Oswald von Richthofen (diplomat, 1847)

Baron Oswald von Richthofen, 1897

Oswald Samuel Konstantin Freiherr Praetorius von Richthofen (born October 13, 1847 in Jassy , † January 17, 1906 in Berlin ) was a German diplomat and State Secretary in the Foreign Office of the German Empire .

Diplomatic career

The son of the diplomat Emil von Richthofen (1810–1895) and Marie Augustin (1814–1891), Oswald was born in Jassy while his father was working as consul general . Then his parents moved to Mexico where he attended a Spanish school. At the age of ten he joined the cadet corps in Potsdam and then graduated from high school in Hamburg, where his father had been transferred. After graduating in 1875, he joined the diplomatic service . In the meantime he was used as a reserve officer in the Franco-German War from 1870 to 1871. In 1881 he was appointed lecturer in the Foreign Office. From 1885 to 1896 he was the German representative at the government debt administration of Egypt in Cairo . In this function he also took on German interests in the country which had been occupied by British troops since 1882 .

From October 15, 1896 to March 31, 1898, as Colonial Director, he was director of the Colonial Department of the Foreign Office . During his tenure, the construction of the south-west African railway line Swakopmund – Windhoek in the German colony of German South-West Africa (now Namibia ) was promoted. A post office in the colony was later named after him. In December 1897 he became Undersecretary of State and in 1900 State Secretary in the Foreign Office.

State Secretary of the Foreign Office

Richthofen became State Secretary in the Foreign Office on October 23, 1900, succeeding Bernhard von Bülow , who was Chancellor of the Reich . He held this office until his death on January 17, 1906. In 1901 he was given the status of Real Privy Councilor. In 1905 he also became Minister of State of Prussia . Heinrich Leonhard von Tschirschky and Bögendorff became his successor as State Secretary in the Foreign Office on January 24, 1906 .

On July 1, 1904, he was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the British Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).

literature

• Oswald von Richthofen . In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 23 : Retzius – Ryssland . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1916, Sp. 206 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
• Patrick von Richthofen: Years of Decision - The Imperial German State Secretary of the Foreign Office Oswald Freiherr von Richthofen, 1847-1906 . Paris 2007, ISBN 0-9764509-2-5

Web links

• Klaus Dierks: Von Richthofen, Oswald, Freiherr, Dr. In: Biographies of Namibian Personalities . klausdierks.com, 2004
• Arne Schöfert: Colonial Department , Reich Colonial Office, Reich Colonial Ministry 1890-1920 . reichskolonialamt.de, 2004

Individual evidence

1. ^ Secret State Archives PK: I. HA Rep. 81 Consulate Jassy. Retrieved May 23, 2019 . 
2. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 430.