Wilhelm Bernhard von der Goltz

Wilhelm Bernhard, Count von der Goltz (6 October 1736 – 6 February 1795) was a German nobleman, Prussian officer and diplomat.

Early life Wilhelm Bernhard von der Goltz was born in 1736 in Heinrichsdorf, Neustettin district, into the German nobility, as a member of Heinrichsdorf branch of the von der Goltz family. He was the son of Georg Konrad von der Goltz (1704–1747) and his wife, Charlotte Wilhelmine von Grävenitz (1720–1771). Among his siblings were brothers Karl Franz von der Goltz (1740-1804), a Generalleutnant and Minister of War, and Leopold Heinrich von der Goltz, also a Prussian diplomat.

After attending school, von der Goltz joined the Prussian Army.

After diplomatic relations with France were broken off during the French Revolution in 1792, von der Goltz returned to Prussia. In December 1794 he was commissioned to negotiate an end to the war with France in Basel. Despite various difficulties, he managed to end the military actions of the French units against Prussian troops. The order from Berlin of 28 January 1795 to cede the left bank of the Rhine if necessary never reached him. After his death, during the negotiations, Prince Karl August von Hardenberg concluded the Peace of Basel.

Wilhelmina Cornelia von der Goltz (b. 1769), who married Frederik Willem van de Schepper. (1770-1849), who married Isabella Maria de Perponcher Sedlnitzky (1767-1837), a lady-in-waiting to the Princess of Orange who was a daughter of Baron Cornelis de Perponcher Sedlnitzky (1733-1776) and sister of Count Hendrik George de Perponcher Sedlnitzky.

He died of a bilious fever in Basel, Switzerland on 6 February 1795.