Famous German Diplomats

Franz von Papen was a German politician, Prussian nobleman, diplomat, and General Staff officer. From 1933 to 1934, he served under Adolf Hitler as the Vice-Chancellor of Germany. After World War II, Franz von Papen was indicted alongside other war criminals in the Nuremberg trials. However, he was later acquitted of all charges.

Carl Schurz was a German-born American statesman, reformer, and journalist. After immigrating to the USA during the German revolutions of 1848–49, Schurz became an important member of the Republican Party. He also helped found the Liberal Republican Party which was organized to oppose the reelection of Ulysses S. Grant.  

Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg was a German diplomat who served as an ambassador and consul in several countries before World War I. His position as the German ambassador to the USSR was cut short by the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Schulenburg was accused of being a part of the failed 20 July plot and was executed in 1944.   

Stéphane Hessel was a concentration camp survivor and a French Resistance member. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure and served in the army for a while. He became a resistance member during World War II and was taken to a concentration camp. He survived the ordeal and later became an ambassador and diplomat. He was also a published author. 

Baltic German diplomat Johann Patkul is remembered for the role he played in starting the Great Northern War. He led King Augustus II of Poland into a Saxon-Russian alliance and then a Saxon-Polish-Russian-Danish alliance, against Sweden. Eventually, the Saxons accused him of treason and sent him to Poland to be tortured to death.

Gustav Adolf von Götzen was a German colonizer best remembered for his service as the Governor of German East Africa from 1901 to 1906. In 1905, Gustav Adolf von Götzen successfully suppressed the Maji Maji Rebellion, which threatened to take over the colony.