Erwin Wickert

Erwin Wickert
Erwin Wickert
6thGerman Ambassador toChina
In office 1976–1980
Preceded by	Rolf Friedemann Pauls
Succeeded by	Per Fischer
2ndGerman Ambassador toRomania
In office 1971–1976
Preceded by	Bernhard von Bülow
Personal details
Born	(1915-01-07)7 January 1915 Bralitz,Brandenburg,German Empire
Died	26 March 2008(2008-03-26)(aged 93) Remagen,Rhineland-Palatinate,Germany
Nationality	German
Political party	Nazi Party(1939–1945)
Spouse	Ingeborg Weides
Relations	Ulrich Wickert(son) Emily Wood(granddaughter)
Education	B.A.,economics and political science (1936) –Dickinson College Ph.D.,philosophy (1939) –University of Heidelberg
Occupation	diplomat

Erwin Wickert(7 January 1915 – 26 March 2008) was a German diplomat who, during the 1970s, served as the ambassador to Romania and China.

Early life and education

Born in Bralitz and raised inWittenberg,Wickert applied to join theSturmabteilungat the age of 18 before ultimately enrolling at theUniversity of Berlinin 1934, where he studiedphilosophy.The following year, in 1935, he won a scholarship toDickinson CollegeinCarlisle, Pennsylvania,and transferred there to complete his studies, graduating with aBachelor of Artsineconomicsandpolitical sciencein 1936.

Wickert spent the year following graduation traveling the United States andAsia,before returning to Germany. During his travels, he worked odd jobs, including as a waiter in San Francisco and for a travel agency in New York City. In 1939 he completed a doctorate in philosophy atHeidelberg University.

Career

Erwin Wickert (far left) in 1976

By September 1939, Wickert had joined theNazi Partyand was hired by the German foreign ministry. That year he was appointed "radio attaché" at the German consulate inShanghai,where he was responsible for managing the German propaganda stationXGRS.Towards the end of the war he was reassigned toTokyo, Japan.

From 1947 Wickert worked as a freelance writer inHeidelberg.Upon the sovereignty of theFederal Republic of Germanyin 1955, Wickert resumed working for the foreign ministry, holding posts inParis,London,and a domestic assignment inBonn.From 1971 to 1976 he served as German ambassador toRomaniaand, from 1976 to 1980, as ambassador to thePeople's Republic of China.

Wickert retired in 1980. Shortly after, he returned to Dickinson College for the first time since his graduation 44 years earlier and led a question-and-answer session at the college's Memorial Hall.

During his life, Wickert wrote more than a dozen fiction and non-fiction books. In 1998 he edited the diaries ofJohn Rabe.

Personal life

In 1939 Wickert married Ingeborg Weides, with whom he had two sons and one daughter.Wickert was the father of the German journalistUlrich Wickertand grandfather of actressEmily Wood.