Max von Thielmann

Max von Thielmann trained in law in Berlin and Heidelberg, receiving his doctorate in 1866. His diplomatic career included service as a legation secretary in Washington in 1875 and posts in Brussels, Paris, and Constantinople. After serving as consul general in Sofia and representing Prussia at several German courts, he returned to Washington as ambassador in 1895. ^{1, 2}

His Washington work included negotiations over the foreign powers' administration of Samoa. In July 1896 he asked Secretary of State Richard Olney to support a German official as the next president of Apia's municipality. Thielmann argued that the arrangement would balance an American chief justice and protect German interests. His note also opposed the movement in Apia to abolish the municipal presidency. ³

Thielmann left diplomacy for the Imperial Treasury in 1897 and served as its state secretary until 1903. He was also a traveler and writer, publishing accounts of journeys through the Caucasus, Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and the Americas. He entered the Prussian House of Lords in 1909 and died in 1929. ^{1, 2}