Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg

Richard Alexander Conrad Bernhard Burkard von Müllenheim-Rechberg
Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg in 1934
West German ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In office 1965–1967
West German ambassador to Tanzania
In office 1971–1975
Personal details
Born	(1910-06-25)25 June 1910 Spandau, German Empire
Died	1 June 2003(2003-06-01) (aged 92) Herrsching am Ammersee, Germany

Richard Alexander Conrad Bernhard Burkard von Müllenheim-Rechberg (Spandau, 25 June 1910 — Herrsching am Ammersee, 1 June 2003) was a German diplomat and author. After his career as a naval officer in the Kriegsmarine, he entered the diplomatic career of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was the highest-ranking survivor of the battleship Bismarck.

Early life[]

Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg was a member of the Müllenheim family, an old protestant family which originated from Alsace.^[1] After receiving his Abitur in 1929, he entered the Reichsmarine, the Weimar navy. He became an aide to the German military attaché in London.

Second World War[]

Müllenheim-Rechberg behind captain Ernst Lindemann inspecting troops aboard the battleship Bismarck.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Müllenheim-Rechberg worked on different battleships. In 1941, he experienced the sinking of the battleship Bismarck as fourth artillery officer with the rank of captain lieutenant, thereby becoming the highest-ranking survivor of the ship.^[2] He was rescued by the British cruiser Dorsetshire and remained in a prisoner of war camp in Ontario, Canada, until the end of 1946.^[3] On 1 February 1943, he was promoted to corvette captain.

Diplomatic career[]

In 1949, Müllenheim-Rechberg passed the state examination in jurisprudence. In 1952, he entered the diplomatic service of the Federal Foreign Office. He was a member of the West German NATO delegation in Paris in 1955, and participated at the NATO conference in Bonn in 1956.

In 1965, he became the West German ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the tenure of Moïse Tshombe as a prime minister. Müllenheim-Rechberg would later write a book about Tshombe's kidnapping by in 1967, and his death during his imprisonment in Algeria in 1969.^[4]

He continued his diplomatic career as a consul general in Toronto in 1968. That same year, he received the Grand Cross 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany. He ended his diplomatic career as his country's ambassador to Tanzania from 1971 to 1975.

Publications[]

• Baron von Müllenheim-Rechberg, Burkard (2001). The Abduction and Death of Moïse Tshombe: The End of a Hope for the Congo. WorldView Publications. ISBN 978-1872142456.
• Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg, Burkard (1998). Entführung und Tod des Moïse Tshombe: Das Ende einer Hoffnung für den Kongo. LIT. ISBN 3-8258-3940-0.
• Baron von Müllenheim-Rechberg, Burkard (1990). Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Story. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557504369.

References[]