical of the emperor and his behavior sometimes as "embarrassing “Designated. Especially in England politics Eisendecher tried to counter the course of the emperor and to defuse the tensions between the empire and the United Kingdom . In addition, Eisendecher maintained intensive contacts to Great Britain as an envoy in Baden, even until the years of the First World War . However , in 1912 he declined the offer to send him to London as an ambassador for reasons of age and health.

With the fall of the German Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1918/19, Eisendecher not only lost his post as Prussian envoy, but was also retired and spent his retirement in Baden-Baden until 1934. He died here on August 19, 1934.

Awards

See also

literature

  • Dermot Bradley  (eds.), Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849-1945. Volume 1: AG. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1988, ISBN 3-7648-2480-8 , p. 282 f.
  • Gerd Hoffmann: Karl von Eisendecher. Prussian and Imperial naval officer and diplomat from Oldenburg. In: Yearbook of the Oldenburg Society for Family Studies, Oldenburg. Volume 53, 2011, pp. 241–288.
  • Manfred Kehring: The re-establishment of the German military attaché service after the First World War (1919–1933). Harald Boldd Verlag, Boppach am Rhein 1966.
  • Peter Pantzer , Sven Saaler: Japanese impressions of an imperial envoy. Karl von Eisendecher in Japan during the Meiji period / 明治 初期 の 日本 - ド イ ツ 外交官 ア イ ゼ ン デ ッ ヒ ャ ー 公使 の 写真 帖 よ り (German, Japanese). Munich: Iudicium, 2007 (450 pages, with numerous photographs and other image sources).
  • Friedrich M. Trautz: German Naval Cadet Letters from Jedo 1860–1861. In: Nippon. Journal of Japanese Studies. 7th vol. (1941), No. 3, pp. 129-163.
  • Archive and documentation of the German Society for Natural History and Ethnology of East Asia (OAG); in: https://oag.jp/people/

Web links

Commons : Karl von Eisendecher  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Panzer, Sven Saaaler; Japan in impressions of an imperial envoy. Karl von Eisendecher in Japan during the Meiji period. Iudicum Verlag Munich 2007
  2. ↑ Manfred Kehring, The re-establishment of the German military attaché service after the First World War (1919–1933), Harald Boldd Verlag, Boppach am Rhein, 1966, p. 32 ff.
  3. ↑ Hans Jürgen Mayr, Manfred Pohl (Ed.) Country overview Japan, Wissenschaftliche Buchgemeinschaft Darmstadt, 1995 SS 61ff.
  4. ↑ Archive and documentation of the German Society for Natural History and Ethnology of East Asia (OAG); in: https://oag.jp/people/
  5. ^ Telegram Karl von Eisendecher of September 27, 1912 in: Manfred Kehring, The re-establishment of the German military attaché service after the First World War (1919–1933), Harald Boldd Verlag, Boppach am Rhein, 1966, p. 177ff.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ranking list of the Imperial German Navy for 1918. Ed .: Marine-Kabinett , Mittler & Sohn Verlag , Berlin 1918, p. 5.
personal data
SURNAME Eisendecher, Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eisendecher, Carl von; Eisendecher, Karl Johann Georg von; Eisendecher, Carl Johann Georg von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German vice admiral and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Oldenburg
DATE OF DEATH August 19, 1934
Place of death Baden-Baden