Friedrich Wilhelm von Prittwitz und Gaffron

Friedrich Wilhelm von Prittwitz und Gaffron trained in law and banking before entering the Foreign Service in 1908. An early Washington assignment introduced him to American public life; later posts took him to St. Petersburg and Rome. A supporter of the Weimar Republic, he also stood unsuccessfully for parliament as a German Democratic Party candidate. ¹

As ambassador in Washington from late 1927, Prittwitz cultivated journalists, the wider public, and business and financial leaders while Germany negotiated its postwar obligations. On 6 March 1933, he requested retirement in protest at political developments under Hitler. He returned to Germany and worked as an economic adviser. After the Second World War, he helped found the Christian Social Union and served in the Bavarian parliament. ¹