August Friedrich Wilhelm Keller, from 1906 Friedrich von Keller, (7 November 1873 in

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 ...

– 8 May 1960 in

Tutzing Tutzing is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany, on the west bank of the Starnberger See. Just 40 km south-west of Munich and with good views of the Alps, the town was traditionally a favorite vacation spot for thos ...

) was a German diplomat. He served as ambassador in Belgrade,

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 ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, and represented Germany at the

Geneva Disarmament Conference The Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments, generally known as the Geneva Conference or World Disarmament Conference, was an international conference of states held in Geneva, Switzerland, between February 1932 and November 1934 ...

in 1933.

Career

Keller came from a family originally based in Swabia, first mentioned in documents in 1733. He was born in Munich, son of the later-ennobled Royal Bavarian Lieutenant General (1843–1938) and Berta Hassold (1846-1929). Keller studied law at the Würzburg University, worked for the Bavarian Ministry of Justice from 1895 in earned his doctorate in 1896. In 1899 he joined the Foreign Service and spent the first years in

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 ...

. In 1901 he was sent as deputy consul to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, in 1902 to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, and in 1904 to

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,0 ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. From 1905 to 1908 he was a vice consul in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. From 1908 he worked in the legal department of the Foreign Office in Berlin. During World War I, he achieved the rank of major in the Royal Bavarian

Landwehr ''Landwehr'', or ''Landeswehr'', is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fortificatio ...

, but was recalled to the Foreign Office in 1916. After the end of World War I, he was considering to continue scientific work at the University of Würzburg, but was sent by the Foreign Office to the peace negotiations at Versailles. In the summer of 1920 he was sent as a

charge d'affaires Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

in Belgrade, where he was promoted to ambassador 18 December 1921. From 1924 to 1928, he served as ambassador to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. From 1928 to 1933 he was accredited as chargé d'affaires of the German Reich government in

. In 1933 he was sent to represent Germany at the

. In October 1933, he experienced the withdrawal of Germany from the League of Nations under the newly elected National Socialist government and chose early retirement. In 1935, he was reactivated as ambassador to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. He retired in 1938. Keller was married on 12 October 1905 in Munich to Irene (7 December 1880 in Munich – 7 March 1965 in Tutzing), the daughter of the Royal Bavarian State Minister of State (1845-1926) and Gabriele von Auer. The couple had three sons, Robert von Keller (1906-1940), Rupprecht von Keller and Theodor von Keller (born 1914), and a daughter, Gabrielle. She was married to

Guido Dessauer Guido Dessauer (7 November 1915 – 13 January 2012) was a German physicist, pioneer in paper engineering, business executive, writer, art collector, patron of the arts, and academic. Born into a family of paper industrialists, he worked as an a ...

, a notable physicist and specialist in paper engineering, who commissioned Horst Janssen to produce a portrait of Keller. The artist chose to portray him with the many orders he had earned during his career.

Literature

Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published ...

. ''Adelige Häuser B.'' Band XVI. = Band 86 der Gesamtreihe. C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1985, S. 281. * Maria Keipert (Red.): ''Biographisches Handbuch des deutschen Auswärtigen Dienstes 1871–1945.'' Herausgegeben vom Auswärtigen Amt, Historischer Dienst. Band 2: Gerhard Keiper, Martin Kröger: ''G–K.'' Schöningh, Paderborn u. a. 2005, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Friedrich von 1873 births 1960 deaths People from Munich German Army personnel of World War I Ambassadors of Germany to Egypt Ambassadors of Germany to South Africa Ambassadors of Germany to Mozambique Ambassadors of Germany to Turkey Ambassadors of Germany to Belgium Ambassadors of Germany to Argentina People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Military personnel of Bavaria