Cécil Karl-August Timon Ernst Anton von Renthe-Fink (1885–1964) was a German diplomat. He was plenipotentiary of Denmark from 9 April 1940 until 1942. In 1926 von Renthe-Fink was posted to Dresden as Joint Secretary of the International Elbe Commission. This Commission had been set up by the League of Nations to ensure that the Elbe was kept as a free outlet to the North Sea for shipping from Czechoslovakia. He was appointed envoy to Denmark in 1936. In 1939 he became a member of the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

. After the

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December ...

he became

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

. In 1942 he was replaced by Dr.

Werner Best Karl Rudolf Werner Best (10 July 1903 – 23 June 1989) was a German jurist, police chief, SS-''Obergruppenführer'', Nazi Party leader, and theoretician from Darmstadt. He was the first chief of Department 1 of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret ...

after the

Telegram Crisis The Telegram Crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Denmark and Germany in October and November 1942, during the German occupation of Denmark. The crisis was triggered by a telegram from King Christian X of Denmark to Adolf Hitler, acknowledgin ...

. Berlin was hoping for a harder line. In 1943 von Renthe-Fink was posted to

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...

. In 1943, the German ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop and von Renthe-Fink proposed the creation of a European confederacy, which would have had a single currency, a central bank in Berlin, a regional principle, a labour policy and economic and trading agreements. He was married to Countess Christa von Eckstädt, daughter of Count Vitzthum von Eckstädt.

Notes

References

1885 births 1964 deaths Ambassadors of Germany to Denmark Nazi Party members {{Germany-diplomat-stub