Bernstorf, Albrecht

Representative of the old Hanover aristocratic count clan Bernstorf.

He studied law at the universities of Göttingen and Berlin , after which he entered as an official in Prussian service.

In 1832 he began his diplomatic career as an attaché for the Prussian embassy in Hamburg , from where he was successively transferred to St. Petersburg (1837) and Paris (1837). Since 1842 - expert adviser to the political department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Prussia.

In 1845 he was appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Munich , where, despite the domination of the clerics - ultramontans , he firmly and with dignity guarded the interests of Protestant Prussia and at the same time acquired the location of King Louis I.

In 1848, Bernstorf was appointed ambassador to Vienna, where until 1851 he worked to restore good relations between Prussia and Austria. Soon after arriving in Vienna, he proved himself to be an opponent of the proposed scheme for the unification of German lands into a single state. He considered such a union possible under Prussian, and not Austrian, leadership. During the revolution of 1848-1849. advocated a lasting alliance between Prussia and Austria.

In the years 1851-1852 Bernstorf was a member of the Prussian Parliament ( Landtag ). Then he was sent as ambassador to Naples .

Shortly before the start of the Crimean War in 1854, he became head of the Prussian Embassy in London, and achieved significant improvement in Anglo-Prussian relations.

In 1861, he received the portfolio of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Carl Anton Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and in a short time managed to conclude trade agreements with China and Japan , as well as bring to a successful conclusion the conclusion of a free trade agreement with France.

At the end of 1862, Bernstorf returned to his post in London, where in 1867 he was confirmed with the rank of ambassador in the rank of State Minister of the North German Union and the German Empire in 1871.

During this time, he was also the Prussian delegate to the London Peace Conference of 1864, which led to the signing of the Vienna Treaty on the End of the Danish-Prussian War . In 1867, he also, as ambassador of the North German Union, negotiated the conclusion of the London Treaty , which determined the status of Luxembourg .

He died in London in 1873. He was buried in the clan tomb in Lassan (now Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ).

• Bernstorf Albrecht // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.