Friedrich Heinrich Geffcken

Friedrich Heinrich Geffcken (9 December 1830 – 1 May 1896) was a German diplomat and jurist, born in Hamburg, of which city his father was senator.

Biography After studying law at Bonn, Göttingen and Berlin, he was attached to the Hanseatic legation at Paris in 1854.

Geffcken returned home and was appointed a Syndic of the Senate of Hamburg, a position analogous to a government minister. The senior Syndic was Carl Merck who had charge of foreign affairs, while Kirchenpauer was Hamburg's representative at the new Federal Council in Berlin. Geffcken's activities covered education and poor relief, and he also spoke on commercial, coin and tax matters. Wishing to turn more to literary endeavours, he resigned as Syndic spring 1872.