Karl Heinrich Knappstein

Karl Heinrich Knappstein worked in publishing before joining the institutions of postwar West Germany. He served in Hesse’s ministry responsible for political liberation and then as press chief for the economic council of the British and American occupation zones. His diplomatic career took him to New York, Chicago, Madrid, senior office in Bonn, and the United Nations before Washington. ^{1, 2}

As ambassador, Knappstein had to explain West Germany’s reconciliation with France to an uneasy American government. In January 1963, he delivered Adenauer’s letter to John Kennedy and argued that the new Franco German treaty required consultation while preserving each country’s freedom to decide. He stressed that Bonn was not choosing Paris over Washington and that German reconciliation with France was compatible with the American alliance. ^{1, 2}