Konstantin Hermann Karl Freiherr von Neurath (2 February 1873 – 14 August 1956) was a German diplomat and Nazi war criminal who served as Foreign Minister of Germany between 1932 and 1938.
Born to a Swabian noble family, Neurath began his diplomatic career in 1901. He fought in World War I and was awarded the Iron Cross for his service. After the war, Neurath served as minister to Denmark, ambassador to Italy and ambassador to Britain. In 1932, he was appointed Foreign Minister by Chancellor Franz von Papen, and he continued to hold the post under Adolf Hitler.
In the early years of the Nazi regime, Neurath was regarded as playing a key role in Hitler's foreign policy pursuits in undermining the Treaty of Versailles and in territorial expansion in the prelude to World War II. However, he was often averse to Hitler's aims for tactical, not necessarily ideological, reasons. That aversion eventually induced Hitler to replace Neurath in 1938 with the more compliant Joachim von Ribbentrop, a fervent Nazi. Neurath served as Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia between 1939 and 1943, but his authority was only nominal after September 1941.
Neurath was tried as a war criminal at the Nuremberg trials and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his compliance and actions in Nazi Germany. He received an early release in 1954 and then retired to his family estate, where he died two years later.
Early life
Neurath was born at the manor of Kleinglattbach (since 1972 part of Vaihingen an der Enz) in Württemberg, the scion of a Swabian dynasty of Freiherren. His grandfather Constantin Franz von Neurath had served as Foreign Minister under King Charles I of Württemberg (reigned 1864–1891), and his father, Konstantin Sebastian von Neurath (died 1912), had been a Free Conservative member of the German Reichstag and Chamberlain of King William II of Württemberg.
Neurath studied law in Tübingen and in Berlin. After graduating in 1897, he initially joined a local law firm in his home town. In 1901, he entered into civil service and worked for the Foreign Office in Berlin. In 1903, he was assigned to the German embassy in London, at first as Vice-Consul and from 1909 as Legationsrat (legation counsel). After the visit of the Prince of Wales to the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1904, as Lord Chamberlain to King William II, Neurath was created an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. Neurath's career was decisively advanced by Secretary of State Alfred von Kiderlen-Waechter. In 1914, he was sent to the embassy in Constantinople.
On 30 May 1901, Neurath married Marie Auguste Moser von Filseck (1875–1960) in Stuttgart. His son, Konstantin, was born in 1902, followed by his daughter, Winifred, in 1904.
During World War I, he served as an officer with an infantry regiment until 1916, when he was badly wounded. In December 1914, he was awarded the Iron Cross. He returned to the German diplomatic service in the Ottoman Empire (1914–1916), where he witnessed the Armenian genocide. In 1917, he temporarily quit the diplomatic service to succeed his uncle Julius von Soden as head of the royal Württemberg government.
Political career
In 1919 Neurath, with the approval by President Friedrich Ebert, returned to diplomacy and joined the embassy in Copenhagen as Minister to Denmark. From 1921 to 1930, he was the ambassador to Rome and was not overly impressed with Italian fascism. After the death of Chancellor Gustav Stresemann in 1929, Neurath was already considered for the post of Foreign Minister in the cabinet of Chancellor Hermann Müller by President Paul von Hindenburg, but his appointment failed because of the objections raised by the governing parties. In 1930, Neurath returned to head the embassy in London.
Neurath was recalled to Germany in 1932 and became Reichsminister of Foreign Affairs as an independent politician in the "Cabinet of Barons" under Chancellor Franz von Papen in June. He continued to hold that position under Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher in December and then under Adolf Hitler from the Machtergreifung on 30 January 1933. During the early days of Hitler's rule, Neurath lent an aura of respectability to Hitler's expansionist foreign policy.