Kurd von Schlözer

Kurd von Schlözer studied languages and history before entering Prussia’s Foreign Ministry in 1850. His early diplomatic assignments included St. Petersburg, where he worked under Otto von Bismarck, and Rome. As the North German Confederation’s representative in Mexico, he negotiated a commercial treaty despite Mexican distrust of European governments after the French intervention. ¹

Sent to Washington in 1871, Schlözer cultivated relations with German Americans and became a friend of Carl Schurz. At Bismarck’s request, he investigated American religious affairs, especially the position of the Catholic Church. That experience became useful when Bismarck asked him to sound out the Vatican about easing the Kulturkampf. ¹

Schlözer undertook preliminary discussions in Rome in 1881 and became Prussian minister to the Holy See the following year. He helped negotiate the restoration of relations between the Prussian government and the papacy. He retired in 1892 and died in Berlin in 1894. ¹