Karl Ritter Diplomat Date of Birth: 05.06.1883 Country: Germany

Biography of Karl Ritter

Karl Ritter was a diplomat and senior official of the Imperial German Foreign Ministry. He served in the German Foreign Ministry even before the Nazis came to power, starting in 1924 as a ministerial director and head of the department for economic issues and reparations. In 1936, he was appointed head of the trade and political department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From December 14, 1937, to October 10, 1939, he served as the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Greater German Reich in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a result of his activities, he was declared persona non grata.

Karl Ritter was also a member of the international commission during the negotiations of the Munich Agreement. In October 1939, he was recalled to Berlin and appointed as an ambassador for special assignments to the Imperial Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. From 1940 to 1945, he served as a liaison officer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht.

After the end of World War II, Karl Ritter stood as a defendant in the American Military Tribunal's case regarding "Wilhelmstrasse." On April 11, 1949, he was sentenced to four years in prison but was released early.