author
Graf von Johann Heinrich Bernstorff
1862–1939
Best known as Germany’s ambassador to the United States in the tense years before America entered World War I, he spent much of his career trying to keep diplomacy ahead of disaster. His story sits at the crossroads of old European statecraft and the political upheavals of the early 20th century.
1 Audiobook
My Three Years in America
by Graf von Johann Heinrich Bernstorff
About the author
Born in London in 1862 into the influential Bernstorff diplomatic family, he went on to build a career in the German foreign service. He served in posts including Belgrade, St. Petersburg, Munich, London, and Cairo before becoming Germany’s ambassador to the United States in 1908.
That Washington posting made him the role he is most remembered for. During the years leading up to the United States entering World War I, he tried to ease tensions and warned that aggressive German policy, especially unrestricted submarine warfare, could push America into the conflict.
After the war, he remained active in public life in Germany and later served in the Reichstag during the Weimar era. He died in Geneva in 1939, leaving behind memoirs and a career that reflects both the reach and the limits of diplomacy in a crisis.