Hilmar Bussche-Haddenhausen

Hilmar Freiherr von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen (31 January 1867 – 19 November 1939) was a German nobleman and a diplomat.

Early life Hilmar was born in Hanover on 31 January 1867, and belonged to the ancient von dem Bussche noble family which originated from the County of Ravensberg.

He was educated at the grammar school in Bückeburg, from which he completed his Abitur at Easter 1886. He then studied law at the Universities of Geneva, Leipzig and Berlin. After his exams, he began working in the Prussian judicial service. In the meantime, he received his juris doctor in 1890. Beginning in 1891, he took courses in Russian and Turkish at the Seminar for Oriental Languages in Berlin. He left Argentina a year later and was assigned to Egypt, working at the German embassy in Cairo on 26 February 1900 under chargé d'affaires Maximilian von Loehr. He stayed in Cairo for two years becoming legation councilor in October 1902 before moving to the German embassy in London on 30 October 1902. He served in London as Second Secretary of the Embassy under Ambassador Paul Wolff von Metternich. His assignment was brief as he was assigned to the German embassy in Washington, D.C. on 2 July 1903 as First Secretary of the embassy under Ambassador Hermann Speck von Sternburg before becoming embassy counselor the following year. Bussche-Haddenhausen's served in Washington until May 1906, when he returned to the Foreign Office in Berlin in the Politics Department working, primarily, as a department head for English affairs. Shortly before his return to Argentina where he replaced Julius von Waldthausen, he became a Privy Legation Councilor on 17 May 1909.

Bussche-Haddenhausen took over as acting head of the German embassy in Bucharest on 18 September 1914, again succeeding Julius von Waldthausen, who retired. In December 1915, Bussche-Haddenhausen was appointed Envoy but had to return to Germany at short notice in the summer of 1916 because of the unexpected break in diplomatic relations with Romania. When he arrived, he was put into temporary retirement in September, but was deployed again at the Foreign Office in Berlin in November 1916, focusing on various departments, including Politics, Trade Policy, Law, Intelligence, and the Central Office for Foreign Service. On 27 January 1918, he was awarded the title of Real Privy Councilor with the title of "Excellence". As a result of the collapse of the Empire and the dissolution of state institutions, his assignment at the Foreign Office in Berlin ended on 1 January 1919.

Later life In August 1919, he was reported to have said that "the indemnities provided for in the Peace Treaty will never be collected, because they are so ridiculous and high that the League of Nations will eventually annul or reduce them. He declare[ed] that it [was] only a matter of time until Germany will regain 'her old place of supremacy.'" In the beginning of the Weimar Republic, Bussche-Haddenhausen withdrew from public life. By 1928, however, he held the office of chairman of the Verein für Deutsche Kulturbeziehungen im Ausland (Association for German Cultural Relations Abroad), serving until 1931. He retired in February 1932. In 1936, he purchased the Mecklenburg estate Katelbogen in northern Germany. Together, they had five children, including: and she married Ulrich, 10th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau in 1932. Carl von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen (1901–1960), Kurt von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen (b. 1905) They divorced and she married diplomat Max Löwenthal-Chlumecky in 1941. Hans Ernst von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen (1916–1981), who married Maria Kurthy in 1941.

Baron von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen died on 19 November 1939 in Ramos Mejía, Argentina.

Descendants Through his eldest daughter, he was a grandfather of Franz Ulrich, 11th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau (1936–2009).