Heinz Voigt (born 11 September 1913, date of death unknown) was a German jurist and diplomat who served as Ambassador to Australia, Morocco, Iraq, and Sweden.

Early life

Born in the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg on 11 September 1913, after school education Hess studied law from 1930 to 1933 at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

. Voigt gained his doctorate in law in 1934 and took the state civil service examination in 1937. On entering the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, Voigt was appointed a

Gerichtsassessor In the German legal system, a Gerichtsassessor (plural Gerichtsassessoren) was a candidate who had successfully passed the examination before the central board, and who was therefore eligible for the position of a judge or prosecutor (though most w ...

in the Landgericht Hamburg. In 1941 he was appointed as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

of the court. From 1939 to 1945, Voigt undertook

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

military service as an anti-aircraft battery commander. After the war, Voigt was again appointed to the Regional Court in Hamburg as a judge in 1946.

Diplomatic career

In 1951 he joined the

German Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with the European Union. It is a cabinet-leve ...

and received his first posting in 1955 as a Counsellor to the German Mission to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, rising to serve as Deputy Secretary-General. In November 1959 he returned to the Foreign Office, where he worked in the political department. In 1963 he was appointed a Deputy Director of the Foreign Office and in 1964 received his first high-level posting as Ambassador to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

, serving until 1970. In July 1970, Voigt was appointed as German Ambassador to Australia, presenting his credentials to Governor-General

Sir Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck (1 April 1905 – 9 January 1993) was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding minis ...

on 20 August 1970. Voigt had previously visited Australia in 1965, on board the first dedicated

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

flight there, and took an interest in promoting Australian markets to German industry by encouraging a visit by the

Federation of German Industries The Federation of German Industries ( (BDI)) is the umbrella organization of German industry and industry-related service providers in the legal form of a registered association. It represents 39 industry associations and more than 100,000 compan ...

. Voigt was Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany when the Australian Government recognised the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

in December 1972, which entailed the exchange of ambassadors, but despite the limited recognition of East Germany given by his government Voigt expressed that the decision was a "sovereign decision" for Australia to make. In October 1974, Voigt was appointed as Ambassador to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

in order to reopen the Embassy that had been closed since 1965 in Baghdad. However he only served in that office briefly before he was sent to the Embassy in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in September 1976 to relieve Ambassador

Heinz Dietrich Stoecker The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869 ...

who had been taken hostage on 24 April 1975 during the

West German Embassy siege The West German Embassy siege in Stockholm, Sweden, was a hostage standoff initiated by the Red Army Faction (RAF) on 24 April 1975. Collectively, the attackers referred to themselves as Kommando Holger Meins, after Holger Meins, a RAF member w ...

by the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

. He served there until 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voigt, Heinz 1913 births Year of death missing 20th-century German judges Ambassadors of Germany to Sweden Ambassadors of Germany to Morocco Ambassadors of Germany to Australia Ambassadors of Germany to Iraq Diplomats from Hamburg German Army personnel of World War II University of Hamburg alumni Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany