[Count]. German diplomatist, born on the 29th of May 1869 at Schleswig. After having held various diplomatic positions at St. Petersburg, Vienna and Budapest he was appointed German minister at Copenhagen, a post which he held from 1912 to 1918. He was very active in the Danish capital during the World War in collecting news and keeping in touch with the various international agencies which were interested in paving the way for peace or endeavouring to undermine the war spirit of the Western Powers. On December 20, 1918, he was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and in March 1919 went to Versailles as chief of the German delegation for the peace negotiations. He resigned on June 20th in consequence of his unwillingness to advise the German Government to accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
