Friedrich Heinrich Geffcken (9 December 1830 – 1 May 1896) was a German diplomat and jurist, born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, of which city his father was senator. After studying law at

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

Göttingen 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

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, he was attached to the

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...

legation at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1854. In 1856 he was appointed Hamburg's Chargé d'affaires to Prussia in Berlin, and then raised in 1859 to Minister-Resident in Berlin of the Hanseatic states (i.e. Bremen and

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

as well). In 1866 he was succeeded in that post by Friedrich Krüger, a native of Lübeck, and moved to London to become the Hanseatic Minister-Resident there, replacing Rudolf Schleiden. However, with the coming of the North German Federation, Hamburg lost control over its foreign affairs outside of Germany and his post in London was abolished in 1869.Friedrich Heinrich Geffcken in General German Biography (ADB ), Vol. 55, publ. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1910, pp. 763–770 de.wikisource.org/wiki/ADB:Geffcken,_Heinrich_(Jurist) Retrieved Feb 2018 Geffcken returned home and was appointed a Syndic of the

Senate of Hamburg The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and local community politics. It takes place in two ...

, a position analogous to a government minister. The senior Syndic was

Carl Merck Carl Hermann Merck (3 May 1809 - 16 October 1880) was one of the leading Hamburg statesmen of the 19th century, holding the office of Syndicus from 1847 until his death in 1880.Carl Hermann Merck in General German Biography (ADB ) de.wikisource.o ...

who had charge of foreign affairs, while Kirchenpauer was Hamburg’s representative at the new Federal Council in Berlin. Geffcken’s activities covered education and poor relief, and he also spoke on commercial, coin and tax matters. Wishing to turn more to literary endeavours, he resigned as Syndic spring 1872. Appointed in 1872 professor of constitutional history and public law in the reorganized

University of Strassburg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, Geffcken became in 1880 a member of the council of state of Alsace-Lorraine. Of too nervous a temperament to withstand the strain of the responsibilities of his position, he retired from public service in 1882, and lived henceforth mostly at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, where he died, suffocated by an accidental escape of gas into his bedchamber, in 1896. Geffcken was a man of great erudition and wide knowledge and of remarkable legal acumen, and from these qualities proceeded the personal influence he possessed. He was moreover a dear writer and made his mark as an essayist. He was one of the most trusted advisers of the Prussian

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...

, Frederick William (afterwards the emperor Frederick), and it was he (it is said, at Bismarck's suggestion) who drew up the draft of the New German federal constitution, which was submitted to the, crown prince's headquarters at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

during the Franco-Prussian War. It was also Geffcken who assisted in framing the famous document which the emperor Frederick, on his accession to the throne in 1888, addressed to the chancellor. This memorandum gave umbrage, and on the publication by Geffcken in the ''

Deutsche Rundschau ''Deutsche Rundschau'' is a literary and political periodical established in 1874 by Julius Rodenberg. It strongly influenced German politics, literature and culture was considered one of the most successful launches of periodicals in Germany. Am ...

'' (Oct. 1888) of extracts from the emperor Frederick's private diary during the Franco-Prussian war, he was, at Bismarck's insistence, prosecuted for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

. The Reichsgericht (supreme court), however, quashed the indictment, and Geffcken was liberated after being under arrest for three months. Publications of various kinds proceeded from his pen. Among these are ''Zur Geschichte des orientalischen Krieges 1853–1856'' (Berlin, 1881); ''Frankreich, Russland und der Dreibund'' (Berlin, 1894); and ''Staat und Kirche'' (1875),

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation by E. F. Fairfax (1877). His writings on

history have been translated by S. J. Macmullan and published as ''The British Empire'', with essays on

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...

, Palmerston, Beaconsfield, Gladstone, and reform of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

(1889).

Titles and honors

* Officer of the Brazilian

Order of the Rose The Imperial Order of the Rose ( pt, Imperial Ordem da Rosa) was a Brazilian order of chivalry, instituted by Emperor Pedro I of Brazil on 17 October 1829 to commemorate his marriage to Amélie of Leuchtenberg. On 22 March 1890, the order was can ...

(1863). * Knight of the second class with badge of the

Order of the Crown (Prussia) The Royal Order of the Crown (german: Königlicher Kronen-Orden) was a Prussian order of chivalry. Instituted in 1861 as an honour equal in rank to the Order of the Red Eagle, membership could only be conferred upon commissioned officers (or civ ...

(1863). * Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(1863).The London gazette: the appointed organ for all announcements of the Executive, August 4, 1863 p. 389
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geffcken, Friedrich Heinrich 1830 births 1896 deaths Hanseatic diplomats Diplomats from Hamburg Syndics of Hamburg Jurists from Hamburg Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur