August Heinrich Hermann von Dönhoff

August Heinrich Hermann von Dönhoff (10 October 1797 in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

- 1 April 1874 at Schloss Friedrichstein ( East Prussia)) was a

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n diplomat. Dönhoff participated as a volunteer in the campaign of 1815, studied in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

in 1816-1819 and then travelled to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He began his diplomatic career in 1821 at the Prussian Foreign Ministry in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, was then employed in the embassies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1823, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

in 1825, and in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1828, where he played a significant role in the conference on

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In 1833 he was made an envoy in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, and in 1842 became the envoy to the Bundestag in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. In May 1848 he resigned, but was made

Foreign Minister of Prussia This article lists Foreign Ministers of Prussia. After the creation of the German Empire in 1871, the Imperial Chancellor was normally also Foreign Minister of Prussia. However, during the chancellorship of Prince Hohenlohe (1894–1900), the po ...

in early September 1848 in the government of

Ernst von Pfuel Ernst Heinrich Adolf von Pfuel (3 November 1779 – 3 December 1866) was a Prussian general, as well as Prussian Minister of War and later Prime Minister of Prussia. Pfuel was born in Jahnsfelde, Prussia (present-day Müncheberg, Germany ...

, a position he only held for a short time however. Then in February 1849 he was elected by the second electoral district of Gumbinnen to the first chamber of the Prussian Parliament, which sent him in 1850 to Erfurt, into the ''Staatenhaus'' (the chamber of the

Erfurt Union The Erfurt Union (german: Erfurter Union) was a short-lived union of German states under a federation, proposed by the Kingdom of Prussia at Erfurt, for which the Erfurt Union Parliament (''Erfurter Unionsparlament''), lasting from March 20 to ...

parliament that represented the individual states). He was once again elected a member of the Prussian first chamber in the summer of 1850, and joined the moderate right-wing ''Partei Jordan''. In 1851 he became a member of the ''Landtag'' of the Province of Prussia, and participated in its session from 1851 to 1852 in Berlin. When the Prussian first chamber became the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords (german: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Re ...

, the King made him a hereditary member. In 1861 he became the grand-master of the wardrobe at court. He died in April 1874. His aunt Sophie von Dönhoff was the wife of Frederick Wilhelm II. {{DEFAULTSORT:Donhoff, August Heinrich Hermann Von 1797 births 1874 deaths Prussian diplomats Prussian politicians Members of the Prussian House of Lords 19th-century diplomats Foreign ministers of Prussia Prussian Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars

August Heinrich Hermann von Dönhoff August Heinrich Hermann von Dönhoff (10 October 1797 in Potsdam - 1 April 1874 at Schloss Friedrichstein ( East Prussia)) was a Prussian diplomat. Dönhoff participated as a volunteer in the campaign of 1815, studied in Königsberg, Göttingen ...