Ferdinand Eduard, Freiherr von Stumm (12 July 1843 – 10 May 1925), was a Prussian and German diplomat.

Early life

Stumm was born on 12 July 1843 in

Neunkirchen, Saarland Neunkirchen (; pfl, Neinkeije) is a town and a municipality in Saarland, Germany. It is the largest town in, and the seat of the Neunkirchen (German district), district of Neunkirchen. It is situated on the river Blies, approx. 20 km northea ...

. His father was Karl Friedrich Stumm (1798–1848), who died by suicide during the economic crisis of the 1840s and who had run the family company as sole owner since the 1835 death of his grandfather, Friedrich Philipp Stumm. His elder brother was Carl Ferdinand Stumm (ennobled as Baron von Stumm-Halberg in 1888) and his younger brother was Hugo Rudolf Stumm (ennobled as Baron von Stumm-Ramholz in 1888).

Career

Stumm came from a family of entrepreneurs who bought the Neunkircher ironworks and shares in other ironworks in

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

in 1806. While his older brother

Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

took over the management of the ironworks, Ferdinand benefited from the profits of the family business as a silent partner. As an officer, Stumm took part in the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

of 1864 and the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

of 1866. He was attached to the Prussian legation in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

in 1867, took part in the

British expedition to Abyssinia The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire (also known at the time as Abyssinia). Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, t ...

in 1868 and worked in the Prussian Foreign Ministry in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

under

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

in 1869. After taking part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he served as Prussian ''

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

'' to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

in 1871. He was second and first secretary at the German missions in Paris,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 1883 he was appointed Prussian envoy in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, imperial envoy in Copenhagen in 1885, envoy in 1887 then ambassador in Madrid in 1888. He was ennobled on 5 May 1888 by King Frederick III, and was made a

privy councilor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1892. In 1903 he took over the chairmanship of the supervisory board of the company Gebrüder Stumm GmbH, the 23rd largest company in the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

in 1907.

Land holdings

Schlosz-rauischholzhausen-N3S 4219-by-RalfR

In 1873, Stumm bought Schloss Rauischholzhausen in Rauischholzhausen (one of eleven villages in

Ebsdorfergrund Ebsdorfergrund is a municipality consisting of eleven villages in the southeast of Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse, Germany. The community's municipal area extends over the ''Ebsdorfer Grund'' in the valley of the Zwester Ohm and the areas ar ...

Marburg-Biedenkopf Marburg-Biedenkopf is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Waldeck-Frankenberg, Schwalm-Eder, Vogelsbergkreis, Gießen, Lahn-Dill, Siegen-Wittgenstein. History The district was created in 1974 when ...

district,

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

) from Rau von Holzhausen. Stumm and his wife built several public buildings in Rauischholzhausen, including a church, a Protestant community center, a dairy and a retirement home. By 1908 Stumm was one of the 100 richest residents of Prussia and owned two manors: the Rauischholzhausen and Rohlstorf in the district of

Segeberg Segeberg (; frr, Segebärj) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the southwest and clockwise) the districts of Pinneberg, Steinburg and Rendsburg-Eckernförde, the city of Neumünster, the districts of Plön, Osthol ...

, in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

, with .

Personal life

On 28 June 1879, Stumm married American heiress Pauline von Hoffmann (12 August 1858 – 9 October 1950), in

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

. The younger daughter of Athenais ( Grymes) von Hoffmann and Louis von Hoffmann, a wealthy New York banker who was one of the founders of the

Knickerbocker Club The Knickerbocker Club (known informally as The Knick) is a gentlemen's club in New York City that was founded in 1871. It is considered to be the most exclusive club in the United States and one of the most aristocratic gentlemen's clubs in th ...

. Her elder sister,

Medora de Vallombrosa, Marquise de Morès Medora de Vallombrosa, Marquise de Morès ('' née'' von Hoffmann) (August 21, 1856 – 1921), was an American heiress who married the Marquis de Mores. Early life Medora was the daughter of Louis A. von Hoffman, a wealthy New York banker who w ...

married the Marquis de Mores. Together, they were the parents of: * Baron Ferdinand Carl von Stumm (1880–1954), a diplomat and entrepreneur, who married American heiress Constance Hoyt, daughter of Henry Hoyt Jr., in 1910. After her death in 1923, he married Baroness Vera von Wolff, daughter of Baron Nikolaus Boris von Wolff and former wife of Karl Gustav von Platen. * Baroness Maria von Stumm (1882–1954), who married Prince Paul Hermann Karl Hubert von Hatzfeldt, son of the Ambassador to England

Paul von Hatzfeldt Melchior Hubert Paul Gustav Graf von Hatzfeldt zu Wildenburg (8 October 1831 – 22 November 1901) was a German diplomat who served as ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1901. He was also envoy to Spain and the Ottoman Empire, foreign s ...

in 1911. * Baron Herbert Wilhelm von Stumm (1885–1943), who married Alice Schuchard in 1913. * Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Stumm (1888–1946), who married Laurette Luise von Stülpnagel. Baron von Stumm died on 10 May 1925 in

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Descendants

Through his eldest son Ferdinand, he was a grandfather of Nora von Stumm (1916–2000), who married Count Hyacinth Strachwitz.

References

Notes Sources

External links

Stumm, Ferdinand Eduard von, Freiherr, German, 1843-1925
at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stumm, Ferdinand Eduard Von 1843 births 1925 deaths Stumm family Ambassadors of Germany to Spain Ambassadors of Germany to Denmark Prussian nobility Prussian diplomats