German diplomat and philosopher who helped arrange Lenin's transit and witnessed the killing of Mirbach
A Munich-born German diplomat and philosopher, Riezler was the closest adviser of Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg. He drafted the September Programme and, calculating that it would revolutionise Russia, helped organise the passage of Lenin's party through Germany. In April 1918 he became counsellor at the Moscow embassy and was beside Mirbach when he was killed on 6 July. He then demanded that a battalion be stationed in Moscow to guard the embassy. Forced from his university post under the Nazis, he emigrated to the United States in 1938 and taught at the New School for Social Research in New York.
Also known as: Kurt Rietzler
Activities and affiliations
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1918
Germany state institutionsCounsellor at the German embassy in MoscowMain
Diplomacy and international organization
Career Timeline
- 1915Counsellor in the Reich Chancellery, adviser to Bethmann Hollweg
- 1918.04Counsellor at the German embassy in Moscow