Name Heinrich Stahmer | ||
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Died June 13, 1978, Vaduz, Liechtenstein | ||
Heinrich Georg Stahmer (3 May 1892 in Hamburg, Germany – 13 June 1978 in Vaduz, Liechtenstein), economist by training, served as an aide to German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (1938–1940), special envoy to Japan (1940–1942) and German Ambassador to Japan (January 1943 – May 1945).
A native of Hamburg, Germany, Stahmer fought during World War I and earned both classes of Iron cross.
Diplomatic career
In 1936, Stahmer took part in the negotiations for the Anti Comintern Pact between the German and the Japanese governments.
Throughout 1940, he worked for a German-Japanese alliance treaty, and on August 13, 1940, was able to notify the Japanese Embassy in Berlin about the decision to conclude such a treaty. In September 1940, he took part in the negotiations leading to the conclusion of the Tripartite Pact. Following the conclusion of the pact, Stahmer was sent to his next mission in Tokyo.
In October 1941, Stahmer was appointed as German ambassador to the Chinese government under Wang Jingwei, established in Nanjing by the Japanese occupation, and remained in that position until late 1942.
In January 1943, he was appointed ambassador to Japan, and arrived in Tokyo from Nanjing on January 28, 1943. He remained in that position until the end of the war.
On May 5, 1945, as the German surrender was approaching, Stahmer was handed an official protest by Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, accusing the German government of betraying its Japanese ally. Following the surrender of the German government, the Japanese government broke off diplomatic relations with the German Reich on May 15, 1945, and Stahmer was interned and kept under arrest in a hotel near Tokyo until the Japanese surrender in August 1945.
On September 10, 1945, following the Japanese surrender, he was placed under arrest by U.S. authorities in Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, and in September 1947 was returned to Germany, where he was interned until September 1948.
Following his release, Stahmer became involved in business with Japanese companies. He died in 1978 at Vaduz, Liechtenstein.