Sigismund

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

von Braun (14 April 1911 – 13 July 1998) was a German

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and Secretary of State in the Foreign Office (1970–1972).

Biography

Sigismund von Braun was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

- Zehlendorf in 1911, the eldest son of the East Prussian landowner and later Reich Food Minister Magnus von Braun (senior). His brothers were rocket scientists

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...

and

Magnus von Braun Magnus "Mac" Freiherr von Braun (10 May 1919 – 21 June 2003) was a German chemical engineer, Luftwaffe aviator, rocket scientist and business executive. In his 20s, he worked on Nazi Germany’s guided missile development and production at the ...

, and he was the father of politician Carola von Braun and

cultural theorist Culture theory is the branch of comparative anthropology and semiotics that seeks to define the heuristic concept of culture in operational and/or scientific terms. Overview In the 19th century, "culture" was used by some to refer to a wide a ...

Christina von Braun. After an apprenticeship in 1934, Braun spent a year at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, studying law on a scholarship from the

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee. Organisa ...

. After this, he made a trip around the world, taking in Japan, China, Malaya, and India. In 1936, he became an

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

in the

German Foreign Service 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-level ...

. Until April 1937, he was the personal assistant of the German ambassador in Paris, but in September, due to a dispute with

Baldur von Schirach Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (; 9 May 1907 – 8 August 1974) was a German politician who was the leader of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. From 1940 to 1945, he was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) and '' Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich gov ...

he was reassigned to a new posting at

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. On 1 October 1939, he joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. In 1943 he became Legation Secretary of the Embassy to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

in Rome, where he remained until 1946. During

denazification Denazification () was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Par ...

, Braun was classified as "discharged", despite his party membership, as he had "supported clerical and other offices in hiding people persecuted for religious, political and racial reasons and to obviate their deportation, taking high personal risk." After internment in Germany, he occasionally worked in the private sector, first as an assistant at several

Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

, then on the Wilhelmstrasse trial of

Ernst von Weizsäcker Ernst Heinrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker (25 May 1882 – 4 August 1951) was a German naval officer, diplomat and politician. He served as State Secretary at the Foreign Office of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1943, and as its Ambassador to ...

, and finally as an employee of the state of

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. In 1954, Braun entered the diplomatic service of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

, and in 1956 joined the FDP. He was Chief of Protocol of the Foreign Office from 1962 to 1968, Permanent Representative at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in New York from 1968 to 1970, Secretary of State from 1970 to 1972, and then German Ambassador to France from 1972 to 1976. Braun died on July 13, 1998 at age 87.

Awards

* 1962: Grand Gold Medal with Star for Services to the Republic of Austrialist of all conferred by the President of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria in 1952
(PDF, 6.9 MB)

Publications

* France and Germany, in view of the European elections, held lectures at the invitation of East Prussia sheet and the Heads of State and Political Economy Society e V. Hamburg on 16 May 1979 in Hamburg / Sigismund Freiherr von Braun. - Hamburg: State and Society Political Economy, 1979. - 16 pages - (Small swg-series, H 17) * Sigismund von Braun: ''Volatile Guests. On World Tour 1933–1935''. Herchen + Hague, Frankfurt am Main 1993,

Literature

* Christina von Braun: ''Stille Post. Eine andere Familiengeschichte''. Propylaea-Verlag, Berlin 2007, (in German). * Jobst Knigge: ''The Ambassador and the Pope. Weizsäcker and Pius XII. The German Embassy Vatican 1943–1945''. Verlag Dr. Kovac, Hamburg 2008, . * Maria Keipert (ed.): ''Biographical Handbook of the German Foreign Service 1871–1945''. Issued by the Foreign Office, Historical Service. Volume 1: John Hurter : A-F. Schöningh, Paderborn and others 2000, .

External links

* - collection of images, videos and audio files

in the catalog of the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Sigismund von 1911 births 1998 deaths Diplomats from Berlin Wernher von Braun German barons Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians Ambassadors of West Germany to France Permanent representatives of West Germany to the United Nations Diplomats in the Nazi Party Nobility in the Nazi Party 20th-century German nobility People from Steglitz-Zehlendorf