List of ambassadors of France to Germany

This list of ambassadors of France to Germany and precursors of the modern German state also includes top-ranking French diplomats in Germany who did not formally have the ambassador title.

Ambassadors to the Holy Roman Empire

This section is about France's envoys to the Perpetual Diet at Regensburg (1663–1806). For France's ambassadors to the Holy Roman Imperial Court, see list of ambassadors of France to Austria.
The former French Legation to the Perpetual Diet in Regensburg

Ambassadors to the German Confederation

Ambassadors to the German Confederation, also accredited to the Free City of Frankfurt, include:

For partial lists, see footnote[2] and.[3]

Ambassadors to German states

France established permanent diplomatic missions to individual German states during the Thirty Years War or shortly thereafter, most notably Bavaria, Cologne, Prussia, Saxony and the free Hanseatic cities at Hamburg, all of which date from a time around the 1620s to 1640s.[4]

 Bavaria: French envoys to the Bavarian Court at Munich

 Cologne: French envoys to the Cologne Court at Bonn

 Hamburg: French envoys to Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg

 Prussia: French envoys to the Brandenburg-Prussian Court at Berlin

 Saxony: French envoys to the Saxon Court at Dresden

At the time of the German Confederation additional missions were opened in Baden, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau and Württemberg.[2][3] After disestablishment of the German Confederation and establishment of the North-German Confederation, France's mission at Berlin became France's principal mission to Germany.

Ambassadors to the German Empire and Germany (1871–1939)

Ambassador André François-Poncet with German field marshal Erhard Milch

For main sources for this section, see footnote[5] and.[6]

Start of term End of term Ambassador
1872 1877 Elie de Gontaut-Biron[7]
1877 1881 Raymond de Saint-Vallier
1881 1886 Alphonse Chodron de Courcel
1886 1896 Jules Gabriel Herbette
1896 1902 Emmanuel Henri Victurnien de Noailles
1902 1907 Georges Paul Louis Bihourd
1907 1914 Jules Cambon
1914 1920 Break in diplomatic relations during World War I and its aftermath
June 1920 December 1922 Charles François Laurent[8]
1922 1931 Pierre de Margerie
1931 1938 André François-Poncet
1938 1939 Robert Coulondre

Ambassadors to West Germany

For main sources for this section, see footnote[9] and.[10]

Diplomatic relations between France and Germany were cut following the invasion of Poland in 1939. France restored diplomatic relations with West Germany in 1949 and with East Germany in 1973.

Start of term End of term Ambassador
1949 1955 André François-Poncet (Allied High Commissioner from 1949 to 1955 and ambassador after August 1, 1955)
1955 1956 Louis Joxe
1956 1958 Maurice Couve de Murville
1958 1962 François Seydoux de Clausonne
1962 1965 Roland de Margerie
1965 1970 François Seydoux de Clausonne
1970 1974 Jean Sauvagnargues
1974 1977 Olivier Wormser
1977 1981 Jean-Pierre Brunet
1981 1983 Henri Froment-Meurice
1983 1986 Jacques Morizet
1986 1992 Serge Boidevaix (German reunification occurred in 1990)

Ambassadors to East Germany

For the main source for this section, see footnote[9] and.[10]

Diplomatic relations between France and Germany were cut following the invasion of Poland in 1939. France restored diplomatic relations with West Germany in 1949 and with East Germany in 1973.

Start of term End of term Ambassador (or diplomat of highest rank)
1973 1974 Jacques Jessel (Chargé d'Affaires)
1974 1976 Bernard Guillier de Chalvron
1976 1981 Henry Bayle
1981 1981 Xavier du Cauzé de Nazelle[11]
1981 1986 Maurice Deshors[12]
1986 1990
(German reunification)		 Joëlle Timsit

Ambassadors to post-reunification Germany

For main sources for this section, see footnote[9] and.[10]

Start of term End of term Ambassador
1986 1992 Serge Boidevaix (German reunification occurred in 1990)
1992 1993 Bertrand Dufourcq
1993 1999 François Scheer
1999 2007 Claude Martin
2007 2011 Bernard de Montferrand
2011 2014 Maurice Gourdault-Montagne
2014 2017 Philippe Étienne
2017 2022 Anne-Marie Descôtes
2022 François Delattre[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Le Bas, Philippe (1844). France. Dictionnaire encyclopédique (in French). Paris: Firmin Didot frères. p. 893.
  2. ^ a b Count Guillaume de Garden (1861). Répertoire diplomatique: annales du droit des gens et de la politique extérieure (in French). J. Claye. pp. 45–46 (2nd volume).
  3. ^ a b Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France) (1887). "X: Ambassadeurs, envoyés extraordinaires, etc de France à l'étranger de 1815 à 1855". Annuaire diplomatique et consulaire de la République Française (in French). Vol. 9. Paris, Imprimerie Nationale. p. 321.
  4. ^ Le Bas, Philippe (1844). France. Dictionnaire encyclopédique (in French). Paris: Firmin Didot frères.
  5. ^ Aballéa, Marion (2012). "Entre soumission politico-administrative et goût de l'initiative individuelle: les diplomates français en poste à Berlin de 1871 aux années 1930". L'Europe, nouvelles approches (in French). Editions L'Harmattan. pp. 9–28. ISBN 9782296966864. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  6. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France). "La France en Allemagne. Hier - un peu d'histoire" (in French). French Embassy in Berlin. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  7. ^ Resigned in December 1877.
  8. ^ *Joly, Hervé (2012), "Les dirigeants des grandes entreprises industrielles françaises au 20e siècle. Des notables aux gestionnaires", Vingtième Siècle. Revue d'histoire (in French), 2 (114): 25, doi:10.3917/vin.114.0016, retrieved 2017-10-17
  9. ^ a b c "Liste chronologique des représentants permanents de la France avec rang d'ambassadeur auprès de commissions, organisations et conférences internationales" (PDF) (in French). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France). p. 37. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  10. ^ a b c Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France). "Ambassadeurs en Allemagne depuis 1955" (in French). French Embassy in Berlin. Retrieved 20 January 2013. Also available in German Archived 2015-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Décret du 5 janvier 1981" (in French). Journal officiel de la République française. 7 January 1981. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Décret du 9 septembre 1981" (in French). Journal officiel de la République française. 11 September 1981. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  13. ^ Philippe Ricard (31 July 2022), Le chassé-croisé des ambassadeurs renouvelle la direction du ministère des affaires étrangères Le Monde.