Heinrich August Alexander Wilhelm von Werther (born 7 August 1772 in Königsberg; died 7 December 1859 in Berlin) was a Prussian diplomat and

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 1837 to 1841.

Early Military Life

Werther was the son of Generalleutnant ( Lieutenant General) Von Werther. He himself also joined the Prussian military in 1787. He participated in the War of the Fourth Coalition as a Rittmeister in the

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

regiment of his father, who had died in 1802. After the Treaties of Tilsit, Werther left the army as a Captain due to a reduction in size of the armed forces. For a while, he then became a chamberlain to Friedrich Wilhelm III.

Diplomatic career

In 1810 Werther joined the diplomatic service. Between 1809 and 1813 he was the Prussian Resident Minister in Constantinople. After that he was envoy to Spain in 1814 and in 1821 envoy and minister plenipotentiary in London. Here he was, amongst other things, significantly involved in the negotiations for the first Anglo-Prussian agreement on shipping in 1823. Then he was posted to Paris between 1824 and 1837. Particularly in the period of the July Revolution in 1830 he played an international balancing role. Although he declined the office of Foreign Minister in 1831, he held this position from 1837 to 1841. Although he had difficulties in holding his ground in domestic politics, he managed to maintain a good relationship with France, and the construction of the railway from Cologne to

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

was also something he promoted. In the Oriental Crisis of 1840 Werther opposed the Russian pressure for Prussia to engage herself militarily, as he was of the opinion that in a potential war, due to Austria's military weakness the main burden would fall on Prussia.

Life Post Diplomacy

After his retirement as Foreign Minister he was head of the department of Neuenburg (

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...

). At the same time he belonged to the Prussian Council of State. {{DEFAULTSORT:Werther, Heinrich Wilhelm von 1772 births 1859 deaths Prussian diplomats 19th-century diplomats Foreign ministers of Prussia