Oswald Theodor ''Freiherr'' von Hoyningen-Huene (born 29 July 1885 in

Clarens, Switzerland Clarens-Montreux or Clarens is a neighborhood in the municipality of Montreux, in the canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. This neighborhood is the biggest and most populated of the city of Montreux. Clarens was made famous throughout Europe by the i ...

; died on 26 August 1963 in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

) was a German diplomat.

Biography

Oswald von Hoyningen-Huene was German Ambassador to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

from 1934–1944. Half-

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 ...

and never 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 politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

, he had been a member of

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...

's staff up to 1934. Historian

Neill Lochery Neill Lochery (born 1965) is a Scottish author and leading historian on the modern history of Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East. He is a frequent contributor to newspapers and journal publications around the world. Lochery is Professor o ...

describes Hoyningen-Huene as sharp, clever and diplomatically astute and says that he played a central role in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

as the war developed, in particular in the delicate negotiations of

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...

supplies from Portugal to Germany. While in Lisbon during the prewar period, Hoyningen-Huene developed close ties between Berlin and Lisbon. He studied Portuguese history and culture, and appealed to the nationalist sentiments of Salazar and other senior Portuguese personalities. He gave talks at the Universities of Lisbon and

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

on the past glories of the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...

and positioned himself as a strong supporter of the culture and symbols of the Portuguese Estado Novo. He developed ties with Portuguese elite, including the head of Lisbon's small permanent

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community,

Moisés Bensabat Amzalak Moisés Bensabat Amzalak (4 October 1892 - 6 June 1978) was a Portuguese scholar and economist. Amzalak was born and educated in Lisbon. He combined a successful business career with broad academic activity. A devoted Jew, a central figure in the ...

, and he managed to arrange for Amzalak to be awarded the medal of excellence from the

German Red Cross The German Red Cross (german: Deutsches Rotes Kreuz ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. With 4 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within ...

, a German civil assistance organization. After the war, Salazar allowed Hoyningen-Huene to settle permanently in the Lisbon area, where he lived out part of his retirement.

References

Sources

* German people of English descent Baltic nobility Ambassadors of Germany to Portugal German expatriates in Portugal People from Montreux 1885 births 1963 deaths {{Germany-diplomat-stub