Philipp Alfons Freiherr Mumm von Schwarzenstein (19 March 1859 – 10 July 1924) (also known as Alfons von Mumm) was a diplomat of the German Empire. He succeeded the murdered Baron

Clemens von Ketteler Clemens August Freiherr von Ketteler (22 November 1853 – 20 June 1900) was a German career diplomat. He was killed during the Boxer Rebellion. Early life and career Ketteler was born at Münster in western Germany on 22 November 1853 into ...

as ambassador in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

in 1900. Mumm studied law at

Göttingen University 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 entered the diplomatic service afterwards. He served in London (1885), Washington D.C. (1888), Bucharest (1892–93), Rome (1893–94), Luxembourg (1898) and again in Washington (1899). During his years in China, he dealt with the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an Xenophobia, anti-foreign, anti-colonialism, anti-colonial, and Persecution of Christians#China, anti-Christian uprising in China ...

and signed The

Boxer Protocol The Boxer Protocol was signed on September 7, 1901, between the Qing Empire of China and the Eight-Nation Alliance that had provided military forces (including Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the Un ...

on September 7, 1901, on behalf of Germany, maintained an extraordinarily good relation with

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled ...

, but also he took many pictures of China in the 1900s as an amateur photographer. From 1909-11, he was ambassador of the German Reich in Japan. He retired in 1911, but was reactivated 1914 in Berlin. In March through November 1918, he represented the German Reich in Kiev. In 1911 he bought and restored a medieval castle in the small village of

Portofino Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th century ...

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 ...

, where he eventually retired in 1920 with his wife Jeannie von Mumm. During the Second World War his then-widow Jeannie is now considered "the saviour" of Portofino because she persuaded Lieutenant Ernst Reimers not to ignite the charges the Germans planned to detonate during their retreat from the village.Peter Hahn (ed.), ''Alfons & Jeannie von Mumm: Cosmopolitans and Honorary Citizens of Portofino'', catalogue of exhibition, Portofino, 2013

Works

''Ein Tagebuch in Bildern'' (1902)
private print scanned by

Tōyō Bunko The , or "Oriental Library", is Japan's largest Asian studies library and one of the world's five largest, located in Tokyo. It also functions as a research institute dedicated to the study of Asian history and culture. It has greatly contributed ...

exlibris

George Ernest Morrison George Ernest Morrison (4 February 1862 – 30 May 1920) was an Australian journalist, political adviser to and representative of the government of the Republic of China during the First World War and owner of the then largest Asiatic library ...

* ''Kriegslyrik'' (1914–18) in several volumes printed privately * Mein ligurisches Heim (in Portofino). Mit Freunden für Freunde zusammengestellt und nach eigenen Aufnahmen illustrirt. (private print). Berlin 1915.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mumm von Schwarzenstein, Alfons Ambassadors of Germany to China Ambassadors of Germany to Japan Ambassadors of Germany to Ukraine German people of the Boxer Rebellion Barons of Germany Photographers from Hesse 1859 births 1924 deaths Commanders of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 1st class Knights Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great

Works

Further reading

References