Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath (1873–1956)
Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath was born on 2 February 1873 in Vaihingen and died there on 14 August 1956. He served as a prominent German politician and career diplomat whose work spanned the German imperial era, the Weimar Republic and the early years of the Nazi state.
Before joining the national government in Berlin, von Neurath represented Germany abroad. He was posted as ambassador to Italy from 1921 to 1930 and then as ambassador to the United Kingdom between 1930 and 1932.
In 1932 von Neurath became Foreign Minister, a post he held until 1938. During the early period of Adolf Hitler's regime, von Neurath helped shape the country's foreign policy. He participated in diplomatic efforts that undermined the constraints of the Treaty of Versailles and facilitated German territorial expansion in the years leading up to World War II. In 1938 he was replaced by the more explicitly pro-Nazi diplomat Joachim von Ribbentrop.
After the occupation of Czechoslovakia, von Neurath was appointed Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia from 1939 to 1943. His practical authority diminished once Reinhard Heydrich and other SS leaders assumed control of security and policy in the protectorate.
Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, von Neurath was indicted and tried among the principal defendants at the Nuremberg Trials. The tribunal sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment, to be served at Spandau Prison; he was released in 1954.