1878 | Berlin Congress

Mavi Boncuk |

Handwritten signatures of the 19 statesmen of major European powers and Turkey participating in the Berlin Congress
Berlin, 1878

The present sheet is probably an official signature sample sheet for the participants in the Berlin Congress. The name of the sheet "Signatures de Messieurs les Plénipotentiares du Congrès de 1878" was written by the Legation Council of Radowitz[1] himself and he also signed for the correctness of the signatures.

Eigenhändige Unterschriften der teilnehmenden 19 Staatsmänner europäischer Großmächte und der Türkei am Berliner Kongress
Berlin, 1878


Bei dem vorliegenden Blatt handelt es sich vermutlich um ein offizielles Unterschriften-Probeblatt der Teilnehmer an dem Berliner Kongress. Die Bezeichnung des Blattes "Signatures de Messieurs les Plénipotentiares du Congrès de 1878" wurde eigenhändig vom Legationsrat von Radowitz[1] geschrieben und dieser zeichnete auch für die Richtigkeit der Unterschriften.

62.5 x 45.8 cm
© German Historical Museum, Berlin
Inv. No .: 1990/1481

[1] Joseph Maria Friedrich von Radowitz (19 May 1839 – 15 January 1912) was a German diplomat who served as acting Foreign Secretary and head of the Foreign Office from 6 November 1879 until 17 April 1880.

Radowitz was born in Frankfurt am Main, the son of Prussian statesman Joseph von Radowitz. He joined the diplomatic service of Prussia in 1860, and was stationed in Constantinople, China and Japan until 1865. Upon his return to Europe, he was stationed in Paris. During the Austro-Prussian War, he served as aide-de-camp to Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, and was subsequently attached to the Prussian diplomatic mission in Munich (Kingdom of Bavaria). He became Consul General of the North German Confederation to Bucharest in 1870 and a member of the European Donau Commission. In 1872, he was appointed as chargé d'affaires to Constantinople, before he became Director for Oriental Affairs at the Foreign Office. He was appointed as Envoy to Athens in 1874, but remained in Berlin. In 1875, he became acting Ambassador to St. Petersburg, where he offered Russia German support for Russian interests in the Balkans in exchange for Russian support for German interests in Western Europe. In 1878 he took part at the Congress of Berlin.

After the death of Bernhard Ernst von Bülow, Radowitz was appointed as acting Foreign Secretary, until he was succeeded by Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst.

He became Ambassador to Constantinople in October 1882 and Ambassador to Madrid in 1892. He died in Berlin.

Literature

Hajo Holborn (ed.): Aufzeichnungen und Erinnerungen aus dem Leben des Botschafters Joseph Maria von Radowitz. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart/Berlin/Leipzig 1925.

Anton von Werner, Congress of Berlin (1881): Final meeting at the Reich Chancellery on 13 July 1878, Bismarck between Gyula Andrássy and Pyotr Shuvalov, on the left Alajos Károlyi, Alexander Gorchakov (seated) and Benjamin Disraeli

Ethnographic map by German geographer Heinrich Kiepert, 1878. This map received a good reception in contemporary Europe and was used as a reference at the Congress of Berlin.

Map of the ethnic composition of the Balkans in 1877 by A. Synvet, a renowned French professor of the Ottoman Lyceum of Constantinople

Greek Delegation in the Berlin Congress