Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Scope and Content
Collection Summary
Collection Title:
German
Diplomatic service papers in Mexico : ms.,
Date (inclusive): 1822-1941
Collection Number: BANC MSS M-B 12
Creator:
Mexico
Extent:
Number of containers: 8 boxes and 2 oversize folders
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please
consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Box 1: Correspondence and papers of Mexican officials with the consuls in Mexico
City of Frankfurt, Bremen, and various
German
towns. Box 2: Outgoing correspondence of Etienne Benecke,
consul of Prussia and later of Germany, 1850-1876, and other papers, 1838-1871, mainly certificates of
appointments and decorations. Box 3: Incoming correspondence for Etienne Benecke, 1850-1876. Box 4:
Papers of the
German
consulate in Mexico City, 1893-1906, especially concerning F.C. Rieloff's
appointment as consul in 1906; and also from the consulates in Oaxaca, Puebla, Zacatecas, and
Guadalajara. Box 5: Outgoing correspondence of
German
ministers in Mexico, 1846-1918, namely, F.
Seiffart, 1846-1850; E.K.H. Richthofen, 1851-1856; E. Wagner, 1859-1862; A. von Magnus, 1866-1867; K.
von Schlozer, 1869-1871; E. von Winckler, 1893-1895. H. von Wangenheim, 1904-1905; P. von Hintze, 1912;
H. von Eckhardt, 1917-1918. Boxes 6-7: Letters to the
German
Legation in Mexico, 1851-1941, also
miscellaneous papers and clippings, 1861-1918. Box 8: Papers relating to liquidation of the debts of
Maximilian's Empire, 1867-1868, including lists of individuals, accounts, repatriation of Belgian and
other subjects. The portfolio contains passports, appointment papers, models of consular flags and other
insignia, some in color, and instructions for officials in the foreign service, ca. 1840-1868.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in
German
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for
publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not
intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the
reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item],
German
Diplomatic service papers in Mexico : ms., BANC MSS M-B 12, The
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Scope and Content
These records of
German
consuls and Ministers in Mexico were purchased from Zeitlin & Verbrugge
in November 1957. They include correspondence, passports and notices of appointments.
Many of the papers reflect the former division of Germany into states and duchies of Prussia, Saxony,
Mecklenburg and the free cities of Hamburg and Frankfurt. Much of the correspondence relates to routine
affairs concerning
German
nationals in Mexico. Letters from the Ministers of officials in Germany,
however, frequently reveal the political condition of Mexico. Baron von Richthofen's letter to
Mantouffel show Mexico under Santa Anna, report on the political situation in Cuba at the beginning of
1855, relate the Rio Bravo incident in 1855, speak of the Álvarez presidency, and of the fall
of Puebla in 1856. Emil Wagner describes Mexico under Miramón, the siege of Veracruz in 1860,
the state of civil war and the rise of the Juárez regime.
There is also a file concerning the liquidation of obligations of Maximilian's Empire, 1867-1868, through
a commission headed by Nathaniel Davidson, a banker in Mexico. To Mr. Davidson were addressed requests
for payment of debts incurred by the late Emperor and for repatriation of soldiers formerly in the
Emperor's service.
The documents are in
German
, Spanish, French, Italian and a few in English.
A key to arrangement and a partial list of correspondents follow.